Season 16th June 2007 to 14th March 2008
I've set myself a new target for season 2007/8, once again at a barbel a month, and I've added a Trent double to add some spice to my quest.
15th -16th June – Hazelford
Ah the glorious 16th,
I still get the buzz.
It’s the eve of the
new season, and I’ve arrived at 8:30pm, after a difficult journey through a
flooded Middle Rasen.
Met up with TR, CP and
AC in the car park.
The river is full to spilling and rising after continuous rain,
the evening is now cloudy with showers, the air pressure at 1000 and dropping.
TC commented that in all his memory he had never seen the Trent in
flood on season start.
I picked a swim someway down from the weir, as we all did, I was
in peg 93 where the river wasn’t pushing through with so much force. The others
were upstream of me.
I set up my Fox multi-tip with the pound and three quarter
section, the Shimano 5010 loaded with 10lb Pro Gold, a running heavy open end
feeder, and a hook length of about 18inches to a size 4 ESP Raptor barbless.
My choice of baits tonight is apple cored pieces of garlic Spam
and Teme Severn hali pellets
We await the witching hour and at 12 midnight on the dot, after some daft bugger lets off a firework, we all
make our first cast., me with garlicSpam.
My first fish is landed within 10 minutes and is a barbel of 6:12, a
great start to the season.
This continues until about 3am with fish of 7:12, 7lb, 3:14,
3.12 & 8:08.
It all went quiet for about an hour and a half for me, and in the
meantime I changed to pellet.
and landed a barbel of 5:4, I lost one in the bank side grass
and nettles, then a pup and finally a chublet.
All in all a great start with eight barbel in very wet
conditions.
Packed up and left for home at about 6am.
5th July –
Hazelford
I’ve guested my neighbour Ray Coleman today, the water is rising
and is up to the top of the lock wall, much higher than the first day.
We’ve
certainly had our fair share of rain this summer…so far.
The forecast is more due!
We wandered downstream away from the main flow, and I fished 93
again, the air pressure 1010 and dropping, the weather cloudy and bright.
Fished with cored garlic Spam from 6:30 am until 12:30pm and
landed 6 barbel between 5lb and 9:2.
I lost 4 or 5 to flood snags and nettles, and two hook length
breaks.
I must keep a closer eye on my hook lengths for wear and tear in these
conditions.
A bonus chub of 5:11 took a liking to the Spam.
Ray had seven barbel to about 7:08, a bream of 5:8 and a small roach.
14/15th
July – Hazelford
I’m guesting Gary Knowles for an overnighter.
He’s bought me
down two Nash Specialist barbel rods at 2lb tc; in exchange for a Shimano 10000
which I can’t see myself using.
We meet at 6:30 pm, did the exchange and walked the length of
the fishery.
Gary decided he was quite happy to set up next to the wall, so I
took the next swim down just before the willows.
It rained all night! The water temperature was 17.3c, air
pressure was up and down between 1003 and 1007.
Gary moved down stream at first light after a non productive
night.
A bright cloudy morning and the river was on it's wa y down.
He ended up with 7or 8 chub and a few barbel, but lost more
barbel than he landed….fishing too light I think!
All of my fish were chub between 3:8 and 4:10 all on garlic
Spam, I also lost a few fish.
We have a new snag brought down by the floods.
The chub appeared to have just finished spawning, one or two
still spilling milt!
We left at around 10:30am.
20th July –
Hazelford
It’s raining again…!
An early evening session
from 4pm, I’m fishing under the willows, the water temperature at 17.3c.
Steve and Wendy Spiller from Bristol were down as guests of a
fellow member, we had a chat I had not met Wendy before, nice couple, although
Steve is a bit different when out with the boys. They are staying overnight on the bank.
Barbel are still not having it today, just two chub one at 5lb
and the other 4:14 both on gSpam.
I left at about 8pm after saying my goodbyes.
27th July –
Hazelford
An afternoon session from 1pm on a bright cloudy day, water
level was down from the lock island, about a foot from the top.
I wandered down to 93 and had 2 barbel on gSpam, 3 on pellet
along with a 4lb chub, a small bream and roach. The barbel weighed between a
1lb and the biggest being 6:5.
Finished at around 8pm,
meeting Barry the baliff on the way back to the car park.
He had been fishing from
11am down at the bottom peg where he had 14 barbel "all of an average size".
2nd August –
Hazelford
Once again I am guesting Ray for an early morning session
arriving at 6:30am
The river is about a foot down on my last visit, but still
scooting through.
I fish below the willows, water temperature 17.6c, the air
pressure 1011 and rising.
Access to swims is a bit soggy the river needs to drop about
another two feet to be at normal levels.
I caught a couple of chub of about 3:8oz and a 1lb on gS.
Ray had one barbel of
around 2lb.
We packed at about noon both of a view that the fish weren’t
playing, and relaxed over a couple of pints at the Bromley Arms.
