A couple after the heat

 23/07/22

Straight to the river after my last shift of a 60hr week, half a can of Redbull on the way, the other half for the drive home. I was parked up by 23:00hrs and fishing by 23:45hrs. A 2lb chub from the near margin hung itself on the first cast and caused some disturbance so I moved across to the far bank for the next cast. Things were very quiet until just before 01:00hrs when the rod hooped over. 

8.01lb

The fish put up a really dogged fight, I thought that it was the double I'm after from this river but it was some way off. I stuck it out until after first light but didn't get any further interest.

30/07/22

Another flying visit after work. 

I had my gear in the car for 3 days in a row but was finishing a bit too late to be heading to the river. In the past, I was happy going straight from work even if it was just for an hour of fishing but with the ridiculous price of diesel, I now have a self-imposed limit, a minimum of 3hrs fishing.

I was fishing by 22:40hrs and had 2 chub in the first 2 casts, decent fish of roughly 3.5lb & 4.5lb. Again it wasn't until roughly 01:00hrs (a key time so far on this stretch) when I got some interest from a barbel, again another solid fight to get the fish past the mid-river weed beds then a battle to keep it from finding the tree roots in the undercut bank.

A solid fish, I was sure this was a repeat capture but after checking it against previous captures it wasn't. 

9.03lb - my 3rd '9' from this stretch so this season, all different fish

 As the end of my 3 hours approached I started getting some more interest, probably chub but I had to give it another 10 minutes before leaving.... 

Just a small one this time, but every barbel from this river is a worthy capture

2 decent chub and 2 barbel from a difficult river on a short session, very pleased.

A couple before the heat

 13/07/22

A session straight from work, clocking out at 21:58hrs, a quick coffee followed by a 45-minute drive and I was fishing by 23:15hrs. Similar conditions to recent sessions, clear skies, relatively warm, with 5-6ft of moderately fast walking pace water in front of me. A bit of bait was immediately thrown into the margin and towards the far bank willows, which was left undisturbed for a while whilst I set up in the dark.

Chub knocks almost instantly, despite sitting on my hands and ignoring the rod tip for as long as possible I hooked a small (2.5lb) chub, which was a bit of a swim wrecker as I didn't get a touch for almost an hour afterwards. A barbel provided the next action, a really hard unusual fight as the barbel surfaced almost immediately and stayed on the surface for the duration of the battle. 

8.01lb of hard-fighting northern river barbel

I should have headed home straight after that fish as the commotion had almost certainly scared everything in the surrounding area off. However I had one further take as I was about to leave, a 'proper' barbel take, which turned out to be a decent chub of 4.07lb

  15/07/22

Again straight from work and fishing by 23:45hrs, it was my last shift for 3 days so I could stay for as long as I could keep myself awake. Exactly the same approach as my previous sessions (it's working, why change it?!) on this stretch, a couple of balls of soaked pellet/ crushed boilie into areas on the near and far bank, with a single rod, casting in turn to each area, every 30 mins or so.

Without warning the rod hooped round just before 01:00 and a really aggressive fight developed.

Eventually, a nice barbel of 8.11 was landed, however that was it for the night. The only knocks on the rod tip were caused by the odd bat hunting moths which were attracted to the bright isotope. After first light, I recced a few more areas for future sessions and threw all the bait I had with me in as I knew I wouldn't be fishing for a while with the forecasted temperatures looking ridiculous for the UK. 

Hat-trick

 07/07/2022

Another session straight from work, fishing like my previous sessions, a baited area in the margin and one on towards the far bank willows, with alternate casts in each area. My first cast was around 23:00hrs, with very little interest until the rod hopped over at around 01:30hrs. 

9.04lb

At 9.04lb this is my second largest from this river, a very pleasing capture. The fish fought extremely hard and it was a challenge to prevent the fish from making it to some submerged marginal roots. In fact, on checking the rig over before the next cast there was a lot of damage to the mainline. I use 12lb GR60 for most of my barbel fishing and have found it very robust and reliable, it rarely gets damaged so it must have been rubbing on something substantial. A couple of rod lengths of mainline were stripped before my next cast.

 

No interest for the next hour or so, I decided to concentrate on the far bank thinking that the barbel would be heading back toward the snags before first light. 5 minutes after casting another take.

8.11lb

Another 8lb plus fish on the bank, very pleased. This was the first time I have managed more than one barbel in a session from this river. I decided to fish on until 04:00hrs and a few minutes before the rod screamed off again.

The hat-trick fish, around the 7lb mark

A very pleasing session, I've obviously landed on a concentration of fish in this area, no doubt still grouped up post-spawning. I've had 5 barbel in my last 3 sessions, compared to 2 fish from 15 sessions previously. Hopefully, I can continue to stay in contact with the fish until I find that double I'm after!

