Fish life in the Test

[Mick]

What a wonderful film Peter. I haven't been able to go fishing since the beginning of January, and that film has restored my soul. I could have stood on that bridge for hours. Some beautiful roach, chub and trout. Thank you.

[Pallenpool]

Superb - as for not fitting the criteria I simply disagree - it is what I hope makes this forum in so many ways - if it is only about tackles and fish then the magic within this Repository would be very much depleted.

[Sussex Micky]

beautiful..really enjoyed the video thank you

[Shropshire Lad]

Cracking video, I would love to fish the river Test one day, it is on my bucket list along with Redmire.

[Silfield]

Stunning clarity to the water, certainly looks conducive to quality of fish and aquatic life by the looks of it.
Oh to cast a line there!

[Dave Burr]

For anybody wishing to sample the Test, Timsbury is available on day ticket and, although £30 a throw, it's got a lot of specimen fish of many species.

It could be a place for a TFF gathering one day?

http://www.timsburyfishing.co.uk/coarse.html

[Moley]

Amazing river,full of life, roach of my dreams

How would you target roach like that without hooking every trout?

That's the Test conundrum Paul, it's like fishing in heaven and hell at the same time.

Let Fatty answer this for you all.

As you may or may not know but this very Mole has fished the Test for roach for many years

Getting through the trout, which can be fun at first becomes like catching minnows, a bit of a bind to be honest.
some of the trout are very big in the Test and very, very hungry!

So how do you avoid them?

Do not adopt the standard Wessex River Roach Fisher approach or the trout will drive you crazy; What is that then?

You know.....experienced roacher takes a stack of bread in a massive bag to the river-side and ladles the bread in thinking he has done a marvellous job and all the roach in the vicinity will be crawling up his rod. smugly grinning at his genius then takes his time setting up his expensive rod partnered with the latest beautifully hand carved, by blind Abyssinian Monks no less, centre pin reel, loaded with regulation two pound line anointed with the finest stick floats money can buy, shots set, shirt button style, by a micrometer with one point eight hoooklink to a 14 hook to take his wonderfully prepared home made bread flake......what can go wrong?

First cast beautifully 'Wallised' to alight in the river crease, just holding back enough so the shots enter the water without a tangle and with an almost told you so look, the float disappears first run through. The hook is expertly set with the fish not realising it is hooked for a few seconds, the Expert expecting the rolling fight of his expected two pound roach........oh dear.

The fish on the other end realising something is amiss does what every trout has done since the dawn of time and runs at great speed downstream creating havoc.

Setting up again the Exspurt rebaits heavily thinking he will feed the trout off .....mistake number two. This just alerts every trout in the river to get a load of the free feed.

The Spurtex even lands a couple of the behemoths......massive stocked brownies.....before he either runs out of floats and rigs, has his wonderful stick float rod, with the superfine tip, snapped in the battles, or the line on his super duper 'pin, that spins for at least ten minutes don't you know, in such a massive bird's nest even Gordian would be proud, or perm any combination thereof; he is left with no option but to pack and go and pester the little Fat Scruff he spotted earlier, catching a few decent roach, in between scoffing an unbelievably huge pork pie and slurping noisily from a disreputable looking flask that has seen better days, like the ravaged fishing tackle held in his paws.

What is this oaf doing, not using bread?

Surely he must know that bread is the only bait you must use to avoid the Trout?

And look at the way he lurches that float.....on my God, horror of horrors..... a waggler!

The disgusting reel is so caked in history it barely spins, with the Fat Fool having to feed line from the top. But give him his due line control is reasonable in spite of the tackle

So what bait is this complete Fat Simpleton using......no surely not......he is?

Red Maggots which he looks like he stores in some horrid bag round his neck and only throws no more than half a dozen round his float every other trot through.

To compound matters why on earth is he not fishing the crease like every one else, what an ignorant oaf?

He is just lurching his tatty old float down to that overhanging bush on the inside track.

Surely not, oh it is, what a splendid Roach, not a two but not far off.



'Well done that man' said grudgingly by the 'Expert'

The Fat Oaf just smiles, taking another swig of slurpin' tea whilst continuing to scoff his pie, whilst watching his Float.

Here endeth the lesson.......well it is a Sunday

As ever,.........

Moley

[Paul F]

Ha ha Moley, thank you for that lesson, i knew you were the man in the know, you made me smile

It's all about the pork pies and tea

I'd love to try it one day

[Dave Burr]

Another Moley master class

[Moley]

Apologies Peter for hi-jacking your lovely post.

As ever,......

Moley