Wednesday 30 September 2009

Rr Vienne 09/09



It was watching a guy fishing this tributary of the Loire that inspired me to return and fish this area. That day, sometime last year , the chap was having terrific sport catching chub, mullet, roach and bream. We did look at some promising swims upstream but I eventually found the very swim he had been fishing at St Germain. Access to the venue here is very limited and it was a bit of a scramble down the bank but comfortable when I got there. Lady Morgan prepared some tucker then rather reluctantly set off for the chateau at Chinon. It's not that her ladyship minds going on her own but she has the worst sense of direction in the world and refused to venture the 5 miles without a mobile phone, pre programmed sat nav, map and a goodbye kiss. The swim I'd chosen is quickish and I started on an avon float about 4grams holding back hard. I loose fed caster and maggot and had a chublet 2nd trot. The next two hours produced just a similar sized chublet and I began to get frustrated, again the sun just beat down relentlessly and the mercury was rising fast. A switch to the feeder did bring limited success in the shape of 2 chub a couple of pounds apiece plus 3 bream up to the same size and a couple of roach. Not a fantastic catch but enjoyable. Heather enjoyed her day out and , to my astonishment , was only lost briefly on the way back from Chinon. We packed up early because it is a long way back. I like this river and hope to come back to it. I imagine it has a lot to offer for anglers interested in predators. Some of the attacks on fish near the banks was something to behold!


Chub from the Vienne.


The Vienne

Monday 28 September 2009

Chaumont sur Loire 09






All the way from the depths of Somerset to fish the Loire in September and it's just too hot. 34 c and not a breath of wind .I just can't handle fishing in these conditions. Lady Morgan didn't seem too fazed by this so instead we sipped coffee in the garden of an hotel that was far too posh for riff raff like me. I can't believe that my wife is happy to pay these sort of prices for coffee. I could have got 4pts of casters for that money. Even more outrageous was that we were made to pay 10 euros each just to look around the gardens of the Chateau nearby. This didn't include wine and cheese with his lordship or whatever the french equivalent is. Really! We had to pay just to see the garden, not even allowed indoors. I'm just working out what the postman owes me as he looks at my garden six days a week and has done for over 20 years, When it cooled I had a short spell on the canal du Berry. The canal is very coloured and the first place I tried was less than a foot deep. Not a touch! I packed up quickly and managed the last hour on the canal in Selles. Just when it seemed that I'd manage 2 blanks in the same day a couple of skimmers and a poisson chat took pity on me.








Hot & Grumpy.







Bless all 3 of you!

Thursday 24 September 2009

Saumur 09



I didn,t look hard enough on the maps at distances and didn,t realise that Saumur is the best part of a 2 hour drive from Selles, but undeterred we made the trip to fish the glorious river Loire, I say glorious ! It just is ! .The water looks clean and pacey, in fact very fast in places. The depth varies and much of it is shallow but there are deeper and slower glides that look fishy. It was one of these swims that I chose. The famous Chateau is just behind but I ignored this culture nonsense and got the kit out without paying any attention to it. But it is there if anyone is this way and wants to see it. Nick Hughes from Street had fished this swim weeks before and had some decent barbel & chub on corn. I started on a maggot feeder and 3rd chuck had a decent sized chub. What was noticeable was the amount of mullet that were close in but I wasn't interested in these today. To be honest sport was very slow. I kept getting little indications after switching to a groundbait feeder but a lot were just liners and I am fairly sure it was just the mullet nudging the feeder around. I was putting a lot of faith in groundbait and corn because this had been the successful method for Nick. I did have 2 really good chub and a bream + a small perch . I also hooked something that just was not coming out on 4lb maxima to 020 bottom. All in all I was a bit disappointed but it was seriously hot and not a cloud in the sky. This river just captivates me . I'd go back tommorow if I could. The whole feel of the place and some of the fish topping means you kind of know that one day these swims will really come good.


Good chub . Beautiful river.

Wednesday 23 September 2009

Selles sur Cher 06 09 09


Heather and I had decided on our main break in 09 to be in the Loire region for a week and then in Burgundy for a second week. When we arrived at our cottage the weather was blistering hot and I decided not to fish the first day. The river Cher is an interesting venue , shallow and fast but also gin clear and there are not many fishable swims because of the access. From the town bridge in Selles sur Cher I saw shoals of roach and chub plus a few barbel and the odd carp. Between the two town bridges there are about 3 fishable swims and on the second evening I sat down to fish one of them. The fishing part of the holiday couldn't have got off to a much worse start! 3 chucks with a maggot feeder, solid each time! snagged and cracked the line. Bloody fantastic! I chucked around with a little lead until I found what appeared to be a clear spot, changed to a feeder, had a bite, hooked a fish and everything went solid again. Nightmare! I set up a float rod and was able to trot at about 3ft, feeding caster & hemp and fishing maggot I had a bite most put ins but was pestered a bit by bleak. It was frustrating not being able to fish the feeder for barbel but I still enjoyed it. I ended up with 19 small barbel to a pound, 5 roach up to 8ozs , a rudd and 5 chub to 1 1/2lbs plus bleak, a pleasant evening . The only downside after the frustrating start was that I lost the best fish I hooked when, just as I seemed to be controlling some powerful runs everything went solid and I pulled out. Beautiful evening still 28 c after dark.

Nice little mixed net of fish,