The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

While generally I agree with Dave and Phil there was just one eddy swim that did it for me one session.

It was bank high and the river was the colour of builders tea, with the usual rubbish passing by and sometimes being drawn into the vortex. This particular day there was a bloated dead sheep circulating but, not to be put off, I lowered my baited hook into the eddy. Because of the nature of the flow I only needed an ounce of lead to hold station.

It wasn't long before I had my first barbel which came as a pleasant surprise. Before the session was over I had caught 7 more plus a carp and 3 chub. When I packed up 4 hours later, having had to retreat as the water came further into the field, the sheep was still trapped in the eddy. Not quite the idyllic eddy swim depicted by BV because of the dead sheep but I guess similar subsurface.

Now that would have been a lark if BV had put a dead sheep in his pictures.

"I say dad, that carcass don't half pan and ink".

"Yes Peter, but its jolly good groundbait. Now shut up and shove it back into the current"

Didn't Walker and FJT once buy a dead sheep and suspend it over a swim so it produced a constant supply of maggots (gozzers I would think) dropping into the water?

At Radcot Bridge on the river thames, there used to be a big slack where the back water ran into the main Thames. This was on the side of the Pub. When the river was up and pushing through, the fish used to move into the slack. It was the only place you could fish on the main river for some distance. Had some good Perch from that peg. This was back in my Pole days but you could catch on the rod and line float method. The area is now a shadow of it's former self and I would not expect much apart from bleak and crayfish. Such a shame.