Summer/Autumn barbel campaign (part 2)

By the beginning of August the school holidays were in full swing and although I was still fishing fairly regularly, weekends away, trips to the beach, theme parks, zoos etc... took priority over chasing barbel.

When I managed to get out the fishing was fairly consistent, blanks were rare (plenty of chub) but I was still struggling to locate the double I have been targeting. 

This season I have concentrated on 3 different stretches of the river, each offering there own individual challenges. A stretch new to me this season has tree lined banks with very tight pegs. Using my usual barbel rods on this stretch was a hindrance, meaning some lovely looking pegs had to be left unfished. A shorter rod was needed and after a bit of on line searching eventually I settled for a 8ft 2lb Korum Opportunist rod. 

Initially I was going to splash out a 9ft 1.75lb Nash Scope, but was put off by many reports of breakages and the high price. The Korum cost £43 delivered, less than a third of the Nash rod I was looking at. I wasn’t expecting much from the cheaper Korum rod, but have been very pleased with its performance so far.

Some good chub to over 5lb were caught on its first outing, which were subdued very quickly. Next outing with the rod was hard going, the river was higher than I expected and with shorter rod length it was difficult keeping enough line out of the water, but eventually I found away of keeping the rod high enough and got the barbel feeding, after a good scrap in the powerful flow a nice 7lb plus fish was landed. The Korum rod has a slim powerful blank with a decent reel fitting, full cork handle and lightweight PacBay Minima guides. I’ve used this rod 5 or 6 times so far without complaint.

The 8ft rod pairs well with a small 2500 baitrunner

So far this season the fishing has been challenging, always enjoyable and more often than not rewarding. I have really enjoyed my summer on this river, the only negative being the amount of otters and mink present in the area. 

Every session on this river this season I have seen otters, quite often multiple times during the session and sometimes more than one otter at a time. Twice I have witnessed mink dragging decent chub up the far bank and into a tree to eat. I’ve had otters surface in the margin no more than a couple of foot from me and even had an otter on the bank in the bushes behind me.

It can be quite frustrating baiting up a swim over a couple of hours, for otters to turn up 5 minutes after your first cast and ruin things. I have started questioning if I should be baiting up areas as it just feels like I’m setting the dinner table for the otters!

As frustrating as it is I am still catching, but it certainly won’t stay like this for long. I can only see the fishing getting harder, stretches becomes devoid of any large fish and anglers leaving the banks, which has happened on the river closest to my home.

Despite the having many a session ruined by the predators I was still catching during my short sessions and had a trip to the Trent to look forward to.

Mid August and my first visit to the Trent of the season. Due to family and work commitments longer sessions like this have to planned well in advance. Unfortunately this trip happened to be during the largest flood of the year, meaning the river was 8 to 10ft up depending on the tide. No scope for changing dates etc... so we went and fished anyway. The conditions gave me a chance to test out another new purchase, a pair of 13ft 2.5lb Korum barbel rods. 

My normal barbel rods are Korum Neoteric (Mk1’s) twin tips (1.75/2.2lb) and whilst I’ve used these on the to tidal Trent in the past, I would be gutted if I broke one casting heavy leads as they are hard to get hold of now. 

It was hard work presenting a bait and I struggled during the day landing only 2 small bream. Ben had a very good session during the day landing 4 barbel (including a new p.b) loads of bream to a decent size and a rouge sturgeon.

A p.b for Ben 13lb 2oz !

During the night I managed to get amongst a few barbel. The fishing was hard with lots of debris coming downstream, 8oz leads would only hold for 20 minutes, 30 if you were lucky. So it was a night of little to no sleep but ultimately worth it as I landed 3 barbel to 11lb. 

Bang on 11lb

Ben struggled during the night and didn’t catch anything else, not that I think he was bothered as I’m sure that p.b barbel will live long in the memory. Before the 2.5hr drive back home we called into a few other stretches on the tidal river for a quick recce for future sessions. The new rods performed well, Ben and I were both impressed with them, I’ll need to use them for a few more sessions before I fully make my mind up on them, but so far I’m happy with them.

