Another new species for 2012.
Winter has arrived but that doesn't deter the determined angler!Β I've now moved to Bristol so am looking forward to discovering some more local waters. With this in mind my fishing friend, James Howell and I set off to Abbots Pool in Bristol. We had heard there are some good sized roach, perch, tench, a few carp and plenty of pike in there, so after a stop off at the tackle shop we made our way to Abbots Leigh.
After unpacking the car and making the short walk to the lake it became clear we wouldn't be doing much fishing! With the cold snap of the last few days and the temperature hovering around zero the lake was frozen solid! Despite my best efforts to create a few holes for a spot of ice fishing it simply would have been pointless so a quick re-think was needed. Seeing as I had a good trip to Jacklands a few weeks ago we decided to head off to Tickenham and try our luck there.
Being a commercial fishery, they had kept the lake ice-free, so we paid-up and picked our swims. It was bitterly cold, even though the sun was out and bites were very hard to come by. In fact the only bite of the day came within in about an hour - thankfully it came to me and was another new species!
A very pretty rainbow trout and it didn't half put up a good scrap, zipping off with my red maggot and constantly running for cover, pausing for a rest and then crashing off again, it even leapt clear of the water twice, trying to shake to shook - I can't imagine how the bigger ones must go! Quite how this one got into the coarse lake baffles me but I presume they chucked a few rainbows in to liven up the sport in the winter and they certainly do just that!
