Last day fishing in the UK for a long while - a red letter day!

In two week's time, my wife and I are leaving Oxfordshire for at least the next two years.  In among the general chaos of the move, I had always intended to have at least one last trip to the Thames at Duxford - my "home stretch" if water.  Even at 10:30 this morning it was not clear that I would make it, but a quick trip out for some loaves of bread, and I was down at the river just after 12:00.

No rain for the last week so the river is fining down nicely.  Overcast day - looked perfect for some chub.

First stop is the swim at the end of the "long glide", usually an excellent prospect under the bushes on the near back.  Second cast I have a nice fish of just under 4lbs.  I baited up this swim again as it was the one I intended to fish as it got dark, and then set off downstream, baiting up three more swims down to past Shifford Lock.  The bottom section still looks awful to me without the trees in the river - I still can't believe they have been cut down.

No fish in the first swim, then two in the second - another 3lber and a 1lber.  Then down to swim three, a swim that used to have a tree in the water but now only has a few branches that survived the cull.  First cast is a little too close to the nearside bank and not far enough downstream.  Ten minutes later the bait is positioned perfectly and a bite is not long coming.

This is clearly a very good fish as it hugs the bottom and only slowly agrees to come upstream.  And what a fish - instantly clear that it is a big 5 at least.  Could it be more?  For the first time since I caught my 15lb barbel, I am actually shaking as I sorted out the weighing.  And there it is - 6-07, a new personal best chub and my second 6lber.

As usual, I am unprepared for good photography, so I do what I can with the self timer and hope for the best.  Actually the pictures are not that bad

What a glorious event for my last trip for ages.  Actually for me the worst part about moving has been the fact that I won't be able to fish the local stretch on the Thames.

Later on, back at swim one, I lost what felt like another good fish and then landed a final chub of the day.  I thought this might just sneak over 5lbs but it was just under 4-15 1/2 in fact!

Other highlights - a hare, a heron fishing close to me, several kites, a cormorant (boo), and a kingfisher.

My next fishing trip might be in France in September - the local river Boutonne, home to 10lb chub and 20lb barbel apparently.

Watch this space?

First fishing trip for 18 months!

I can't believe that I haven't been fishing for 18 months.  The principal reason is that I have been spending a lot of time in France working on a house renovation and when I am in the UK, it has been difficult to spare the time.  And this situation is unlikely to change soon - indeed it is likely that it will continue for at least the next two years as we have just bought another renovation project.

But on a whim, while sorting out the garage and coming across all the fishing tackle in a corner, I have at least gone once and with a bit of luck I can manage a couple of trips in early March.

My venue was the Thames at Duxford.  First impression as I got there was that the river was a lot higher than I had expected.  But it should be on the way down, so that always give some hope of a chub or two.  First spot was a series of trees in the water on the near bank - too shallow to hold fish in the summer but often productive when there is more water as the main flow is further across the river and the inside line is very steady.  Second cast swings the bait round and under the trees and produces a chub straight away - not the biggest, but around 3lbs and the first fish for such a long time.

But walking downstream, there is a terrible shock awaiting.  Someone - presumably the Environmental Agency - has been down the stretch and removed a dozen or so of the trees that lined the stretch and provided great, near-bank swims.  Five or six of the best swims have been totally destroyed including the swim where I caught my 15-04 barbel in 2012.

Nonetheless, I do catch a number of fish from various spots.  One surprising things is that most of them are relatively small.  Three years ago, most if the chub I caught were over 5lbs from this stretch, with the occasional 4lber. But today's fish are all much smaller, 2 to 3 lbs mostly, with a 1 lber thrown in.  Have the big fish died out and this is the gradual appearance of the next generation?  Impossible to say after just one trip of course.

So by 3:30, I have caught six fish and am beginning to get a bit cold.  So back to swim number one where I baited up with a couple of handfulls of mashed bread when I left the spot at lunchtime.  I figured I would settle in just this spot for the last hour or so, and then call it a day.  Bait was a decent sized piece of bread crust.

Around 20 minutes after casting in, I got a good bite and connected with a much better fish, which charged off in the main river flow and for a brief moment I even thought it might be a barbel.  But after some steady pressure I gradually get the better of it and have a decent fish of 4-14, a fish in great condition, so maybe the big fish haven't disappeared.

I did break my landing net lifting it in though - metal fatigue it would seem.

As I write this I am back in France, where it is colder than the UK and the local rivers have even more water in them.  If I can go again this season it will be in March - maybe two or three afternoons might be do-able.