Hello all

Hello all. As this is my first blog and I cannot think of a compelling intro I’ll crack on with it. You can expect this and my future post to be about the angling adventures of my friends and myself. I am 22 years old, from Exeter (south west of England) and love fishing wild waters such as rivers. I do venture onto lakes when the fish are calling, but most of my angling time is spent on the banks of the great River Exe. I am an all round angler, targeting my chosen species when I know there is a good chance of catching.

At the moment (as most know) a lot of anglers are out chasing the thrilling Esox Lucius (Pike) or are thinking about packing their gear away for the winter as the temperature drops and the nights are drawing in. The only thing that has kept me from fishing is the horrific flooding we've had across the country. I don’t know about you but for me personally I wouldn't risk my life to wet a line.

Anyway, on to my fishing.

I had been down to the river for a few sessions in pursuit of a decent Chub to no prevail. The Exe is in no way a Chub water, it holds a hand full of good fish to most peoples’ standards however at the moment I am finding them rather hard to locate. The weather conditions haven’t been in my favour to say the least with a high pressure around for while, but that has never stopped me before so why would it now.

I set out after a three day blank in search of a bite again, though this time accompanied by a back-up plan in the form of my pike gear and some dead baits, I was pretty sure Id have a fish by the end of the day. In addition the high pressure had started moving away and the temperature rose by a couple degrees, so I was feeling confident. So as I walked through the bushes and trees covered with all the litter left by recent flooding something caught my eye, it was another angler, which is rare due to the trek to the swim. More importantly, he was in the swim that I had been pre-baiting. Nevertheless, I set up in a different swim, which I had been baiting previously. An hour or so passed and there was no sign of any fish whatsoever. I continued to move swim roughly every hour, moving down the river with the bait and still no joy. Having tried every swim that’s good for Chub on the stretch without even the slightest indication of a fish, I retired to a trusty Pike swim for the last hour of my day.

Rods outs and baits in place I sat down anticipating a bite after the slow day Id been having. Only ten minutes or so had past when my bite alarm sounded, as you can imagine I was eager to see what had found the mackerel on the other end. After about five seconds the fish picked up the bait and shot off, trying to take my rod with it; I wound down to it and gave a firm strike. The hooks set, then the fish tail walked and I was over the moon. A few minutes past with a good old scrap, then it saw the back of the net.

                                               9lb 10oz (slightly out of focus picture)

Not the biggest in the fish in the river, however I was still a happy man. After some snaps and quick weigh, it was slipped back to fight another day.

With a fresh bait in position I poured a cuppa and viewed the pictures which where all out of focus and I was not impressed. No longer than ten minutes had past and the alarm’s gone again; I wound down to it, struck, and I couldn't believe my luck, I was in again to what felt a bigger fish.

11lb 11oz

Well after that bit of thrilling action, with pictures and weighing done, I slipped it back safely. I packed up my gear as I didn't have any more bait then returned home with a smile on my face.

Happy days. The back-up plan came through and saved the day, ending a string of blanks.

Until till next time.

Tight lines