Chew From The Bank

Another assault on Chew Valley Reservoir was done only this time it was to be from the bank, with some ten miles of bank to choose from it was some what a little daunting. Only having previously fished from the bank once with little to show for it my confidence was low. To make things even more difficult the weather forecast was to be dreadful, sleet and lots and lots of rain, what joy!
In the early part of the week a monster Pike of 40lb was taken from the bank at an area with deep water close in, it was reported in all the angling weeklys and the bank from which it was caught was also published. This being an area i fancied i just had to review it as such publicity would see that bank shoulder to shoulder with anglers, one to avoid i think. My companion for the day was to be Paul but as he was off gallivanting up the Amazon on a 15 day cruise his stand in was to be the lovely Lesley, my wife, and believe it or not she actually volunteered. I did try to put her off due to her dislike of all things cold and believe me it was to be bloody freezing!

Leaving home at 4.30am did not fair well with my wife yet the deal was if she was to leave at this time then I'd take my bivvy, bed chair, plenty of water and my stove all for her comfort of course. We arrived at 6.ooam and sneakily entered the car park through a no entry where a van had just opened the gates. Early arrival bank anglers will know that it can be tricky to park as the bailiffs don't like to get up early to open all the gates. I dashed to the waters edge with all the creature comforts for Lesley, bivvy being of importance as dark clouds were looming. Bivvy up and back to the van to grab the gear and a very unimpressed bleary eyed wife! Rods were baited with popped up herrings, chest waders were donned as i waded into the margins to punch the baits out to shelf around 8 to 10ft deep. All traps laid i retreated to shelter as the temperature plummeted and the hail started to fall. Time to warm the wife with a cuppa, well that's as close I'll get after handling smelly herrings believe me! Looking out from the shelter distant lights of blue, red and white seemed to dance on the water, these were actually other anglers sending out their armada of toy boats to drop baits some 150 yards plus. Not only can i warrant the cost of such equipment but have always believed the bankside shelves to be the best features and most are within casting distance, anyway who wants to lumber all that extra gear about.
The day dragged on as did the sleet and rain and all that food and hot drinks that my wife insisted i take were a god send, their always right you know, then around 3.30pm the alarm sounded and the indicator rose to a taking fish...... finally action stations. Allowing a few feet of line to be taken i wound down and struck into what felt a reasonable fish, some good head shaking and a couple of hard surges really started to raise the estimated size of the fish. Once in the shallows some good hard lunges were stopped and some fellow anglers from Essex came down to net her for me. What a stunning looking fish and definitely over 20lb, quickly unhooked in the cradle onto the scales she went, the needle read 26lb 4oz! Even Lesley ventured out of her home for the day to have a look even if she did look unimpressed, deep down i knew she was? So a long day, bad weather and only one fish, was it worth it? You bet it was, only takes one good fish to change the day.

And back she goes.................

Chew Valley Reservoir

As Xmas and new year festivities seem long in the distant past and the days keep rolling into the new year, time doesn't half fly by these days.
I finally received my dates for Chew and was lucky enough to have the opening day. I was optimistic but reserved because despite all the press coverage about big Pike left right and center Chew can be a tough nut to crack, i have seen many a disappointed face leaving the boat stations due to high expectations.

A plan was made as to where and how to fish, due to the current cold weather i reckoned the Pike would be deep and lethargic and lures would be a waste of time. I chose an area over some old dwellings and river beds some 26feet deep where i had seen good fish taken previously.
My boat partner was my old fishing companion Paul, it was good to have him back on the banks after absence due to sad circumstances. There s no one that can spin a yarn quite like Paul.
After breakfast at the lodge and boats issued it was a mad dash to claim positions wish was easy enough as every bugger went the other way to us! To say our decision was right would be an understatement, a fish was on within 15 min of casting out a herring a nice double around 13lb that fought superbly and was in mint condition, then Paul took a nice one around 11lb. I had to chuckle as he remounted what can only be described as the oldest manky herring of enormous proportions one could ever imagine upon his trebles, obviously big bait big Pike mentality. I soon had egg on my face as this bait was picked up pretty sharpish and a tussle ensued but we won, a lovely fish of 16lb (pictured below)

The day continued like this with fish lost too, some felt quite hefty, but for me the highlight was watching a low twenty get the better of Paul, i swear there was about 3 times that fish lunged deep and fast nearly taking Paul with it.... thank god for the clutch!

The culprit below nearly had him paddling!!

Towards the days end it went really quiet then at last knockings my float went, but it was brief as the fish escaped the hooks. In total we had 11 pike 9 of which were double figure fish and cream being a twenty one pounder to Paul. No obscene sized Pike Chew is noted for but who cares when sports as good as this! There was one thing that was noticeable, all our fish were covered in leeches suggesting they were holed up hard on the the bottom so our choice of tactics was spot on.

The approach to the jetty was quite amusing, it looked absolute chaos. The bailiff was having a fit boats approaching all angles bumping and banging, i avoided this lot on approach but got yelled at to dock back round the other side, this was only possible if captain pugwash and his crew of idiots weren't causing a "mucking fuddle". Finally docked and unloaded we escaped the madness quite content on our fruits of the day.