It feels like Groundhog Day writing these monthly blogs this year. The fishing and the fish count gets worse every month! If it hadn’t been for my boy turning his back on his float for a couple of minutes and me striking a bite and refusing to let him wind in the tiny Perch on the end, I wouldn’t have caught a single fish! And thinking about it, I think that’s the only time I went fishing. There’s no doubt it was a busy month with weekends filled with some really lovely occasions so time was tight but added to that was not feeling 100%. If you’re fishing on borrowed time in less than ideal conditions; unless your head is really in it and up for it, it gets a bit too easy to get out of the habit of going fishing.
The first weekend of the month was spent celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We grabbed a night away and just happened to find a room with a view in St Ives (what are the chances…). Whenever I’m sat with a view of the sea I am constantly watching. Looking across St Ives Bay and over to Hayle river mouth, with a southerly breeze and a small swell, the bay was pretty much flat calm. At first light, in the mizzle, the mackerel boats were out, hopefully filling up. I watched and I watched through the binoculars until eventually, there they are, a pod of dolphins came rolling through the bay. Judging by they behaviour and in particular the hard tail slaps, it looked like they had found some fish themselves and were feeding. I was half expecting to see tuna working in the bay as well but if they were there, I didn’t see them.
After that came more life admin, buying a new car, kids’ football training, windy days, work; all the stuff that might stop you from getting the rods out. And on the evenings during the week, there was some really crap weather that like I said earlier, when you’re not feeling 100% is way too easy to say, I’ll do some jobs rather than stand in the rain on the beach.
At the end of the month, during the half term we had a few days away together in the really excellent Clawford Lakes resort. It certainly wasn’t a fishing holiday but with about 10 lakes on site, I did of course pack a few rods. It really is a nice resort and a hot tub was right up my street. There’s a couple of lakes on the complex with few carp and a good variety of “silvers” so that’s where we grabbed a few hours. The air pressure was sky high and the wind was completely still so its little wonder the fishing was a little slow but we eventually found a few feeding fish. The kids enjoyed a steady stream of Perch, Roach, Rudd, Tench and, a Barbel! Now I’ve fished the Wye on a couple of occasions hoping for a Barbel but haven’t succeeded yet. In fairness, the conditions on each trip couldn’t have been more different but both were equally as bad. The first was at the end of the season, the temperature was rock bottom and the river was dirty and rising. I didn’t see any Barbel although I did see a couple of very big “Springer” Salmon jump. What fish they were! The second attempt was literally a couple of hours whilst on a Stag Do! It was red hot, the river was low and crystal clear and I managed a nice Chub but no Barbel. But to me that’s where they should be, in a river. Every fish in the lake we were fishing had been stocked so there was in many respects, nothing natural about any of it. But a Barbel for me, is that incredible shape that it is, because it’s a river fish. I knew there were a couple in the lake we were fishing but I really didn’t expect us to catch one. The kids were naturally chuffed and delighted to learn they’d caught something I had never caught but for one of them at least, their dream of a first Barbel is now over. When I do catch my first Barbel, I look forward to catching it from some beautiful flowing water.
If you’re after a family holiday in the Devon countryside that’s got some good fishing on site, I’d really recommend Clawford Lakes.
As for me and my fishing, I’ve got an afternoon with an old mate at a fishing lake planned. I don’t think the fishing will be serious but if we’re lucky we might catch one (or two!). The new car gets a tow bar fitted next week so that makes the boat available again. I just need the current calm winds to play ball and give me a chance of getting out there whilst the fishing is still good.
Best of luck, I hope you’re catching more than me!
