November Update.

Hello once again.

Following on from October's post the final River Severn Classic Qualifier was cancelled twice due to high river levels, following rain.

As a result of this I decided to fish an open at Brookside in order to at least catch a few fish following the struggles of late. However the weather played an important role. In the days leading up to the match it had been relatively mild and the nights frost free. On the Sunday morning that I decided to go the previous night was the first proper cold one and it remained very cold all day. Trust me to pick a days fishing once the cold kicks in. Anyway I had made my choice to go and that was that. When I arrived at the draw only 8 others had bothered as well. (Partridge and Blundells being more popular lately) The owner decided that the match would be spilt over the front and back snake lakes and have a winner from each lake. Therefore 4 or so fished on the front and the other 4 fished on the back.

I drew peg 51 on back snake, which one of the regulars said might produce. I had with me maggots pellets and corn. I had also killed some maggots and planned to use dead maggots as feed and hookbait to see if an inert bait might tempt the wary fish. The peg was about 12 metres wide, so I only set up 2 rigs one for the far bank and a rig for fishing in the deeper water before the it shelved up to the far bank at about 11 metres out to the left and right hand side. One swim would be fed with a small amount of pellets and corn, and the other would get the dead maggots. The far bank swim was only fed with a few pellets, couple of pieces of corn topped off with a little groundbait in a small kinder pot. After feeding the swims I started on the far bank line hoping to catch an early F1 or 2. Needless to say following the frost it was very slow, and no bites came to pellet or corn. Very little was being caught from what I could see, but I was a little concerned about the slight cold breeze that was blowing from right to left. Usually the F1's move away from a cold wind into a more sheltered area. So it was just a case of keeping my head down, trying each swim and concentrating. With about an hour and a half left I caught an Ide on maggot on the left hand maggot swim, this followed a few more and then an F1, I keep trickling a few dead maggots in and I started to get frequent bites. By now the light was starting to fade and the temperature was dropping further. A few fish were starting to move about now as well, with the odd swirl around the peg. I tried the far bank swim again and caught a couple of nice sized F1's. By now it was a little too late and I weighed 12lb odd, not too bad for only 1.5 hours fishing in the conditions I suppose, but 33lb won the match from peg 58. Once again this just shows that if you do not fish any venues regularly you will struggle to do well.

At least I had my elastic pulled a bit and caught a few fish.

The last River Severn Classic qualifier went ahead despite the river being higher than the organisers would have liked, but time was becoming a limiting factor. Following the previous poor results from the river I had decided that I would mainly be fishing a chopped worm feeder with sections of worm for hookbait, praying that I might catch a few fish. To be honest I was not expecting very much at all, but it seemed the only viable method following recent results.

Low and behold I managed to draw peg 80 again, following the blank in match 3 I was not looking forward to it, but you have to try and remain positive. After all anything could happen with a river that has been high but is starting to drop. I set up the chopped worm feeder as well as a bolo rig and stick float, just to try and keep me occupied more than anything. I started on the feeder, just with an underarm swing about 11 metres out. The loose plan was just to try different areas of the peg but without casting too far out, leaving the bait in the water for 10 mins or so. After 20 mins I got my first slight indication as the tip knocked slightly, then it trembled and I lifted into a small fish, which turned out to be a Ruffe, I got another Ruffe shortly after that and then a long period of no bites. I tried the stick and bolo more in hope and desperation than anything. Needless to say nothing was caught on the float. After a couple of hours I went for a quick walk upstream a few pegs to see if anyone was having any better luck. At the same time another angler was walking and told me that only 1 dace had been caught in my section. So I went back to the peg and sat down to try and concentrate on catching whatever I could on the worm. Whatever bites I got, which may or may not have been bites, could only be classed as odd movements on the tip, not the usual plucks etc. By just guessing at what was a bite or not I managed to get 2 more Ruffe before the all out. I was first to weigh in my section and my 4 fish totalled 3 oz, the angler next door had 2 fish for 2oz. Once again not exactly the best fishing.

Back in the pub, some people were saying that I had qualified, but I preferred to wait for the proper results. In the end 1 Eel weighing 1lb 9oz won the match and there was one other weight over a 1lb. Fourth place was 5oz, which was caught from my section that meant I had won the section by default and thereby qualifying for the final. I also won a keepnet from the sponsors of the match. In the end I am made up to have qualified, it's just been a shame for everyone involved that the river has fished so badly.

As I write this the final should have been yesterday, but the weather has put pay to it. Following the recent snow fall and freezing temperatures, it was decided that the final be postponed to mid January due to the adverse weather and health and safety reasons. The river level at the moment is fine, however the banks must be dangerous and no doubt the roads into Shrewsbury might be tricky. So now I will wait for mid January and the final. If the River's form does not pick up it could be anyone's match to win, so in that sense I am looking forward to it, but it would be nice to catch a few plump roach and dace that the stretch was once famous for.

I must say a big congratulations to all those hardy souls who have qualified and a big thank you to all the people involved in organising the event.

Tight Lines.