Back on home turf things were slow, 3 sessions, 2 blanks, 2 chub, time for a change of scenery again. I headed to another local(ish) river that I had caught from a month or so previously, conditions were similar so I thought it would be worth a go. Plenty of interest from small bait stealing chub, but eventually the rod ripped off with a barbel.

8lb 8oz, a new best for this river

Nothing but chub on my next couple of sessions back on the normal river. I had a chance of a full day session so decided to head to somewhere new, and try and catch a first barbel from another new river. With the number of clubs I am a member of I have miles of this river to go at, lots of choice, but not a lot of info on any of the stretches. After some time on google earth I found a stretch that seemed to have everything, shallow, gravelly streamer weed choked areas, deep runs, stretches with plenty of cover.

The session was hard work but I stayed mobile, fishing 12 different pegs and managed 4 barbel by the end of the day, nothing over 7lb but a memorable first barbel session on this river.

My first barbel from this particular river.....

Larger than the first so another new river best

A break from the barbel with a short stick float session on my local river with my daughter Sophie and nephew Will. An hours fishing for 15/20 small dace and roach and then a catapult competition to finish, great fun.

My next barbel session was a bit of a nightmare, straight to the river after a 10hr shift and somehow I managed to get snagged up every cast. I was fishing a familiar stretch and never had this problem here before, the river was low, with very little flow so definitely was in need of a flush through.

Thankfully a few days later we had the first significant rainfall for a month or so, the river rose a few foot so I was straight down after work. My third cast of the night and the rod tip flew round, the fish felt reasonable and was coming in easily until I got it under the rod tip and then it powered off upstream. It took a while to gain control of the fish, I was unable to see the fish in the heavily coloured water but I knew it was a good one. The fish was netted without drama and although I knew it was a double I didn’t allow myself to get too excited until the scales confirmed it.

Well worth the wait

The Avons settled at 11lb 3oz and equalled my personal best. I was over the moon with this capture as a lot of effort has gone into catching my first double from this river. The fact I caught the fish from a stretch I had targeted all season made it more satisfying, I thought I would have to cave in and head to the more heavily fished day ticket stretches as doubles come out there slightly more frequently. 

I’ll probably continue to fish for barbel throughout October, I’ve got a weekend on the Trent to look forward to and few areas locally I would like to explore before getting the pike gear out.

The end of the line

A long awaited delivery arrived yesterday, the final book by Tony Miles.

A complete rework and rewrite of his 1980’s book ‘ The Complete Specimen Hunter’ I’ve only had chance for a quick flick through and a read of the introduction but it looks like a ‘good un’.

Surprisingly there’s still a few copies left - http://www.littleegretpress.com/index.php?action=viewbook&id=239

Not much happening

Since my last post I've had one still water pike session. I had intended to have a 3 rod full day session, however as I'm currently working nights adjusting to a normal routine at the weekend is a bit of a struggle and getting up early on a Sunday morning doesn't always appeal (Although I'm sure if the rivers were in a decent condition I wouldn't have much of an issue getting my arse out of bed).

The session was a bit of a disaster and I was glad I only took the one rod. The water is still heavily choked with weed, with only the one fishable peg. Needless to say I didn't stay for too long. This time last year the majority of the water was fishable. Hopefully the weather will turn soon and kill the weed as this is the only still water that I can pike fish within 30 mins of my house.

Landing net review

Last xmas Lindsey bought me the Lone Angler landing net handle , a cracking piece of kit.

Before owning this my two previous 'branded' handles had snapped, I stood on one and crushed it and the other snapped somehow. There's no chance of that happening with this handle, I've used it to support my weight whilst climbing up and down the river banks, used it as a wading staff, slipped and landed on it etc... zero damage.

The handle is a beast, far more substantial than a normal handle and more than capable of handling the abuse of river angling. The locking mechanism is solid and will not slip. I've used this for all my barbel and pike fishing over the last 12 months with no problems whatsoever, highly recommended.

A few months back one of my mates showed me a new pike net he had bought, a Fox 36" round net with rubberised mesh. I've had some issues with Fox kit (and their shitty customer service) in the past so generally avoid giving them any of my money, but this net looked great so I ordered one.

