By the time I'd got to the river the conditions had completely changed. We'd gone from snow to rain to sunshine all in the space of half an hour... Madness. After picking up some sardines from the tackle shop, I set off upstream and was really surprised to see that the water level was normal, there was hardly any flow and the clarity was pretty good - maybe I was spot on for a bite or two?!

The 'cow poo' swim on the corner didn't produce a knock or a tap so after sitting in the freezing cold shadow of a tree I desperately needed to get out into the sun which by 10.30am was shining brightly. After a quick stomp across the 1st field and I decided to try either side of the tree swim on the corner, starting in the super snaggy side to the right. However, as I dropped the 2nd bait in the water I happened to glance over my shoulder and noticed a rapidly approaching huge grey snow laden cloud...

Before I knew it, the heavens opened and I was in the midst of a mini snow blizzard! If this didn't switch the fish on, what would?! But after a soggy 20 minutes with nothing to show for my efforts I hopped round to the left side of the tree for another go. The sun came out again as quickly as it had disappeared and with in five minutes of the bait being in the water the rod tip sprang into life and I'd finally got my 1st bite of the season from the tree swim!

Only a micro jack but what the hell - it was a blank saver!

The rest of the day passed without so much as a knock or a tap. The conditions got steadily worse with the sun shining and the wind getting up - it was bloody freezing! I tried 3 more swims, settling in the 'white house swim' just over the cattle grid on the way back to the car for the last hour, mainly as it was out of the wind...

No fish, but the robin that had been following me up and down the river all day finally plucked up the courage to perch next to me. Luckily I had the camera in hand and managed to snap a nice close up of him before he realised!

So another tough day on the bank. It's snowed more over the weekend but I'm looking out on another sunny day in Bristol... Fingers crossed the conditions will get better over the Xmas break and the monster pike I got into last season will put in an appearance over the next couple of weeks?!

I managed to sneak out for another session, leaving much earlier this time and being slightly better prepared with an array of new stick floats and a freshly spooled reel!

The conditions were pretty much spot on, the only tricky thing being a strong wind that had me casting the feeder/freelining rod into a tree twice... But with action pretty much from the off, I had a great evenings fishing.

As before, the moment the light levels dropped the chub really started to feed and I managed these three beauties in the space of 10 minutes! All in all, there were 10 fish in the keepnet by the end of the night and although it was very tough to pack up in the near darkness at 8.10pm (how I miss those long summer evenings!) it was great to be out on the river bank once last time.

I'm ready looking forward to the river pike season starting in October. Based on the activity in my swim this evening, I think the Bristol Avon will hopefully produce some absolute monsters again this year...

I've had such a good run of luck out on the River Avon, starting in the summer fishing for chub and into winter fishing for pike. But as the seasons move and things get grimmer as we move into February I knew things were going to get tough...

I suffered the 1st blank last Tuesday! The conditions were far from perfect: a really hard frost which gave way to bright sunshine and high temperatures. The pike were just not in a biting mood...

Then a 2nd blank this Sunday. It was only a quick session but I knew from the moment I arrived at 7.30am that there was a high possibility of a blank. The river was up a good 2ft and hacking through at quite a pace. Couple that with chocolaty water and you've a recipe for nill fish! I stuck with it till 11ish and then called it a day, making the walk back to the car with freezing fingers and a slightly dejected air...

To raise my spirits, I took a look back through some of the pics and videos from the lasts 6 months which made me feel a whole load better. If you've not seen them, take a look - what a river!

The weather was pretty terrible, with steady drizzle and mist... But I managed a pike from a new swim which is always great!

I bumped into several other pike anglers out on the bank and it was great to have a chat with them and get some feedback, both on the river and some of the videos I've been uploading recently. If you're watching, thanks for saying hello!

I've also put together my targets for 2017 which is something I've never done before. I'd set myself the mini challenge last year of getting a 20 pounder from the Avon and accomplishing that has made me want to aim higher this year.

Lets see how I do!

It's been a long time since I blogged but one of my new years targets is to write a post for each session with a video so here we go. I've decided to keep them shorter as I think one of the reasons I'd not been writing them is they tend to get a bit war a piece... Short and snappy is the aim from now on.

I've been doing loads of piking on the River Avon between Swineford and Keynsham over the winter months and had some fantastic sessions. It's really helped me learn the water, find the best spots and hone my piking skills.

The 'tree swim' has been very kind to me and this session was no different, with the 1st (and only!) bite coming within 3 minutes of casting out! Unfortunately the rest of the day went without a bite... but hey, that's fishing!