This weeks adventure saw me having a very early start on Wednesday morning...In fact I had a poor night sleep or lack of sleep I should say. I set the alarm for 4am but in reality I hadn't actually switched off all night. I was up around 3.30am and making fresh coffee for my flasks and eating my 4 weetabix! Yes 4! What a man!!! I eventually left the house around 4.30 and started the journey North up the M50 to Worcester. I got to the venue around 6.30 am after stopping for a Mcdonalds Mcmuffin and a coffee.
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| My first swim on the beautiful River Teme |
The light was just coming round and I parked in the field next to the river at the bottom of the syndicate on the River Teme. The section in question run by the Barbel Society. A stunning venue with a private drive and very secluded stretch. I had a walk along the lower beat and found a rousing number of gorgeous swims that i really fancied trying out.
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| Typical jungle warfare swim on the Teme |
I got back to the car and unloaded my kit....took a gentle walk to my first choice swim on the back end of some fast water where the water seemed to drop off and become less turbulent. I started with a rod on the straight lead (3oz) with a pellet hook bait and the other rod with a 100gm blockend feeder and maggots on it. The first 2 hours or so passed with no action at all, so i decided to move down the river a little to my next choice swim.
This swim had a lovely section of deepish slack water after a tree that entered the water. I decided to put out about 6-8 dropper fulls of maggots and 2/4mm halibut pellets and fish a single rod with the feeder and maggots on it. I sat for about 40 minutes and around 5-6 casts into the swim before I was taken quite by surprise by a good bite. A quick strike saw the hook home and it was a good battle that ensued. After a couple of minutes of tussling for the advantage, I was in control and guiding a nice plump 4lb 2oz winter chub to the net. I grabbed a couple of nice pics and put her back.
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| My first ever fish from the Teme at 4lb 2oz |
I fished the swim a while longer but to no avail....It was a case of moving around a little to try and find a few odd fish here and there....I tried a few other likely spots but nothing...Eventually i decided to go back to the car and drive up to the top end of the beat in search of other hidden treasures. I read the parking details on the permit and followed them a bit too precisely as I found myself very very stuck in deep mud in the car park/cow field! After about 30 minutes of rolling the car, digging around the tires etc, I decided I really did need to get a little help from the nearby farm. I trundled over to find 2 fellas loading up a 4x4 and I asked them sheepishly for some help....
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| Loving using the center pin these days! |
They were more than obliging and got me out by pulling the car with a long tow rope. What a mare and highly embarrassing! After about 2 hours of messing around I got back on the bank on the top stretch of the river. I found a couple of swims that took my fancy. I tried a big deep hole on the bend of a wide section,but I just couldn't get myself comfortable and confident. I finally opted to end the day in a slightly faster shallower swim near the car. This produced another nice small chub and a handful of missed bites and unfortunately a lost fish too. I got home around 8.30pm after a long 110 mile drive home tired but happy!
