No Trouble at the Mill

A session at the Saxon Mill yesterday fishing and shooting pictures for an upcoming Total Coarse Fishing feature, editor, Steve Philips, and myself were faced with tricky choices. Fish the uncomfortable stretches or the more comfortable ones. 

Starting off where dace were likely to be easy to come by in the mill race we were delighted to find that the work carried out by the recent work party has cleared a track all the way to the stile and cut generous pegs all along. This work will not overgrow now that the summer growth has reached peak heights so it's easy access all the way through the rest of the season.

The dace weren't playing ball though and we couldn't buy a bite, so we opted for a couple of roach swims I know of a half mile walk away at the very end of the lower half of the fishery opposite the greyhound track. The nettles were head high but we hacked out a couple of pegs and proceeded to fish.

The fish were eventually found at 9-10 foot depth and once our loose fed hemp and maggots started to work it was a bite a chuck, and soon, a fish a chuck. In an hour or so I amassed a good bag of mixed species, mostly roach and dace, but also a number of late chub attracted upstream by the feed and a single silver bream — a rarity and only the second specimen I have ever caught from the Saxon Mill in five years fishing. The first was from exactly the same swim about five years ago!

The only trouble — fishing at such depths with a fixed waggler wasn't easy. Luckily I had a 14 and Steve a 15 footer. 13 foot rods would have made life very hard indeed!

Tricky or not, I have no doubt that a concentrated five hour session there would have brought a twenty-pound bag or better. 

To access these productive swims turn right at the gate to the arable fields and walk all the way down the trackway to the dog paddle right at the very end. The pegs are just above it but you'll have to find them the hard way if you don't get down there soon!

Jeff

Picture courtesy of Total Coarse Fishing Magazine

Hard Graft at the Mill

The club would like to thank associate members Stoneleigh AC for their bank work efforts at Saxon Mill over the weekend. 

Despite it being the hottest day of the year they made an excellent effort clearing approximately 10 pegs to the left of the footbridge up to the horse field opposite. They intend to return in 2-3 weeks and continue the hard graft. 

Reports from the guys were of fish topping absolutely everywhere and some dark shadows gliding along margins! 

Also a report from two members of roach catches of 5lbs + from the Avon Street stretch.

Phil

Tackle Wreckers and The Black Death at Saxon Mill

Danny Everitt with an Avon eel

It's great to see eels back on the river angler's daily menu after their calamitous decline over the past decade. The Avon is throwing up loads of the wriggly tackle wreckers of late and it seems if you fish meaty baits it's certain that at some point you'll regret it!

From the Saxon Mill new club member Andy 'Pike King' Johnson was 'lucky' enough to get into a right old state with a 2lb eel a fortnight ago on his very first trip to the club's waters, then just the other day and from the same venue Danny Everitt had a real river specimen at two-pounds seven-ounces, which is about average for a landlocked lake dweller but is a pretty damned big eel in a river.

Caught at Tramps Corner, it took a liking to Mr Everitt's luncheon meat, but was by his account calm and well behaved, even managing a self-take picture of it and that's no easy thing!

But then he hooked a bootlace who destroyed his hooklink...

And then had a bit of cormorant trouble which made the rest of his day nigh on impossible.

We don't like them and they certainly don't like us —the only answer to the 'Black Death' is anglers on the banks so get out there and fish our club's excellent river stretches!

George Allen Trophy — Setting the Bar High

This dace caught by Phil Mattock at the Saxon Mill currently leads the board in the race to win the George Allen Trophy. At 12oz it's a proper specimen fish at 57.14% of the British record for the species and will be quite a tough one to better. However, if it's a hen fish then it might have weighed almost a pound last February which is the fish of a lifetime for even the most dedicated specimen angler because dace of such size are very rare creatures indeed.

Great to see the Saxon Mill fished more often and the tremendous dace fishing it offers pursued by more and more anglers. It is fast becoming one the country's premier dace venues, you know — for sheer numbers caught few venues compare with it and now specimens are showing too.

Tremendous stuff!

Jeff

Flo Huckfield Trophy — The Meritorious Catch Cup

This is the 'Flo Huckfield Trophy' which dates back to 1962! 

It was stopped many years ago but is now being reinstated and what a cracking looking trophy it is — very unusual and old school. 

It will be a little different to other awards as this will be awarded for a catch of merit. Chosen by the club committee at the end of the season. It may be a 3lb roach or a 6oz roach, a 15lb carp, zander or barbel. The story is all important so if its an unusual capture or you endured great hardship to land it all will be considered. We feel this could be a very interesting award going to anyone and for catching almost anything! 

Again, just a photo (ideally with you in it but not essential, in the net/mat with a float next to it or something for scale) and report it to the website or Facebook page with the usual details. 
Best of luck, and get out there!

Phil

George Allen Trophy — The Specimen Hunter Cup

The George Allen trophy is an old specimen cup that the club stopped awarding many, many years ago. 

I'm very pleased to say its been dug out, polished up, and will be awarded to a club member at the end of the season. 

The recipient will have caught the best % of the current British record of any fish! 

All current catches will be displayed on the website. 

All you have to do is catch it — get a photo — then report it to the club website or Facebook page along with where it was caught, the bait, the method and anything else you think may be of interest. 

Best of British!

... now get out there and bag a biggie!!

Phil