Two in a row

A short session on the river, on the bank for just after 21:00 and off by 01:00. Similar tactics to last session, both margin and far bank cover lightly baited with boilie and soaked pellet. A 30 minute cast in one area then a cast to the other if no interest. 15 mins after the second cast in the margin the rod flew round. 

2 in a row, good going on this river

A 6lb’er was soon landed, nothing huge but any barbel is a result on this water. An hour or so later, the rod went round, again from the near bank margin.

A 4lb chub this time

I didn’t get near a barbel from this river last session so I’m very pleased with two this early in the season. Hopefully I’ll be out one night after work for a short session.

June barbel ( the hard river)

 A couple of days after the 16th I headed straight to the river after work for a short session, in the hope of trying to locate any remaining barbel in this river. I had half a dozen sessions last season without hooking one, spent a good number of hours in the closed season walking the banks without managing to spot one.

I know barbel fishing on this river is going to be a real struggle but I am determined to catch a double from this water before they no longer exist.

A 3lb chub on my first visit

A larger chub of 4lb 15oz on my second short session

A chub on each of my first sessions, usually I try my best to avoid the chub whilst targeting barbel but there are some very big chub on one of the stretches, so rigs have been adapted to give me a fair chance of catching either species.  

I decided to travel further downstream for my next session, a slower, deeper stretch of river that held a decent head of barbel a decade or so ago. I lightly baited an area on the far bank and one closer in, a rod length or so out. I generally only fish one rod at a time for barbel on the northern rivers, 30 minutes in one spot then try the other for half an hour whilst baiting the first area. 10 minutes after my third cast into the near bank area the rod flew rod, very obviously a barbel! 

 

Just over a pound added to my best from this difficult river - 9lb 9oz

Very pleased to have landed a barbel on my 3rd visit, especially with it being a new river best and less than half a pound from being a double. A massive confidence boost and I know what stretch I'll be heading to next time I am able to get out.

Opening Day

 I didn't manage to wet a line during the close season, a handful of recce's to new stretches (usually followed by a pint) was as close as I got to fishing.

The 16th of June came around quickly this year, I couldn't get on the bank for a midnight start so I decided to be on the bank at first light and have a few hours trotting for silvers hoping to draw in some large perch and target them with a light live bait outfit.

The river was on its arse, a fair bit lower than I had expected. Fishing was difficult, most trots down went ignored, eventually, I tempted a few small silvers but constant changes to the depth of the rig and to the shotting pattern were needed to keep the bites coming.

Around 50 small dace and chublets with the odd slighter better perch

A difficult first session back on running water, the larger perch failed to show, not surprising given the extremely low river and bright conditions. I'll be trying this stretch again in a couple of months when conditions are better, I've had perch to well over 2lb on the section and have a feeling that there's bigger to be had. 

Barely touched the sides!

Close season recces

I dropped a couple of clubs this season and added a couple of new tickets with numerous stretches of river that I've never laid eyes on so I've probably spent about 30 hours in the close season ( would have been more if we weren't getting bent over every time we need to fuel up!) visiting new waters, walking the banks, finding deeper areas with a castable sonar, all time well spent (hopefully!).

Twelve years in the making

 I’ve not had too many pike sessions this season, consciously spending the time I would usually target pike, fishing for barbel and perch instead. A decision which paid off as I caught new p.b’s of both species, however as the end of season was approaching I was eager to finish off the season with a pike session.

I had two stretches of my local river in mind but my preferred stretch had two cars in the car park (a lot for this stretch) so I did a quick u-turn and headed to the back up choice.

Within 20 mins of arriving I had a screaming take on a margin fished sardine, almost immediately after striking a huge chub was on the surface and with a quick flick of its tail it was gone. I have caught a number of 6 pounders over the last few seasons and this dwarfed any chub I'd previously caught or seen.

I was still at a bit of a loss when my second bait was taken, smelt this time and again fished in the margin. A very fast positive take, instantly I was hoping the chub had came back for a second helping, but thought more than likely it would be a jack. Thankfully after striking there was healthy curve on the rod, which was maintained during an uneventful but dogged fight. The pike was netted at the first attempt, a definite seasons best so scales and camera were sorted whilst the fish was resting in the net. 

Only on lifting the net from the water did I think this would be anywhere near the 20lb mark.

Late season, as fat as butter and just over 20lb.

For an accurate as possible reading the Reuben Heatons were hung from a tree branch and thankfully they went passed the 20lb barrier, only just, but I'll take that any day !

Just over the magic mark

Over the moon, a quick couple phone calls to a couple of close mates and despite being in a shite reception area they got the gist of what was going on!

