If you read the title of this post then you will have probably gathered that I have once again not gone fishing this week. Had the river not risen greatly then I may have been tempted to have given it a few hours today (Sunday) for some chub fishing. However, that was never going to happen as the river was very dirty again sadly. I have received a few messages asking me for some advice of where and how to fish on the river during lockdown (as many lakes are closed) so in this post I will put a bit of info best I can on. I think fishing the river is a good idea as it keeps you away as much as possible from others when you are at your peg fishing, and keeping your distance from others is simply paramount. (Note all my suggestions are made not knowing where you are reading this and are Bristol / Bath areas, so remember to stay local as instructed and make sure you have a club ticket and check if the club is still allowing fishing.) I have also chucked in a couple of alternatives to the river.
1) Very high / coloured river conditions. I've put this first since it seems to be what we are faced with so often and will be for a week or so again it seems. If the river is bank high and you really want to go on the river then you are really going to struggle and will be looking to fish groundbait feeder with lobworms picking a place with a bit of slack / eddy. Just below the locks at Keynsham is one place where you can fish, but it can be popular with pleasure anglers and a busy spot. Fishing with a pole in the canal cut itself would be a better idea, plenty of dace and bleak get in there, roach too, and occasionally odd bream and I once had a 3lb chub there. In Bath the Western Cut is somewhere I used to go and catch on whips and pole but I haven't been there for years. The other option is to forget the river and get on the canal at Bath and fish good old bread punch at 5m on a pole or whip. Again the only issue here maybe a busy towpath, so think before you choose. If you are lucky enough to live in Bristol then the Bristol Docks is a great place to go. Already in 2021 there have been good bags of bream and skimmers from there. I haven't fished it for years so cannot advise precise details of where to fish, but from reports I have seen on Facebook it is fishing well in most places using groundbait feeder.
2) Coloured pacey river. A fast but coloured river where you can fish a groundbait feeder sensibly out to say 13m is what I am suggesting here. I would look to fish the Bathampton AA Newbridge water as it holds plenty of roach, skimmers, bream and odd eels. Many pegs are worth fishing here, but I will pick out some of my favourites. Above the bridge peg 10 and peg 12 are decent, below the bridge 16 and 18. Peg 24 is off the bend and a steady peg, and hese are all short walks. Further on 36 and 39 on the straight are usually good for bream, as are any pegs in the 50's. Further down river Chequers angling club have the river from below jack whites to field next to Chequers pub car park. There are a lot bream down here and they can be caught on the first pegs on the straight and then once round the bend they can show anywhere. Gbait feeder, with worms, casters, dead maggots in the feeder, use a heavyish gbait as you don't want it to wash away, but if you reel in and the bait is still in the feeder after 5 mins then it is too heavy, or don't plug it so hard. When you cast the feeder a gentle under arm swing is all that is needed, and look to drop the feeder in downstream a bit. Getting the right quiver tip is something that comes with practice, but assuming you are fishing into the flow then you want a curve in the tip, but it should not be bent right around, and neither should it be poker straight. 2oz or 3oz are usually my most used tips unless you are lucky enough to have a big slack then maybe 1.5oz. Don't fish light, I would fish at least 0.15 powerline hook lengths with size 14 or 12 hooks as big bream in a fast current pull hard, and if you get some eels in your peg they can be good fighters and small teeth will bite your line! Your choice of worms, casters, and maggots on the hook, bunches, coocktails, as big baits in coloured water are best and somedays one combination is better than the other.
3) Clear pacey river. After so much rain our river can lose the colour and go clear but still be a bit pacey. On these days only a handful of pegs may be float fishable, but Saltford straight is one of the first places I would head for, but at present you cannot park behind your peg so bear this in mind. You can still catch on the feeder at Newbridge and some days the bream shoal up and this is when you can catch a big bag, I had 90lb on peg 18 in conditions like this. If you want to catch some chub then probably Swineford is a good shout, if too fast for the float try feeder or lead and get some bait into them. I have caught chub on most baits but maggots are good at this time of the year, if you get pestered by small fish or want to be selective then try lobworms, luncheon meat, pellet, bread or maybe even a bit of smelly cheese. Don't fish light as chub are hard fighters and will head for any snags. 0.15 minimum on the feeder. In these conditions on a feeder cast it straight in front of you, you want to put a bow in the line and keep the rod high in the air on a rod rest, as you are looking for drop back bites (where the tip is bent round normally but then springs back as a fish hooks itself and moves the feeder down stream due to the bow). Casting down stream will not make the bites so obvious. It can be a fun way of fishing as the bites are out of the blue and quite dramatic, resist striking hard as the fish should be hooked and you don't want to snap on the bite.
4) Steady river float fishing. Options are now much wider of course, and you can run a float down any part of the river. However, as we head towards the end of the season roach (the main stay of what we expect to catch on the float) can be shoaled up, meaning lots of pegs with no fish in, so location is really important and this can change! I remember one year when there was a good shoal of roach in Bath town, but there were only 4 pegs where these fish were. Another time I saw Kev Boltz catch 100lb of chub in Bath town but nobody else caught. Down at Conham park there have been great dace and roach catches in 2020, so this could be a good end of season bet, but there are limited pegs and I would not go at the weekend as you will be surrounded by walkers, this is free fishing. Back up at Chequers you should get some nice dace and roach and there is a good chance of the odd chub too. Jack Whites hasn't had a mention so far, but the top end of this stretch is shallow and fast, and then it deepens off after the big cow drink to about 12 feet deep. There are some nice chub and dace to be caught through here and you have the choice to go for the shallow or deep pegs, but be warned the banks are steep in a lot of pegs and you should take a rope. The Crane stretch above Jack Whites is an excellent stretch for float fishing for roach, I have had 20lb+ bags in matches and I once saw Shaun Townsend catch 31lb of them. Once you have gone over the cattle grid the first two pegs before the tree can be good, but then I would normally prefer to fish the pegs from past the gantry structure all the way up into the next two fields. Swineford again can be great for a days float fishing and some big bags of chub can come out. Saltford straight, and Newbridge can also be good. Tactics are varied, and each method can work. Fishing a pole at 10 to 13 metres is a great way to present your bait and have good control over your float. Throwing 6 to 10 balls of gbait with casters and hemp in at the start is common way in matches, then feeding casters and hemp over the top. However, fishing with a 13BB crowquill or a 6 no4 to 10 no4 stick float in the shallower pegs if the pace is right, will work and I like these methods when pleasure fishing. fishing from 10 metres to mid river and just loose feeding hemp and casters or maggots will get bites. For those days when the river is in good nick a waggler fished past mid river feeding lots of maggots can bring chub. If you intend fishing for roach then fish fairly light, 0.12 to 18 is a good start, but you might have to go to 0.10 to a 20. If fishing for chub then 0.14 to a strong 18 or 16 hook.
All of the above is a very general guide and it helps if the fish want to feed of course! If you haven't fished a river before then make sure to tread carefully, if the banks are wet they can be slippery, do not get into the river at this time of year. Always cast your float down stream to get best control of it, and feed in front of you or down stream slightly. If you are interested in pike, then take a lure rod or similar as when the river drops if you are catching roach on the float you may well get a visit from Mr Pike, and on some occasions I have had multiple pike in my swim (I once caught three in a match but they did not count).
I will not be able to fish next weekend as I have to self isolate for a week now prior to going into hospital for a minor op. I also have to have a covid test before I can go in, and have been told of the appointment today, I have to go to Ashton Gate of all places and have something shoved up my nose lol, might wear my rovers shirt then.
Stay safe.
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