Chasing Bubbles

The last number eight finished its descent and the float cocked fully to become a small black dimple on the mirrored surface, thirty seconds of time passed then deliberately and without warning the black dimple slid beneath the surface. A sweeping strike to the side met heavy resistance and the unseen protagonist charged towards open water and the centre of the lake, the combination of backwinding and a correctly set clutch on the okuma reel dealt comfortably with the runs of the fish while the carbon rod absorbed the sudden lunges close to the net. A good tench rolled on the surface in a last ditch attempt to escape before she slid over the rim of the net.
The fish was well over five pounds and in stark contrast to the good sized tench I caught at Napton Reservoir recently these fish are in pristene condition and would seem to be much younger. So the ideal start to our latest short session, having struggled and caught nothing on my previous visit to Ryton I had now caught a fish within minutes of arriving, everything, for once, was going according to plan. The plan was formed as a result of my last experience when I attempted to build a swim by feeding reguarly with sweetcorn, pellet and groundbait, and it proved a resounding failure with bubbling fish appearing and disappearing at random intervals and not neccesarily over the baited area, my dad had, meanwhile, caught four good tench by loosefeeding corn sparingly. I summised that rather than build a swim it would be more beneficial to feed less and attempt to ambush cruising fish.

So, on arrival at Ryton on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon my opening gambit was to sprinkle sweetcorn in small quantities at various points around the swim, I plumbed the depth and set the float to the deepest point of the swim. The instant result with the five pound tench was, however, a little misleading with regards the success of my masterplan as the next three hours were a bit of a struggle. Casting around the swim to patches of bubbles eventually resulted in two further fish of around three and four pounds while my dad fishing next door, feeding sparingly and fishing in the one spot caught two tench and a perch.

Tench bubbles surrounding or approaching your float as you bask in idylic surroundings and early morning sunshine represents the perfect early season angling scenario, just ask Mr Crabtree, but in situations when I am seeing lots of bubbles and not getting many bites I always think back to an article I read way back in the 80s. The author of article in question was adamant that these tench bubbles, rather than being a result of the fish feeding, were released when the fish are scared. I'm not convinced either way but it is food for thought.