Winter Blanking - Severn at Bewdley

8^th Feb 2020    As we moved into February the Midlands’ rivers, whilst high, were finally out of the fields. With the weather cold and bright I decided to make a trip out onto the Severn to try the KDAA stretch at Bewdley, which typically fished well in high-water and with a roving approach there were always a few fish to be found. However, on arrival at Bewdley Tackle & Leisure to pick up a day ticket and some bait it became apparent that this stretch was booked for a match. Without an immediate Plan B, I took the opportunity for a long overdue catch-up with Adam over a brew, including his exploits fishing for big carp in France. We also weighed-up nearby available day ticket options and on Adam’s advice settled on the Dudley Angling Club stretch immediately upstream of Blackstone Rock. The river here is wide and split in two by an island. A deep gulley runs down the side of the island and this is a particularly good holding spot in low-water summer conditions.

Feature rich - an understanding of the riverbed's landscape can be critical. 

The flow however turned out to be too heavy to hold in this area of the river and I instead settled in the deep slack water a few rod lengths out. I introduced hemp and maggot by baitdropper and fished this area for much of the day, both with a feeder and stick-float. After trying every trick in the book without so much as a pluck I upped-sticks and tried 3 or 4 locations upstream, again targeting the slack water either side of near bank trees. The barbel it seemed just weren’t in the mood. Even the chub, normally reliably greedy whatever the conditions, couldn’t be roused from their wintery bolt-holes. A chat with the bailiff at the end of the day confirmed that I’d been presenting the right baits, the right ways in the right areas. 

Barbel can be fickle creatures during winter, and blanking is part and parcel of being out on the bank at this time of year. There are rich rewards to be had with fish carrying a little extra winter padding and many of my personal bests have been broken at this time of year. But the fishes feeding activity and therefore the catch-rate does tend to nose-dive and so the blanks must be expected. They re-affirm my conviction that any day with a barbel on the bank is a success, especially in winter. Besides, despite the lack of fish it was a fine sunny day to be out on the river, and it was a joy to get back out there after the seemingly endless weeks of flooding!

Maggots and hemp - come into their own for shy winter feeders