Season Closing Weekend - Part 1 - The River Teme

   Having barely ventured out over winter bar a tricky session on a flooded Wye, I’d kept a spare couple of days holiday and decided to spend a long weekend’s fishing before the rivers closed.  It’s not lost on me that I’m graced with having three of the country’s most iconic barbel rivers on my doorstep, the Severn, Wye and Teme, so it felt fitting to fish each to close the season.

   Conditions were less idyllic however, with snow-melt flooded rivers and reports from all directions of ‘hard’ conditions.  Still, I was looking forward to the challenge and was glad to be able to fit a few consecutive sessions in around a pause for Mothering Sunday.

Day 1 - The River Teme at Knightwick

   My beat for Day 1 was the Talbot stretch at Knightwick.  The Teme was up, but having only fished this stretch low and clear, it looked fantastic with some water on.  I targeted three swims at the top, middle and bottom.  Each swim was progressively deeper and offered different flows and levels of cover.  My main approach was pellet, supplemented with spam and maggots on both heavy and fine set-ups.  To keep a long story short, I tried just about everything but simply couldn’t get the fish to feed.  Fresh otter prints on the bank had also set alarm bells ringing that the fish wouldn’t prioritize feeding in conditions where their energy levels were low.

   There's little doubt in my mind that small rivers like the Teme have been hammered by otters, with populations of the apex predator seemingly abundant.  That said, if it wasn't for the wildlife, fishing a river would have little more pleasure than a commercial, so I'd rather be with them than without.

Soft mud provides great clues about other river-users.
(Left to right) Otter, Rat, Water Vole

   Whilst the fish failed to make an appearance, soft mud on the banks revealed the sort of wildlife trail I used to follow as a child.  Together with the otter, the bank had recently been visited by a water vole, rat and an owl.  In addition, there was evidence of possible sand martin nests in one of the recessed banks, not to mention a seemingly hyperactive mole. Lovely stuff. 

Taking a closer look at a soft, muddy embankment.
Possible sand martin nests and an owl pellet.

Teme Valley Moles...
Inversely proportional to Teme Valley Barbel

   After countless hours exploring the banks and trying to provoke any sort of response from the fish, the weather turned in the late afternoon.  The lure of the Talbot through the mizzle became too much to bear about an hour before sunset.  A much-needed pint in a warm pub went down a treat before heading home to plan the following day's trip…