I caught my first pike from this river in 2006 and started fishing for them properly from around 2010. Since then I have been dreaming of a 'twenty' from this river, I've had a number of close calls, both near misses (19lb plus fish) and losses of definite (known) 20lb plus fish. 

I had spent a lot of time in previous seasons focusing all of my pike sessions on this river (borderline obsessed) , but after landing fish to over 19lb and becoming a little burnt out from the hunt I decided that I would move on and just pike fish this river as and when and without too much of an agenda.       

The decision paid off as the pike was landed on only my second visit to this river this season and I've had some great times pike fishing on other rivers and targeting other species during times when in the past I would of been going through the motions on this river.

The pike was my last fish of the season, I had a chub session (different river) until midnight on the 14th but didn't manage to land anything. The capture will definitely see me through the close season and has reignited the drive to pursue a 20lb plus pike from another local river. Club tickets have been bought, google earth surveyed, recces have been planned, time off work requested............

Roll on October !!

 

Post Covid Perch

 My youngest daughter brought covid home with her, nothing serious but after a few days I was also testing positive. I was expecting to test negative after a few days, but I was positive for the full 10 days and for the first couple of weeks back at work I was too wiped out to be getting out on the bank. Storms, floods and car problems also added to my time away from fishing. (Almost 7 weeks without setting a line !)

I had some time off booked in for the last week or so of the season, so I could manage a few sessions before the season ends.

Perch were the target, things were hard going compared to before the major floods we’ve had and although I landed a 2lb’er on each session it was a real struggle.

A brown trout, a surprise capture this far downstream 

Next session was in a similar area, similar methods as on previous sessions but most of the day the quiver tipped worm baits went untouched. Eventually a small perch hung itself, followed by a better fish at last knockings.

2.01lb taken as the last of the light faded

Nice to be back on the bank, with a couple of decent fish landed, hopeful of more during chub and pike sessions before the end of the season.

Chub blanks

Having caught my target 5lb chub from this particular river a number of times during summer barbel sessions, I was really looking forward to some winter chub fishing on this river. However the chub seem to be a little more elusive than expected and my last two sessions have drawn a blank, not even a bite. 

Winter chub 2021/22

There’s two main stretches I am currently fishing, a shallower, faster stretch and slower, deeper, wider stretch a couple of miles downstream. Both have recently produced chub in excess of 6lb and both stretches represent a different challenge.

The shallower stretch is proving quite difficult to fish in my usual way for chub (large single baits, lightest lead and quiver tip conditions allow). The river is wide, shallow, fast and feature packed, fishing as light as possible doesn’t seem like the best option. I might have to step the gear up to get the presentation needed. I’ve got some 1.25lb Avons which haven’t been used in a while so they should do the job.

On the deeper stretch my usual methods should work fine, maybe slightly heavier leads given the depth. The issue here is the size of the river and the low stock of fish. 

Usually during my short chub sessions I rove around with single large baits, (maybe the odd freebie if there seems to be a few in the area) casting to features etc… This stretch is fairly featureless, around 10ft deep and very wide. I don’t think my usual methods will work here so a rethink on baiting is needed.

Anyway food for thought until my next outing, which should be Tuesday. Initial thoughts of pike fishing might have to change given the rivers overnight rise.

Festive sessions

Back down to earth after my last couple of sessions on the Trent, a quick Xmas eve chub session with my nephew Will and then a few hours barbel fishing on a falling river a few days after Xmas.

I’ve taken Will out about a dozen or so times and we are yet to blank, but I wasn’t so confident this time around as we only had a couple of hours and couldn’t get to my preferred stretch due to the amount of Xmas traffic.

We started getting interest in the second peg and soon had a nice 1.5lb chub in the net.

Will’s largest chub so far

The chub were a little cagey due to an otter also working the stretch and we struggled to connect with another fish.

Waterproof jacket left in car, the world noisiest carrier bag to the rescue

My barbel session was on a river I’ve had a few from this season. I had planned on a chub session but given the mild conditions I couldn’t pass the chance up. The river seemed in perfect condition 2 to 3ft up, falling and still holding a little colour.

3 pegs an hour or so in each, one pull from a chub and that was that.

Probably the last time I’ll have a go for barbel until the end of the season. I’ve got my eye on some local perch fishing, possibly p.b territory, hopefully the river conditions stay reasonable so I can have a few sessions after them.

2021 highlights

Barbel - 14lb 12oz

Bream - 6lb 8oz

Chub - 6lb 7os

Eel - Approx 2lb

Pike - 13lb 6oz

No need for a full yearly review as I hadn’t blogged until the Christmas break. The start of the year was successful for chub increasing my p.b by an ounce but more importantly catching a six pounder from a river I had been trying for one for a couple of years. 

The rest of the year I seemed to be (unintentionally) fishing for barbel, a local river best, first wye double and then 2 hectic Trent sessions resulting in 3 p.b’s to 14.12lb.

