Know Your Streams and Rivers
Getting to know your streams and rivers will give you a terrific advantage when you want to fish them.
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Small streams and rivers can contain many specimen fish the trick is to find the hiding places where these fish feed. Walking a riverbank with your eyes open can reveal likely hotspots for example do trees and bushes trail into the water giving shelter to a large fish waiting to ambush any prey that comes to near. Does the colour of the water change in certain spots looking darker indicating a hole or weed cover? All these things can be picked up by simply walking and watching. Even take notes at different times of the year certain places depending on water height may offer cover when before it was barren. Check bends in the river as it will often cut away into the bank again giving fish a hiding place. In other words if you take the time to study your water you will give yourself many more options to catch the desired fish.
Even a small stream can give you many options on how to fish it from shallows to weirs, fast water to sluggish straight or with bends. Each and every spot is slightly different and offers the fisherman different challenges. On some spots you need to be able to cast with accuracy to get your bait to the waiting fish on others you simply allow your bait to drift down to the feeding fish. Whatever the method you use knowledge of the water can give you an edge. One river I fish has got a small weir where the river drops a couple of feet this has created a feature called a basin. I have caught a number of large chub at this spot by simply allowing my hook bait to fall over the weir to where the fish are hopefully waiting. This method has worked better for me at this spot than any other I have tried. I believe it is because it is a natural feeding spot and the fish wait for food to drop from above. Just a few hundred yards away the same method invariably fails.
So in conclusion I believe a little homework and a good walk can do wonders not only for your health but also your ability to catch fish.
2 Comments
Great short article. Alot of people unfamilair with river fishing should find this helpful. I find myself doing this sort of thing all the time. On a different note, chubs? Do you eat them? What do they taste like? Do you have to smoke them to make them tasty? Good job.
Hi Schaller thanks for taking the time to read my scribble.
As to eating chub In the UK it is called a coarse fish meant for sport not the pot. Though I am sure it could be eaten.