Fishing Report: 24th August 07 - River Colne, Essex

The weather had been really nice all day and by mid-afternoon I could resist no longer and skipped work early to head upriver to have a go at the Bass that I hoped would be there. It may sound a strange comment but as it turned out, I think the weather was actually too good for bottom fishing. The flat calm weather leads to gin-clear water in the river at this time of the year and the fish move up in the water after the fry, well away from bottom fished baits.

I arrived at my mark early in the tide, as the water was just pushing over the top of the various sandbanks, and set up my rods; one to fish whole squid and the other (with a two-hook rig) to fish Ragworm and Sand Eel. By the time the baits went out, some thirty minutes later, I could see that there were Gulls working across the other side of the river and there was the odd "skittering" of fry on the surface about ten feet out from the shoreline which left me optimistic of the possibility of one or two Bass.

This was the first time I'd stopped for breath since leaving work. As I waited for the first bite I looked around me as the sun set over the saltmarsh I was reminded of how calming this place can be on a high summer evening. The low light reflects on the mass of different marsh plants that are at their best at this time of the year and the Sea Lavender bloom gives the ground a kind of violet haze in the half light; a photograph just doesn't do it justice. I've been coming here to this exact spot for nearly thirty summers now and I don't think I'll ever get bored with the view.

By the time darkness came I was still awaiting my first bite but I carried on throwing bait at the water in the hope of a Bass even though the baits were coming in hardly touched. It seemed even the crabs were not interested in my baits. On the turn of the tide I finally got a decent knock to a Ragworm bait and landed an Eel of about 8oz, closely followed by what seemed to be it's twin and having given up all hope of a Bass I decided to call it quits on two Eels and a sunset.

Fishing Report: 19th August 07 - Brightlingsea

Unfortunately the weather had roughened up a bit wind-wise during the week which had put a bit of colour in the water, but feeling in need of a "fix" I decided upon a spur of the moment spinning session along the Colne. I headed upriver with my normal light spinning gear fairly optimistic after recent success but it turned out to be one of those days when you wish you had really just stayed in bed and not bothered!

Although the water had cleared a bit from the previous few days it was still a bit too coloured for any hope of major success, although the fry were breaking the surface occasionally so the Bass were obviously feeding. Unfortunately the fish were not feeding on my lures and in the end I hammered away at it for about 4 hours and the only thing I got for it was a minor soaking from the occasional showers that were putting a dampener on things.

Just to add insult to injury, I managed to get a wet foot when a three-month old pair of Derriboots started leaking unexpectedly (shan't be buying any more of those again) and I managed to put a crack in the spigot of my favourite carp rod which has written it off. Although I've had it for years and it's seen a lot of abuse, it's still a bit of a shame to have to say goodbye to it; especially as it has caught me an awful lot of fish. All in all not the best of days.