9th August
– Hazelford
River now at summer levels, temperature 18.6c, AP 1021 and
falling.
I started at the wall around 1:30pm, fished for around two hours
without a knock.
Met for the first time fellow member Keith C.
Moved down to the last swim under the willows and within half an
hour had a barbel of 4:6 and by the time I left at 7pm no more barbel,but a
couple of chub of 3lb and 4:8oz and two very nice half pound roach. All on halips.
23rd/24th August – Yorkshire Ouse - Hazelford
I had a day yesterday on the Yorkshire Ouse with Paul Thompson
up from Hereford, he’s staying with us for a couple of nights.
At last knockings, 9pm, Paul had an 8lb barbel on a quarter of a tin of
garlic spam, right under his rod tip, and opened my eyes to a different way of
fishing.
No bites for me.
Today, we are at Hazelford and have dropped down to the bottom
boundary.
The river is at summer level and it’s a bright sunny day,
temperature of the water is 17.8c and air pressure is on the rise from 1025.
I started to use the quarter tin of gSpam as shown to me by Thomo,
it required a bit of roughing up, and I fished it straight through to a size 4 Raptor.
Paul started just up from me and moved back up stream during the afternoon.
Bearing in mind he fished down the inside yesterday, it seemed to
be the way to go, so I cast out into the flow and let the meat find it’s own
station on the nearside.
In a very short time, with MB sitting behind me for a chat, I
felt the line tighten and moved the rod towards the fish. Shorlty after and with a few nudges, that had me twitching to strike, it started moving off taking line off the freespool, I reeled in to connect the freespool and struck.
The fish, was on it’s way at top speed across the river before I had a
chance to do anything about it!
Unfortunately I had my 5010 tension fully tightened up. I had not checked
it and loosened it off!
To cut a short story short, my 10lb line broke with a crack at
the spool rim.
So an unseen big fish was off and running with a few yards of
line still attached!
We guessed at a carp, or maybe catfish, but no idea really!
My first barbel to the new method was at about 5:30pm and weighed 8lb6oz followed
an hour and a half later by one of 9lb4oz.
Two chub followed, one of 3lb, and
the last fish on my last cast, of 4lb8oz, it took the quarter tin in one go as it hit
the water!!
Thomo blanked!
21st/22nd
September River Wye - Moccas Bredwardine
Ten of us from the syndicate had been organized for a couple of
nights at The Red Lion.
I arrived at 2pm and got myself booked in, had a pint and a chat
with the owner/landlord Mike, before heading off to the bridge and an upstream
trudge.
Having never seen, let alone fished the Wye, it was all a bit of a
surprise to me. Especially the almost vertical banks
So at about 3:30 a bit knackered, I started fishing, having walked some way to
avoid the steep banks and taking too much tackle and bait. The river was up and
coloured.
I fished a swim, I think called the rapids, anyway it’s between
two sets of them.
I tried the big spam, and on my first cast I was into
a lumbering fish that came off after a few minutes, I didn’t see it, and
my spam came back unmarked.
It was later surmised by DB, to have probably been a pike.
Later I switched to pellets and maggots and had two small barbel
of around a pound and a pound and a half on each bait, and a few small chub.
I packed up at about 7pm for the long trudge to the Red Lion, before
it got dark and so that I could find my way back.
After a session in the bar and a good night sleep, we were up
for breakfast and off upstream in a car with TC and Scottie, not certain
where we were but access to the river was through a farm yard.
We fished from about 10am to 7pm. I had a small chub, and that was about it.
3rd October
– Hazelford
A morning start at 7am with Ray again.
The river is low with a water temperature of 13.6c and pressure was
falling from 1019.
It was bright and cloudy and I decided to fish just before the
willows, Ray in the wall swim.
I used my Grice & Young matched with the Nash Specialist,
again straight through with the quarter tin, allowing the meat to drift in with
the current to under the willows.
Within the first hour I had two barbel of 9:4 and 9:10.
No further fish on that method, so I switched to halips, and had
3 more barbel of 6:12, 7:4 and 8:12. Between 10:45 and when we left for the pub
at 1pm.
Ray in the meantime had lost two fish to snags, and an eight
pound bottom!
I gently reminded him that to fish for barbel in this stretch, he
needed to step up his gear.
30th
October - Hazelford
I guested Mick Howson today on a low clear river of 12.1c and
rising pressure from 1020.
We fished from 8am and Mick chose to fish the wall and “the patio”
without catching.
I dropped just below him and had one barbel of just under 5lb on
pellet.
Two o’clock found us in the Bromley Arms!
My barbel tally 30 fish so far after 13 day trips
June 8
July 11
August 3
September 2
October 6
So, more barbel than the whole of last season so far, but who's counting...certainly not me, I have never been a numbers man.
Part 2 will follow shortly. November starts very well for me.
