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.
