I heard that Tony Marshall and friends were organising a match on the newer selected parts of the river soar for the Winter League, these included the Abbey , Brinks and Osiers. We all met at the Barrow Town FC and drew our pegs . I plucked out peg 11 at the Osiers and fellow MAS angler John Waples drew peg 9 on the Abbey. He also met up with fishing buddy from years ago Pete Jayes who was on peg 4 of the Abbey.
The Osiers was easy to get to and access to the field was good parking at the far corner of the field near the 'wires' . From there you went thro a swing gate and over a narrow footbridge to the river. Turning left to walk up to the footbridge next to the lock .It was a bit tough dis-embarking your gear of the trolley and reassembling on the other side but there are plenty of fellow anglers to help in the process.
Then you are on the early pegs 1 to 7 , after the railway bridge the trek is a little tough and not so good for the trolley so try and leave it it with the angler at the bridge. Alternatively travel light and that is something i shall definately do next time if i get pegged there.
Advice :
- Take a smaller box or take out a few trays you dont need.
- Have less in your rod bag , 4 tops should cover it
- 2 rods , one stick/wag and one feeder
- No groundbait
- choose a smaller bait tray
- Take waders when peg is drawn , there only appeared to be 2 pegs where wading was possible
- one roller or no roller as banks are long and slope behind you so rod bag can be used for a roller.
- Bait required : Lobbies , dendros , casters , hemp and tare , maybe a few maggots for a maggot feeder.
The match started and i had reed beds to my left about 2 metres out in the water and i was informed to explore them for Billys and Rub -a-dubs. However to my right was the overflow from the canal pushing a strong flow of water out and this was a haven for the small fish ......and the Pike ! . For the first hour i decided to go for a net of smalls and was duly obliged with a run of Bleak and tommy roach and very small chublettes. There was no need to feed as it was black with 'eyes' However after 30 minutes it was clear that the minnows were giving loads of false bites so i dropped that idea.
I had shipped out earlier with 2 good pots of hemp/casters and fished at 11.5m with a light 0.4gr float in 4.5 ft of water on a 16s SENSAS 3405 hook. I placed 3 maggots and it was hit immediately with eyes and i took several small bleak , roach and Dace . Change of tactics was required after an hour and i went on the tare .....Immediate success ! .....That continued for the remaining 4 hours as i took 80-90 roach for 10llb 1oz. i lost 3 fish to the Pike but enjoyed the day so much as its was a pleasure to fish a running line and get bites .....brilliant sport. I did try on 3 separate occasions 15 minute spells on the worm but had not bonus.
Holding back the tare was the best however when running it thro the bigger roach had it large !
Tony Marshall and others had a late run of Chub that sealed the higher placings as Tony had 3 chub for 18-2 , 12-00 , 11-14 were the other top weights helped by those bonus fish.
The Brinks fished well and the Abbey did not fish to good with 9-12 being top weight.
The car parked under the cables
The car parked under the cables
Up to the footbridge
To the left walk 80 yards
Before the lock is the weir
Now for two passings
Once over then 30 yards and turn right onto peg 6
Signs are everywhere
Tony on 6
Below the bridge
A little unstable for trolleys under the bridge
My peg to the left
To my right near my feet
In front of peg 11
Menu
Weigh in 10-1 however i failed to gain the bonus chub or Perch , again !
2nd in section with 12-2
and that important bonus !
ABBEY
OSIERS
BRINKS
Let us all make a supreme effort year after year to get representatives from all the WL teams to get down the bank several times year and get cutting down trees and weed and making really good and safe pegs .
The fishing today has been brilliant considering the water is so low , this is the Jewel in the crown of Leicestershire fishing , lets place it on the podium as the best and diverse all season round river in the Midlands .
