We had an intimate get together at Timsbury on the Test yesterday prompted by the migration south of fellow forumite Mickgee.
I was rudly awoken from my slumber by Mrs Pimp nudging me in the ribs and grunting "Are you off to the river or not..."
I peeled back the quilt only to realize just how bloody cold it was, i got up and donned the thermals, trudged downstairs and made my usual fishing breakfast of 4 slices of toast with honey on and 2 double espressos... i loaded up the wagon and headed off to pick up my fishing buddy Al.
As we drew up at the fishery, Al did a double take at the cars on board computer which was telling us it was a balmy -4 degrees outside
Mick had already arrived and was ferreting about in the back of his car tackling up... opening the car door confirmed what the read out had told us ... it was FREEZING
... Jon (wye wizard) arrived shortly after us.. we all tackled up , some of us decided to put on our waders (inspite of it being bank fishing only) survival mode and all that... we made our way up the lane and circumnavigated the car park which had flooded then frozen solid and made our way to the bank.
The Grass was crisp with frost and ice underfoot, the sun hung low in the sky behind the trees of the opposite bank promising to bathe us in golden warming light.
I selected a pink czech nymph and made my first cast, the river was carrying a little colour but had a good 2 feet mor water in it compared to our last visit in October. I worked my way along the main river, casting tight up against the bank to start and gradually working my way out towards the far bank. I noticed that my line was feeling dirty and gritty, i couldnt understand this as i had cleaned and dressed the line the week before, it was becoming more and more difficult to achieve any distance with my 3 weight Loomis in spite of the fact it was totally breathless. I tried double hauling which helped a little but then i noticed that the guides of the rod were totally iced up and there was barely enough space for the line to pass through, the grit on the line was actually ice crystals . I defrosted the rings and instantly realized a vast improvement in my casting. As i watched my line drifting through the current i saw a swirl in the water that looked like a fish mobing below the surface, it was a good 6 feet close to me than my fly currently was, i lifted and recast and drifted the nymph through the area , nothing, on the second run through is saw the indicator stab forward and lifted into my first Test Graying of the day...
At this point my camera battery gave out so thats the last picture.
My phone rang and it was Ben (Bumps) he had been hoping to come along but the fishery was fully booked, however he had phoned back and the lady that owns the fishery had succumbed to his suave Navy officer charms and told him to come along.
I continued up to the end of the main river then crossed the field the short distance to the weir pool that was at the head of the carrier, as we were crossing the field Alan and i saw a great grey shrike flitting from tree to tree, a rare site indeed, i arrived at the pool and put on my polaroids there is always a few big dark shadows sat in the slack water at the periphery of the main current here but it is a tough cast to make, you have to cast and then as the line touches down you have to do a double mend upstream but not effect the drift of the nymph or pull it into the main current... after half a dozen runs through my indicator sank under, it looked like it had caught bottom to me but as i lifted the rod i felt a kicking at the end, i brought in a perfectly parr marked brownie of about six inches long, not the intended quarry but a delightful looking little fish.
My phone rang again, it was Ben letting me know he had arrived, i walked down to the carpark to meet him and to take a look at a loop rod he was selling, (the rod was in exquisite condition as all of bens fishing tackle is and a stunning wand to cast too, so thanks for the bargain Ben). We walked back down to the main river , a little socialising, gossiping and rod swapping (comparing the virtues if the ZXL and the Helios) and it was time for lunch, after hot coffee and frozen sandwiches (they were ..well different ) I showed Jon my way of making singapore leaders and gave him one to try on the river, i think he approved. we returned to the riverbank, i had a couple of pulls on the main river that didnt result in a thing, even the bait lads were struggling, i saw a couple of nice browns fall to bunches of red maggot but precious little else. I found myself back at the pool at the head of the carrier, and within a couple of minutes i was into a second Grayling similar in size to the first which fell to a pink and hares ear glister bug right at the tail of the pool...
I worked my way down the crowded carrier, most to the bait fishermen seem to have settled on there now, having the odd cast here and there where i could, i saw a couple of Graying holding in holes in the riverbed but just could not get them to move. The afternoon was wearing on, Bens Gate pass with the domestic regulation authority was already expired, he feared a court marshall upon his return, Mick left shortly after, he had a long drive ahead of him back home. I wandered back to the bank and had a few more chucks, whilst talking to Jon he noticed one of the bait boys had stuffed their line up a tree, he commented on how he hated to see mono left where wildlife could become tangled, he decided as he had his waders on to go and remove it, he put down his rod and hopped off the bank into the water, which looked to be 2 feet deep... and disappeared up to his waist...
He muttered abit about if he’d known it was that deep (and i suspect cold) he wouldn’t have bothered., we walked back across to the main river, there were only a few folk left about now, the sky was starting to darken, we were talking away and noticed a few pheasants in the stand of grass behind us amongst them was a melanistic cock bird, totally jet black something neither of us had seen before, as we fished there was a small hatch of something we couldnt see which was accompanied by a few rises, we considered having a go with dries but agreed that by the time we had changes set up it would be all over and dark. We made our way back to the cars, it was getting cold again. Jon had a flat battery, luckily crisis was averted, he had some jump leads in the boot so he wasnt stranded.
All in all a terrific day, tough fishing in beautiful surroundings with excellent company
Five go mad at Timsbury...
. it was great to put faces to the names on the forum. just shout when you are off to your liitle bit off the itchen and i will be there. i have sorted out the rod tube for al and i will bring it along to the itchen. fishing denford on the kennet sunday and hoping for a few fish to compensate for the lack of them last saturday. thanks again for everything on saturday(leader included)
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