March Diary … continued

16th March : Quick few hours on the river Aisne. It was relatively mild and sunny, but the river was high and pushing though very fast, so it was impossible to fish the line I wanted, coupled with the fact that debris moved my feeders about even when I loaded 6oz on each rod.
One fish lost in a snag was the only action.

18^th March : Not to be discouraged, and with the brief mild spell holding I headed out this time to the Marne where I had a few fish earlier in the month. Same swim same conditions but with the flow significantly less. 100-125g held bottom fine on the crease line that is so productive.

After just 30 minutes the left had rod with two halibut pellets arched over and a small frisky 4lb 6oz barbel slipped into the net.
After about an hour the same rod received a couple of taps and I hooked a small 2lb 6oz chub.

Third bite, this time on the boilie rod resulted in a slightly bigger 3lb 8oz Chub. They were getting bigger, but still not what I was really after. I therefore upped my bait size to a 21mm halibut pellet in an attempt to deter the small fish. Wrong !! the next bite was another small chub of 3lb 2oz.

But still it had been a very pleasant day on the river and a few fish even if the better ones eluded me.

23^rd March : As the fish were obviously feeding on the river a trip the following Friday was planned with Laurent who had the day off work. I suggested we go back to the Marne, to which he agreed. However when we got there the river was tanking through. The level was only fractionally higher than earlier in the week, but it had really picked up pace.
I loaded the rods with the heaviest feeders I had and with 6oz of lead I could barely hold bottom at 15 yards out. The crease lies at about 25 yards so I knew I’d not be on the fish.
I persevered with little or no action to any of our rods. Finally, just as I was about to call it a day, I had a timid take on the pellet rod and a small barbel was landed … all of 2lb 9oz. One of the smallest I’ve ever taken on the river. He took two 16mm pellets too.

24^th & 25^th March: News that one of the carp anglers on the Croix Blanche Lake had had a decent tench I decided to set up in the swim opposite to see if I too couldn’t bank a fat tinca.
I’ve recently purchased a few of the ESP mega Method feeders in the 70g weight. Now these are a superb bit of end tackle. Way better in my mind than any of the other method type feeders. You can get upto 35g of pellet groundbait on one and present a neat pop up or bottom bait right in the bait. Easier & quicker to use than PVA bags or sticks, I think they are brilliant. I’d already used the small Drennan method feeders last year with some success, but always felt they were too small. These are just the ticket.

Anyway I built up the swim casting to two spots every hour. By mid afternoon I was getting a few beeps on the Microns. Around 5pm I had a positive take on the Quest Gurkka pop up and landed a slab of a bream that weighed 7lb 4oz.

I cast back out and after a meal I started to get lots of taps and beeps on the buzzers but no positive, strikable bites. I went to bed and nothing much happened until 6.20am when I had a fast run on the pop up rod again.

This time is was no bream but a 27lb 6oz mirror in cracking condition. I started to pack up as I was due to take part in our French Fishing Forum Social on the local canal.

I drove the short distance to the tow path where several of the group were already waiting. Now I’m not a big canal fan, but this stretch is supposed to have some good carp, and even chub and barbel.

Oddly enough for a canal it is has a very fast current, due to the presence downstream of a EDF Electricity plant.
I set up my two quiver tip rods,  but due to the ice cold wind, and flow, I actually needed 100g in the feeder to hold and fish comfortably.

This though was more of a social than a serious fish-in, but I stuck at it hoping that my luck would hold and I’d bump into a carp or two. But it wasn’t to be….
After a friendly and tasty picnic with the members and with only three small bream, that took 12mm boilies nonetheless, I knocked it on the head.

The last few weeks, while more productive than mid winter have still been difficult. The winter with its cold, snowy weather has just seemed interminable, and the end it not yet in sight. As we head into April, night time temperatures of -8°C are forecast. Its hard to remember what a warm summer’s day feels like.
The last few weeks have seen me bank my first carp & barbel of the year though, so I can’t really complain.  Roll on summer!!

Cheers

Gareth