With a couple of hours in the afternoon to spare, I drove down to Braybrooke’s Jeanes Pond this week for a test session, to see if the tench and carp were still feeding. A light drizzle was falling, despite a temperature of 24 Centigrade, creating a very humid atmosphere, that saw me ready to strip off to my tee-shirt by the time I’d reached peg 16.

I mixed up a groundbait of liquidised bread, ground pellets and hemp, with a covering of strawberry flavouring, this damped down to allow it to be pressed into a baitdropper, the idea being to drop the feed to the bottom away from the many hungry fry populating the surface layers. With a heavy 2 gram antenna float to a size 14 barbless hook attached to the baitdropper, I dropped a line of feed at 6 metres out and was ready to fish, punching out an 8 mm pellet of bread and swinging it out over the the drop off. The float settled, then raised and I struck, feeling a roach bouncing away close to the bottom.

Not a bad roach to start with. Another 8 mm punch on the hook and the float lifted again, this time the elastic absorbing the initial run from roach number two.

Better by two ounces, this was encouraging, as the three inch fry were not getting down to my bait, which was just resting on the bottom, with a No 4 shot six inches up from the hook, the fish lifting the weight as they took the bread, this enough to raise the antenna, while the bulk of the shot remained steady. This is a classic tench rig, but it works perfectly well for fine biting roach.

A few smaller roach followed, then the bites got fussy. This was not going to plan, I expect the bites to become more positive, not the opposite. Fine bubbles were rising from the groundbait, but the float was only trembling. Often the bait was gone. More baitdropped feed went in. The surface was a mass of bubbles, but the roach got smaller. There was no sign of a pike in the swim. I missed a couple of runaway bites, then…………..

THIS

A large signal crayfish

This was the cause of the fine bubbles. Crayfish marching across the bottom to feast on my groundbait.

I put an extra length on my pole, increasing it to seven metres and cast beyond the bubbles, letting the bait fall through. The float bobbled, then lifted. I was playing another roach.

I decided against the baitdropper and threw in a couple of squeezed up pidgeon egg sized balls to keep the roach interested, hoping not to attract the underwater army of crayfish. Another decent roach followed.

Feeling that I’d cracked it by fishing further out in deeper water, I put out another firm ball and caught more roach, some small that went straight back. The lift method was working well, then another crayfish with a death wish. They were following the groundbait.

I put on another joint, stopped feeding and hooked a better roach on the drop, but lost it before the landing net. Another dithering bite and no bait. Then my third cray. A lift bite followed with a better roach again. These roach were down there, but the crays were getting there first.

After two hours, the Jeanes Pond of old would have been producing one of these roach a cast, but now it was a lottery. At last a tench bite, the float bobbled and slowly sank away to the left. I lifted into my fourth crayfish. That was it. I packed up.

I had always thought that crayfish only ate meat based baits, having stuck to the bread on other waters that were infested with crays and never been troubled, but now will have to try a different mix of groundbait, as they seem to love mine.

Pulling out my keepnet, there was not much to show for the afternoon, although I had managed to avoid the tiny roach. Maybe next time, I’ll take a bucket and stick to catching the crayfish.

 

 

 

 

 

Following a period of no bites, due to polluted coloured water on my local River Cut last week, a friend offered to carry out some tests on water samples this week, but first I had to fish through a pollution cycle to take samples. Arriving at my chosen swim by 10 am, the river already had the brown stained look, and I was not hopeful for a bite.

As I tackled up, another Braybrook club member was returning to the carpark, saying that he had caught a 2 lb carp and a few smaller chub a hundred yards downstream that morning on bread, which was encouraging. I already had my 14 foot Browning float rod made up with a 5 No 4 Ali stemmed stickfloat, but due to a broken 3 lb hook link playing a big mirror carp last week, I went up to a 4 lb link to a size 14 barbless hook just in case.

I followed a small ball of plain liquidised bread with the float rig and trotted it through, being surprised that the float disappeared, feeling the resistance of a decent fish that required the landing net, the white mouth of a chub appearing on the surface.

I had not expected that bite and proof that it was not a fluke came on the next cast, when a roach took the 8 mm punch of bread. Maybe the pollution had already passed through?

Another small ball of feed threequarters over saw a fussy bite, but a slight pull back of the float resulted in the float going under and another roach going in the net.

I was getting back into the swing of fishing the stickfloat, when the pace of the river began to pick up, a sure sign that more polluted water was on the way, along with fiddly gudgeon bites.

Biteless again. My keepnet faded into the murk. I had a couple of small jam jars with string attached for my samples and tied one jar upright in my landing net and lowered it into the middle for my sample, then brought it back, screwing the top on tight.

Although the river appeared brown, the collected sample was only slightly opaqe, although my friend assures me that his microscope will be able to identify the suspended matter. He is looking for sewage fungus. What I am interested in is where the influx of water is coming from. It must be many litres, as  the whole river speeds up. Thames Water again?

I now had plenty of time on my hands, until the river cleared again. I mixed up a sweet carp friendly groundbait and seeded it on my side of the river, where it is slack, plus putting a few balls over to the three quarter line. Sandwiches were eaten and a few more 4 lb to size 14 hooks tied.

I’d added depth to my float and was laying on over my “carp” groundbait, when a burst of bubbles got my attention. The float lay flat, then moved off. I braced, then struck. A roach had taken the bread. Disappointed, I netted a decent roach.

This was a good sign and I put another ball of feed over and another inside. More bubbles and the dull shape of a carp could be seen, it’s tail disturbing the surface. I recast over the disturbance. The float bobbed and sank away. I struck. A lively dace had swept up the bread, which I netted quickly.

Back over the feed, bubbles were still rising and I put the float right over the top. Seconds later the float zoomed under and downstream, pulling the rod round and I lifted my finger on the spool as I raised the rod. One kick and the carp was gone. The fine wire 14 had opened out.  This swim is regularly fished for carp. I had found a broken method feeder on the ground that morning and guess that they have become wary of anglers. Another ten minutes laying on produced no more bites.

It was time to go back over to the three quarter line, that I had been feeding. There was no fussing with the next bite, the float only travelled a couple of feet before sinking out of sight. I lifted into the best roach yet, which ran hard for the opposite bank searching for a snag, before zigzagging back to the landing net.

The river was clearing rapidly now and bites were coming thick and fast, although most of the culprits were very small chublets and slightly larger roach, which hung onto the bait, bobbing and dipping the float. A sharp induced take usually resulted in a fish on, or a positive bite. Thankfully the gudgeon had gone and the general size of the roach had increased. A small chub gave a hard fight.

I had been throwing a small ball of feed over every other cast and the fish were waiting, another good roach coming to the net.

The river was speeding up again, I was still catching, but the bites were less enthusiastic and induced takes ruled, this roach being my last decent fish.

It was still relatively early in the afternoon, but I decided to pack up. I’d taken my two samples and had a decent fishing session, despite the lulls. Shame about that carp, it was another lump, but I would probably have lost it eventually.

The bread punch ruled again.