Click the above images to enlarge
Although the conditions aren’t favourable at the moment (very cold), you can still catch. The key is to target the right species, in the right place, using the right methods and the right bait. Bearing that in mind, I headed to a small brook that I have fished in the past, with roach on the menu. Fishing a single red maggot on a size 18 hook, I was more than confident as I made my way across the wasteland to reach the small waterway.
As you can see from the images above, it’s a small brook and very shallow. That’s why you target the bends, which will be deeper, and of course features such as overhanging trees or even trees that have fallen in the water.
I blanked in one swim, but making my way upstream to another, I hit the jackpot with twenty roach and one chub. They were tightly packed, and I was surprised that I had the number that I did, because usually you catch a few and the disturbance puts the others off. Not that I am complaining though, far from it. As you can see from the images above, they were decent fish as well, considering the venue.
I was only there a short time. These are the sort of venues that you wouldn’t travel a great distance to fish but as I do a lot of angling to and from work, it’s about being efficient with time and making the most of every opportunity.
On this occasion, following the session I was on my way to a top flight Welsh football game, as The New Saints FC hosted Carmarthen Town in the JD Cymru Premier. As I’ve said more than a few times previously, fishing and football, not a bad life, eh!
I have done a lot of brook fishing in the last few years. You can access all the blog entries, including videos, by typing ‘brook’ in the search engine at the base of the page.