I usually prefer triangular nets for pike, as I've always thought round nets are too small, but this is massive. It seems well built and I'm pleased with it so far. The only downside is that the frame is rigid, a bit of a pain in the arse whilst moving pegs and for storage. The main selling point for me is the rubberised mesh, it makes things so much easier than standard mesh when fishing with trebles.

I haven't used the net much but so far so good. I'll put something on here after I've managed to give it a more thorough testing.

I'm not sure when I'll be out next, I've got a couple of weeks off over Christmas so I'll be aiming for a few sessions then, fingers crossed that the rivers are in a reasonable state.

A quick update, some DIY tackle and an early Xmas present

I've had two sessions since my last update, both during the period of unsettled weather we've had, both on the river and unfortunately both sessions ended up as blanks. The first session I was after pike on the the middle reaches of the river, I had one take but the pike got off after about 10 seconds. The second session was much further upstream, I decided to try a rod for the chub as well as the pike. The river was slightly higher than we had anticipated, which meant the pegs we wanted to try were unfishable.

We decided to fish an area slightly downstream but it seemed very shallow and I wasn't confident in that area so after a couple of blank hours we moved to a stretch with some more depth. There was another angler on the bank targeting pike but he hadn't had a touch all day. Despite having some success earlier in the season on this stretch, I wasn't surprised when I went home with another blank.

DIY tackle

Over the last couple months I've had a go at making a bit of tackle. I've made some leads, a few pike floats and a drifter.

I had been planning to make my own leads for years but never really got round to it. I managed to get 10kg of lead for free so I though I'd give it ago. I ordered a mould, watched a couple of videos on YouTube, set up the stove and give it a go.

The mould makes 2.5 and 4oz grip leads, which are ideal for the rivers I fish. I'll order a mould for distance work/still water leads in the close season.

The pike floats are made from hardwood dowel and finished with a clear lacquer. I put some effort into making these as the usual shop bought balsa efforts don't last 5 minutes in my hands. Hopefully these will last a long time, I have also started making a lighter version that can hold starlights and hopefully I'll get these finished before I get out for my first zander session.

The drifters are made up from various bits of tackle (John Roberts rigid tube, poly ball, leger bead, tail rubber) and the vanes are made from coloured bleach bottles. They are cheap, easy to make and should last a while. I'm making a shorter semi loaded version for the shallower still waters I fish.

Early Christmas present

I have been needing/wanting a better/longer landing net handle for a while and made a couple of hints (well a link to the website) to my girlfriend. The net handle arrived today and after convincing Lindsey that I needed it NOW, she caved in and gave me it early.

The net handle is the Trefor West Lone Angler - Mega Landing Net Handle. I'd heard good reports about the handle and my initial impressions agree, it's a beast! It's a bit heavier and thicker than other net handles I've used in the past but it feels solid and looks like it will last years.

I'm out for a couple of sessions in the coming week so I'm hoping I can keep a pike hooked long enough to bring it into netting range!

New rod - average session

Over the weekend I acquired a new rod, a 14ft Drennan Acolyte Plus. I mainly plan on using the rod for stick float sessions were there is a chance of a bigger fish, also it will come in handy for fishing the slider on the lower reaches of the river.

Today I managed to get out and test the rod, I planned to fish the same tactics as my last session, just replacing the Series 7 rod for the new Acolyte. I took 5 pints of maggots and a tub of worms, hoping to feed off the dace and attract the bigger perch.

Impressive so far - 14ft Drennan Acolyte Plus

The morning started the same as the recent sessions, the small dace were coming fairly regularly and by 6am I had around 10 fish in the keepnet. I steadily increased the rate of feed hoping the perch would follow but it took around 3 hours to get the first perch in the net. The perch were a lot smaller than on my more recent sessions, nothing more than 8oz. Eventually I hooked a better fish, nothing massive but a perch of 1lb 2oz was soon in the net. I switched over to the avon rod, lip hooked a small dace and ran it down the margin, after a few seconds there was a large swirl and the dace was taken. A better perch was on, it was a definite 2lb + fish, but the hook pulled shortly after I managed to get it to the surface. That was the only perch I managed to tempt on the livebait.

