The Big Fish Column by Ian Welch

Dreadful conditions during the Easter break did not just result in hard times for retailers during one of the busiest periods of the year; this season it was exactly the same for anglers!

Easter traditionally heralds the start of the spring fishing season and it is a time when a lot of anglers get back out on the banks after the winter.

This year the unusually early Easter did not just mean the holiday came right on the back of the end of the river season but it also coincided with snow, frost and wintry showers – hardly conducive to the first of the tench and crucians.

Unsurprisingly few ventured out over the break and those who did were largely rewarded with blanks or meagre returns but there were a few fish caught prior to the onset of the worst of the weather.

For any sort of consistency the commercials are the places to be when the going gets tough and they can usually be guaranteed to bring a bite or two in the worst of conditions and so it proved for Andy Green who spent a session on

Woolwich Green before the worst of the weather arrived.
Fishing a pole at 14 metres Andy presented either carp pellet or corn to a size 16 hook and 3lb line hard on the bottom beneath a 1g float to net carp and bream to 4lb and a few small silvers for a total net estimated at around 30lb.

Andy’s fishing partner Clive Innes opted for the method feeder and netted fewer fish but of a slightly better stamp for a similar weight.

Andy used corn on a size 14 hook to 4lb line in a bed of Swimstim Method Mix groundbait flavoured with a squirt of CSL.

Pike can be notoriously difficult to tempt at this time of year because of the spawning movements and activity but the cold snap appears to have got them feeding again on at least one local water where George Moss presented a half herring deadbait below a float to record a nice end of season fish weighing 15lb 8oz.

Twyford-based George presented his bait on a size 6 snap tackle to 15lb line and also netted a smaller fish to a smelt bait legered down the edge.

The weather for the week ahead looks to be a little more promising and although there is no suggestion that we shall have a sudden warming, the steady rise of temperature should at least deliver a little more consistency to results this coming weekend.

Bream and carp are likely to make up the bulk of the early catches, but roach and good perch are showing on a couple of local venues including the Royal Berkshire and they are well worth targeting.

* Any anglers wishing to report catches may contact me on 07780 755138 or ian@bigfishtrail.com.