The shop has been so busy over the last few months, and with family to see over the holiday period, I hadn't got out fishing since November. It is easy to tell as suffer from fishing withdrawal and get fractious as it is my form of meditation, to settle myself down. so I was determined to get out for the afternoon. Leaving home about lunchtime, I headed off to the River Culm just above Exeter, and was immediately met by the sight of the morning mist hanging in the valleys, a sight often seen from our home on one of the highest hills in Devon.
![swim 350](/Images/swim%20350.jpg)
After about an hours drive (Devon is a big county with small roads) I arrived at the river to find it changed since my last visit. Many iof my favourite chub haunts have been washed away in floods and the river was about a foot up on summer levels and coloured, so it proved difficult new places.
I started in my usual manner on small streams for chub, lump of spam on a light lead so that I can flick it and twitch it to roll under bushes. This is normally deadly but didn't work here. As I spent 10-15 minutes in each spot, I worked my way up the river, changing weights to match the flow, trying a straight running lead and paternoster rigs, all without success.
I then came on to an area of relatively smooth flow and had a lovely half hour trotting with corn whilst watching the kingfishers, dippers and my favourites, a flock of long tailed tits. Still no bites, and by now, the sun was below the horizon and the light was starting to fade. I then moved on to a double bend where there were converging flows and positioned a legered piece of spam at the point where the creases in the water meet.
![first chub](/Images/first%20chub.jpg)
I quickly has a take touch legering with a 10' spinning rod which had the power to pull a nice chub of about 2.5lb against the current and hold it out of the bankside vegetation. It was a fish in superb condition. It was gently slipped back into the river. A recast quickly brought another fish to the bank, this time 3lb 1oz.
![second chub](/Images/second%20chub.jpg)
No further fish were taken here as the shoal probably had been disturbed, and as the light rapidly fell, the temperature dropped to about 2 degrees, and I packed up having spent an enjoyable day walking and fishing in the countryside.