Bleak, Chub And Minnows On The Severn With Mini-Rod And Reel – Memories Of Small Fish And The Mini-Species

Not just the mini-species themselves, but I’ve always had a soft spot for small fish in general, ever since I was a child angler, way back in time.

I must have been about ten or eleven, in the early seventies, when I stayed with my nan and grandad in a caravan next to the river, at Stourport-on-Severn.

My cousin had a boyfriend at the time, and his family owned the caravan, and opened it up to ours. I instinctively took my fishing tackle when we went to visit.

What I caught, fishing down the side, were numerous tiny bream just a few inches long, but perfection in miniature.

Although I catch much bigger ones of the species now, I’ve never forgotten those sessions on the Severn.

Back to the present and my mini-rod and reel put in another appearance – it’s been in use recently, as I’ve been targeting three-spined sticklebacks.

Even they take me back in time as I used to fish for them when I was a child. The older you get, the more precious the memories. I have some great ones.

If you’re interested in this type of angling, the rod and reel is called Poachers Pocket (I always feel the need to add an apostrophe) and if you type those words into the search engine below, you’ll get all the blog entries that I’ve published.

This time round, as the headline states. I caught bleak, chub and minnows. As always, I filmed the session.

 

The tackle I fished with was as follows: Poachers Pocket mini-rod and reel. Reel line was 4lb Maxima Chameleon, leading to Ultima Virage 1lb 6oz fluorocarbon, joined by a loop-to-loop knot.

The float was hand-made and the hook was a Drennan Super Specialist micro barbed size 18. Bait was a single red maggot.