I ended the day with just under 9lb of fish, around 70 dace and 11 perch. The dace were mainly small but there was the odd 5 or 6oz fish in amongst them, the perch averaged about 6oz with only one going over a pound.

Initial impressions of the rod are good, it's a lot lighter than the shorter rod I've been using. I bumped quite a few small dace but that could be down to using a larger hook than I was last time out. I was hoping to hook a chub or a large perch to give the rod a more thorough testing, hopefully next time....

Books

When I get the chance (usually after the kids have gone to bed) I enjoy reading fishing books and over the last few years I have acquired a fairly modest collection. Currently I am reading 'The Eel Angler' by Barry McConnell, which I think is excellent. I have a chapter or so left but it is definitely one of the most enjoyable fishing related books I have read.

Last year I picked up a copy of The Perchfishers 'The Biggest Fish of All' and although I have not read it yet (just a quick flick through) it looks excellent. I had also been on the look out for a copy of The Perchfishers first published book, 'The Book of Perch' and managed to find one for a reasonable price. Well the book arrived today and considering the price I paid I am very pleased with the condition.

New addition to the collection

I will probably finish the eel book over the weekend and then start on the Perchfishers efforts, hopefully I can get some ideas to help me achieve my perch target, then I can fully concentrate on the eel fishing until the autumn.

Farm pond perch

I decided to wait another week or so before trying for tench, so in the mean time I thought I would have a try for perch. I have never specifically targeted perch so after a little research I decided on a small farm pond that I thought would hold perch. I decided on a 2 rod approach, the first rod was set up with a basic low resistance running lead with a lob worm as bait, I also added chopped worm via a small pva bag. The second rod was to be fished with a small float paternoster live bait (after I caught some bait).

Initially I cast the ledgered worm to my right, under some overhanging bushes. This gave me an opportunity to use my rollover indicators for the first time.

Backbiter and roll over combination 

I started fishing a 5m whip with a very light pole rig to catch some bait for my second rod. It took
around 10 minutes for a bite on the whip line, which turned out to be a 4oz perch, a little to big for bait but a pleasing start.

Bites on the whip were irregular and after an hour I had another 3 perch of a similar size in the net. I had a take on the worm rod, I struck and briefly felt the kick of a fish but hook didn't hold. Eventually I started getting fish more regularly on the whip, with a few being small enough for bait.

A lip hooked 2oz perch was placed around 5meters out and I continued to trickle maggots over the top. I had another take on the worm rod which I hooked and it turned out to be a 6oz perch. The live bait hadn't been touched so I switched back to the whip and maggot. The float buried on the first put in and a decent perch was hooked, the perch put up a decent scrap which was magnified on the light tackle (No 3 elastic and 1lb line).

Largest of the day, exactly 1lb 

I changed to a worm on the whip and this was quickly taken by a skimmer, 4 more skimmers were
quickly added before I switched back to the live bait. Throughout the session all live baits went untouched and I had most interest on the maggot and worm, with the largest perch caught on a maggot. I finished the session with 10 perch and 7 skimmers, not a bad first visit and I will definitely be returning and having another perch session. I was also pleased with how the back biters and rollovers worked together, although I will be testing this combination further in future sessions I can see no reasons why I won't be using this combo long term.

Indicators and short river sessions

In the past week I have had 2 new sets of indicators arrive, a set of Pete Fosters drop off's and a set of Zandavan Rollovers. The Pete Foster arms were a bit of an impulse purchase as I have recently started using some older Mark Houghton line gates, which seem to be spot on for what I need. Initial impressions of Pete's arms are really good, over engineered and look built to last, perfect for a heavy handed piker. I plan to use the arms directly with the backbiters. The rollovers will also be used with the backbiters whilst targeting eels in the summer, again these seem to be built to last and I'm looking forward to using them.