Hopefully 2022 will see no covid restrictions and plenty of time on the bank!

Winter barbel (Middle Trent Madness!)

After that last Trent trip temperatures dipped so I changed my focus to perch from my local rivers, 3 trips, 3 different rivers, 3 disappointing sessions. Nothing much to report but I'm planning a few more trips before the season ends so hopefully I can manage a few.

I had been keeping an eye on the weather and river levels daily, hoping a spell of mild weather and kind river conditions would coincide with a night I had free. It wasn't until mid December all of these factors fell into place and I was again heading down the A1 to the upper reaches of the middle Trent.

Levels were up from my last visit, which thankfully I had judged correctly and had brought my 13ft flood water rods with me. I wasn't fishing long distances or using mega heavy leads (no more than 1/3 across and up to 5oz leads) but needed the longer rods to keep as much line out of the water as possible as the debris meant recasting every 20 to 30 mins. Thankfully the barbel didn't mind the debris as I was into a fish after 30 mins. I knew it was a good fish, heavy, holding its position in the increased flow and a bit of an arm workout! 

After a good 5 min fight in the powerful flow the barbel was resting in the landing net, using the heavier rods and larger landing net than my last visit, I didn't realise how big the barbel was until I lifted the net out a few minutes later. A new personal best.

14.07lb 

Another great start with the first fish of the session being another personal best! 

The session continued in a similar manner to the previous visit and I was kept busy over the next few hours with 3 more doubles, 10.07lb, 10.14lb and an 11.13lb.

10.07lb

10.14lb

11.13lb

Madness, 4 doubles in a little more than a few hours fishing. 

The higher water levels meant fishing further up the bank than previous sessions which meant the peg was now narrower due to the trees either side of the peg. I decided to drop down to one rod to make things easier/safer if I got a take in the early hours.

90 minutes later, I was woken by a screaming run, on the rod within a few seconds and again an obviously heavy barbel had taken the bait.

It was a few minutes into the fight that I realised that I had left the headtorch on my bedchair. In the middle of nowhere with no light pollution made for an interesting fight in the pitch black. The barbel stayed deep, fought very hard in the margin and was netted as it was trying to head towards the marginal reeds.

 

14.12 - another p.b on this session

Crazy fishing, 5 barbel, 5 doubles, 2 p.b's

Things went quiet for a few hours, so after some much needed sleep I got up at 05:00 and got both rods back in, hoping for another fish before dawn. I didn't have to wait long for the action to start again.

3 more single figure fish were added before first light. For once I didn't have to rush home early so I decided to slowly pack up whilst my gear was drying, obviously the rods were last to be put away. 

10.00lb - 6th double of the session

A 3lb chub and a 10.00lb barbel were landed whilst the gear was drying.

Another crazy session - 9 barbel (14.12lb, 14.07lb, 11.13lb, 10.14lb, 10.07lb, 10.00lb, 8.08lb, 7lbish, 6lbish) plus a 3lb chub.

Coming from the north east of england, barbel fishing of this quality is alien to me, I 'm more used to scratching around for the odd fish, occasionally having multiple fish in a session and very, very rarely coming across a double.

So barbel fishing of this standard is welcomed and very much appreciated!  

Well earned - The obligatory p.b pint when I got home

Late Autumn Trent Barbel (catch-up part 6)

 A planned social session down to the Trent for a mates birthday, 3 of us stopping for some food and a beer then heading to the middle Trent in search of barbel.

Ben had the best of this session with 7 (maybe 8) barbel to 12lb.

I split my session, between barbel and pike/zander, 3 barbel to 9lb and a modest pike.

The birthday boy had a bit of a nightmare session, forgotten equipment, a barbel blank and a lost rod ! I don’t even think a birthday pint cheered him up !

A week later I was back down with Ben, a short session, turned up as it was getting dark, left at first light, just the one fish this session.

The only interest on a difficult session, far too much debris coming down a river running cold

A week or so later I had the chance for an overnight trip back down to the Trent, more favourable conditions with very mild weather, the river had dropped a bit and most importantly the barbel were on the feed.

A full 35 mins after casting in I was into a good fish, the fish didn’t pull hard, just held its ground in the powerful flow. Eventually it tired and I pulled a new p.b over the net.

12.03lb - a new p.b, a great way to start the session

That first fish was the start of a very memorable session and a very busy night!

11 takes, 9 barbel landed with 6 doubles. (12.03lb, 10.04lb, 9.11lb, 6ish, 11.06lb 10.10lb, 11.09lb, 11.08lb and 6lbish)

On some of my local rivers I fish that’s a seasons worth of barbel and a lifetimes worth of doubles!

Obviously I couldn’t wait for the next trip down the A1……