I have had some really good fish from the Colne over the last few months. To be honest I fish a lot but only for 3 hours either morning or afternoon just into dark. On most sections of the Colne like most southern rivers there are few silvers to feed on hemp. The Cormorant have decimated them but a bed of hemp cannot hurt if you are using caster or maggot in the right area and are sitting it out. I like to trickle a good quality bait into a few swims days before fishing and often catch first cast, morning or evening, a blank means the area is usually barren. To me its all about the fish expecting a regular feed in a good area and not spooking them. I tend to rove about over prebaited spots with one rod. If I think a swim merits the 3 hours though I will fish two rods one with a back lead the other held and touch ledgered. I nearly always lower tackle into the swim rather than cast. Back in November I fished a swim that produced a Barbel around 8am every morning I fished it. No point arriving at 6am anymore so I started arriving at 0730. The swim was full of Barbel so I took advantage catching a fish and then moving on further up the section. I suspect the Otter population or pressure move the fish about a lot. After 7 Barbel in 7 morning sessions it went dead so I switched to the afternoon. The next two afternoons produced big doubles first cast then the swim went dead again, the fish had moved on. Whilst fishing this section I drive past another section our club looks after so had been trickling bait into swims there. First two visits produced 3 Chub and a 12lb Barbel then 3 Otters showed up and so did the blanks. Time to move on again to a section I used to look after. Its became a very hard section for Barbel so in Winter I target Chub. First session produced two Chub a 5lb14 and a 7lb1 the next 3 sessions were blanks. I moved areas again after baiting and first 2 casts produced a big chub and a Barbel just under 16lb on the chub gear, I was home for tea within 2 hours. The next evening in the same swim fully expecting a bite I had a blank hour then another Otter swam through the swim, time to move again. I would say fish smaller baits during the day, larger after dark. Prebait , prebait and prebait and always keep your options open so you are ready for a move. These low stock sections draw few anglers and you can take advantage by drawing them to you rather than running around miles from any fish. I use a 1 egg mix in Winter so not much bait spread over 3 swims. Often swims heavily night fished by others are often worth a try during the day because the fish are more likely to feed freely if not spooked Try to find a few favourite reliable swims that you can always get a bite from--any type of bite, Chub, Barbel, Bream or Carp. I found a swim full of big Chub on one section so after 21/2 hours of blank Barbel fishing upstream a couple of casts usually get me a couple to put a positive experience on the session. Too many blanks tend to wear on me.
