At Last

Well following my last post where I suffered 2 blanks after misjudging my target a had a pleasant surprise . I was sat reading on sunday and my wife Lou asked if I was going fishing after tea , now I had no plans as was trying to clear my head but I got a feeling in my gut that said do it , I said I wasnt but had a feeling so she told me to sort my stuff while she cooked tea . Well given the weather and the chub been unwilling to co-operate  meant it had to be barbel .

At 6pm I left my home and made the drive to the Tidal Trent , on arriving I was surprised to find no one there . I had a quick look around and decided on a swim that had produced for me when the river was in flood last season . The river was low and still dropping on the tide . The stretch as supposedly been dredged a few weeks ago so out came the lead rod and I spent half hour searching the swim but could find no features or any great variation in depth so I studied the river watching the flow and noticed there was an obvious crease where the flow switched sides and in front of me was a slack forming . I set up my pod and got my unhooking mat weigh sling and camera and tripod in position . The rods were rigged with 4oz feeders and one rod had a single lassoed fishmeal pellet on the upstream rod and 2 variations on the downstream one .
Now before I had left I had a phone call from fellow YSG member Jon Preen saying he was going to come out and watch me for a couple of hours , I was planning on fishing til 3am and then heading home .

At 7.45 I put the upstream rod at roughly 2 o'clock and on the crease where it began to push away from the bank , the downstream rod was cast around 10 yards downstream and again on the crease where the flow separated from the slack water . Now it would appear that this had all gone smoothly but it hadnt first thing was that I had forgotten my chemical night lights ,so was relying on savage takes , second was the lasso rig the slip know pulled through and I had to retie it , yet I still felt positive and with good reason for not 5 minutes after I had cast in the upstream rod screamed into life and I hooked into was obviously a barbel , after a few powerful runs it slid over the net cord , peering into the net it looked a good fish and on the scales it went 8lb 8oz a very nice start.

I had just slipped the fish back and reset the rod when Jon arrived carrying his chair and a welcome surprise in his stove and brewing kit which was most welcome since I hadnt brought anything . We got settled and had a chat and then had a walk down to the rods and have a look at the river . There was a single bleep on the upstream rod and it started nodding which usually signifies a bream but on lifting into the fish it became obvious this was a bream as it tore off following another good fight Jon did the honours and it slid into the net , Jon had a quick look and said it looked like I had my first double of the season but it wasnt to be and it went 9lb 5oz .

I recast the rod and re positioned the as yet quiet downstream rod , Jon put the kettle on and the upstream began nodding again and this time it was a bream of around 3lb which was unhooked in the river and released .
We settled down to have a brew and another chat and half hour later the downstream rod decided to get in on the act and went into meltdown , the fight in the flow was arm aching but eventually Jon netted another good fish and this time it was the one we wanted and after 78 barbel I had my first double of the season at 10lb 9oz .

Out went the rod and back in our chairs , we discussed the state of the river and how different it was fishing and how the swims everywhere had changed following the floods and we were interrupted as there was one bleep on the downstream rod  and it pulled over but didnt appear to be giving line I got to the rod and discovered the baitrunner wasnt on !!!! lucky escape there and a barbel was now off downstream I managed to turn it quite easily and it came to the net quickly and went 8lb 12oz on the scales .

Now what happened next was very strange we were sat chatting and I thought I saw something fly across the river and into the bank just below us , now normally that wouldnt be unusual but this was nearly 1am in the morning and nothing normally flies about at that time other than bats and it looked too big for that so I wandered down to the side of my rods to see if I could see anything and just as I got to the rods the downstream rod went seriously crazy as line disappeared off the spool in a blur !!! on lifting into this fish it became obvious it was somewhat bigger than the others as it turned and set off upstream and was plodding and sulking on the bottom after a few surging runs it tired and slipped into the waiting net and Jon confirmed it would indeed be the biggest of the session and the scales confirmed this when they settled at 11lb 4oz .

With an hour before high tide things looked good for some more action but it wasnt too be as the almost full bright moon was over the middle of the river and killed it , I sat it out til 3am and Jon even stayed as we witnessed constant mists coming over the far bank and covering the river then us and then going over us . Jon left and I started to pack up as I went to the rods the upstream suddenly started nodding and I was into another fish to end the session this turned out to be a bream of 7lb 6oz .

I have to thank my wife Lou for giving me the push I needed and Tony Miles who if you have read his books always says go with you gut and use that 6th sense we all have . I have to say an even bigger than you to Jon Preen for coming from his home in Doncaster to sit and encourage , make brews , net fish and take the pics . I really dont know how he did it as I get frustrated sitting with anyone for more than an hour .

First Blank !!!

Well I have got 3 sessions to write up later but since people have asked I thought I would do a quick right up of my first blank , which happened last night . It was a very eventful blank and one that gave me loads to think about .

It started badly when I called home to check on the dog and pick my clothes up . I got delayed for a couple of reasons and was later leaving than intended . I made good time until I got about 5 mile from Newark when everything in front of me stopped dead , we went through phases of crawling or not moving for about 20 minutes then we were away and no idea what had caused the hold up . I didnt arrive at the Trent til 4pm and so decided rather than do my usual go to far end of stretch and work my way back and to settle in the final swim . There was no one else there which told a story in itself .

The river was still low and literally like tap water and the wind was blowing a gale into my face  . I started on mashed bread and some of the Hookbait Companies flakey fake bread which is garlic and cheese flavour and glugged it in the big cheese gloop

This is a quality product and you are never in doubt the bait is still on , however I picked the wrong day to try it . Aside from the 6 swans that would'nt go away nothing showed an interest and after 2 hours I decided a change was in order and so the small pack of steak and mince that I had bought the day before more on a hunch than anything as I had confidence in the Hookbait Company products . Now as I pushed the mince into the feeder a kingfisher shot passed and as I slipped a sliver of steak on the hook another went passed , now thats usually a good omen and I cast out with new confidence . The sun had started to dip and the wind had remarkably dropped .Within minutes I was getting taps and rattles and taps and things were looking good , this bite never developed and on retrieving the feeder the water was obviously a bit warm for steak and mince as both that in the feeder and on the hook was washed out . So rebaiting and recasting and the same again but this time I decided to try and hit it but felt nothing . I shortened the hook link and tried again this time the taps were followed by a wrap around and I struck and contacted nothing !!!!!!! Change to a bigger hook brought the same result , a smaller hook did the same . I was really struggling to come up with a reason for what was happening but was still confident that something would slip up but fate was to stop that happening as I recast I can only assume my hook caught my isotope and the quiver tip shot out into the river fortunately the mainline didnt break and retrieved the tip and set about sorting it out only to discover the isotope had gone along with the hook , now I had been up since 4.30am and no matter what background I put the tip against I was never going to make a bite out so had to call it a day . As I write this my tackle has been resorted and some alterations made to my bait and I will be out again after work for a few hours tomorow , I will be trying  a different stretch and wont give in !!!!!!!!!!!

Well heres an update on this and its not pretty , was out last night from 5pm til 11.30pm and despite trying 2 different stretches I never had a sign of a fish . The second stretch had about 15 anglers on and other than a 4lb jack pike and a 1lb 8oz chub nothing was caught and on dark nothing was showing . My own personal conclusion is that its too early for steak and mince plus the river needs some fresh water .I think until the weather gets colder it could be back to barbel and probably on the tidal .