A selection of indicators (top to bottom)
Billy's Backbiter ball and PTFE arms, Mark Houghton's line gates, Pete Fosters drop off's and Zandavan Rollovers 

This week I managed 2 short session, both on different rivers. The first session was on Wednesday and was my second visit to this stretch. Tactics for the afternoon were 1 bait rod and 1 rod for the chub, conditions seemed perfect the river was falling, the colour was dropping and it was slightly overcast. After around 30 minutes I had a wrap around on the chub rod and stuck into thin air. Nothing else followed despite moving swims every 20 minutes or so.

New drop offs in action ( well sort of !)

On Thursday I had a couple of hours spare and after checking the river levels I decided on a quick session on a stretch closer to home. This is the first time this season I have been able to get onto this stretch as it has regularly been in flood. I arrived at around 11 and I would need to be heading home by around 2 pm. Again tackle was kept to a minimum with 1 bait rod and one medium lure rod. I spent around 15 minutes or so in each likely area before moving on to the next. On the third move I had a hard hit on the lure rod, a 6 inch orange Replicant was taken mid river. Unfortunately after 15 seconds or so the fish came off, after a quick check of the lure it seems that the fish hit the head of the lure as there was a lot of damage to the rubber. A few more casts in the same area followed, but there was no further takes.

River in fine fettle 

After a few more uneventful moves I had to call it a day and head home, I would like to be able to get another session in on this stretch before this season ends and hopefully the river will be in a similar condition.

During the last two unsuccessful sessions I managed to have a good play with the Pete Foster drop offs and they perform very well, due to the method of adjustment it is very easy to match the tension of the 'clip' to the flow of the river. Once setup correctly I didn't have any false indications caused by the flow of water and in some swims I was using 4.5 oz to hold bottom effectively. I am very pleased with these drop offs so far, hopefully they will get some 'action' of an actual take before the river season finishes. Currently I think I will use the new drop off's on running water as I like how easy they are to adjust to suit different conditions, but I will stick to the line gates for still waters as I have found they are very sensitive.

Plans for the coming week are for at least one full day session. This will probably be split over two waters as one of the still waters I fish follows the traditional close season and I would also like to get as many hours as possible on the river bank ( too many waters, not enough time to fish!) It is likely that I will grab a short lure session on a local water as well.

Pike Anglers Club Event 26/01/2014

On Sunday I attended my first Pike Anglers Club 'fish in' event at Motorway Pond which is controlled by Hull and District Anglers Association . The 'pond' is an 18 acre pit with many features and is completely different to anything I have fished before. I was allocated a decent peg and decided on a 3 rod dead bait approach. One rod in each of the left and right margins with various baits a nd the middle bait was positioned with a bait boat using the sounder to identify various features. It was a quiet day all round with only 2 fish coming out to the 15 or so anglers on the pit, a jack and a low double. Although I didn't catch it was still an enjoyable day (apart from the torrential rain) I managed to put faces to names after meeting a few other members of the PAC.

Motorway Pond - An interesting place well worth a second visit.

New rod

After the disappointment of not getting any Chew Valley tickets(again), I decided to treat myself to a new rod, a DLST P2, which I am going to be using on the rivers (when the weather behaves) in a more mobile approach. This rod seems ideal for what I need, hopefully it will be getting a thorough testing soon, I will also be using it as a third rod in the summer when targeting eels.

Christmas 2013

Normally I am given some really random (shite) fishing related presents for Christmas, such as a heated fishing hat ? etc.... However this year the only fishing related gift I was given was a copy of 'The Eel Angler' by Barry McConnell. I had a quick flick through on Christmas morning and I was very impressed, I didn't get a chance to start reading the book until the day after boxing day. This is one of those books that you pick up and don't want to put down, very inspiring. I am restricting myself to a chapter a day to make it last as I could easily finish it in one sitting otherwise.

It has reinvigorated my interest in catching large eels (well trying to) and I have rejoined the National Anguilla Club. As a Christmas present to myself I managed to get hold of a signed copy of John Sidley's 1985 'Successful eel fishing' to add to my growing collection of angling books.

I haven't managed to get out fishing over the Christmas period and now things have started to settle down at home the rain has started and the river is in flood, hopefully this will settle soon as am I itching to get out and add to the meagre 3 pike I have caught this season.