I opted for a trip to the club stretch I have been on for most of the winter and finally found some chub again , I am keeping this short as my head is having trouble remembering what happened but in the 2 trips prior to the last day I had 5 chub of 2lb 2oz , 1lb 14oz , 1lb 8oz , 1lb 7oz and 12oz plus 4 roach of 4-6oz , 2x10oz and 1lb 4oz .
I appologise for lack of detail and pictures .
Right Seasons end , I was invited to fish as a guest on section of the Tidal Trent that I had not seen for 35 years or more when I used to match fish there . My original plan was to at 4am in the morning and fish til midnight , as I had a few friends down there from the wednesday I had a run down to have a chat and a look at the venue with my wife Louise and Dizzy the dog , chatting with the guys the first trip down there was the odd barbel to 6lb coming out along with some chub and bream . At loose end waiting for someone to call to pick up a table we went out again on friday morning .on arrival I found that a couple of the lads had moved further down and left my mate Jon Preen who was guesting me on the stretch pb his own , since my previous visit the barbel appeared to have moved downstream hence the 2 guys moving though Jon had had a couple of chub and suffered a hook pull at the net on a carp estimated to be 25-30lb !!!! He commented that I should have fetched my gear and set up as he could have kept an eye on it til I came back the following morning ,Doh !!!!
Jon joined us on a walk down to the other lads and discovered they had some more chub but the barbel were been elusive , speaking to the guy , who I wont name , I told him he should have sat on the bait til they moved in . At this point him and his mate decided they were going to move to another stretch for the last night , below them was another angler who is in fact the fishery manager and after a chat revealed he had had 5 double to just over 12lb in the first 2 nights . On leaving and wishing the guys look I said see you in the morning .
We got home and Louise told me to get my gear ready early just in case I could leave that night , which turned out to be a good decision . While waiting for the table pick up I checked online to discover a mate who was fishing the middle had been catching the odd barbel and some chub but sport was slowing as the river was shooting up , on checking the EA site it showed the river at the top of the middle was indeed climbing rapidly . My luck got better as the table was picked up early and Louise told me to get off so at 6pm I was away , I arrived at the river at 6.45pm and after some guiding by head torch from Jon I maneuvered my van over and along the flood bank . After a brief chat and been told all had been quiet since i had left earlier , I set about getting set up , at 9pm the rods went out and the kettle when on , My plan was to fish pellet on the upstream rod and a hookbait company boilie wrapped in matching paste on the downstream rod both where been feeder fished with pellet mixed in halibut and hemp groundbait . At 9.20pm the upstream rod gave a single bleep and started nodding usually a sign of a bream , on picking the rod up it was solid , going about 20 yards upstream and it came free and I felt a fish banging on the end , still thinking bream I went down the rocky bank and netted a small but perfect barbel of around 3lb .
I put the rod back out and within half an hour the same rod went off and this time it was a bream of around 5lb . I put out the rod again and took an amble down to Jon's swim with my brew in hand as he had been quiet since I got there , as I got 10 yards away it became apparent for the lack of movement as his bivvy was almost lifting up with the sound of snoring !!!! .
As I ambled back to my swim I heard Jon's alarm give a single beep and turned expecting him to appear but he didnt and the alarm didnt make another sound . At 10.10pm the downstream rod gave a single bleep and then tore off , on getting on the rod it felt a good fish as it went into the typical big barbel bang and thump while running upstream , while playing the fish I glanced downstream to see Jon was also playing a fish . Both fish were landed and carried up the bank at the same time and even weighed the same time . Jon shouted up his was 10lb 14oz , I called back mine was 11lb exactly .
Both fish were returned and Jon came up for a brew , while he was there I had another run on the downstream rod and the fight was strange as it made short runs and banged the rod round , as it was netted Jon shouted down what was it , I called back in disbelief a bream but on removing from the net it turned out to be a roach / bream hybrid of around 3lb .
Rods went out and after a good chat and discussion on what the night might bring we retired to sit in a bivvies out of the strengthening wind . It went very quiet and at 2am I felt the need to have a cat nap , boots off and laid back , not more than 10 minutes later and I had the most continuous one toner I have ever experienced in fact I put my boots on and got them on the wrong feet and by the time I had swapped them the baitrunner and alarm were still going . I lifted into the fish and it immediately stopped running , yet again it felt like a good fish as it banged and made long runs but controlled ones not like the ones the smaller ones make , by now the extra water that was coming down the middle trent was now getting down to the Tidal and bringing weed and branches down , the first time the fish came to the net a big lump of weed clogged the tip ring but my luck was about to hold again as the fish made a sudden lunge and run that shook the weed off , the next time it came to the net , the net was caught in the rocks and as I freed it off went the fish again , third time lucky she went in the net , Jon again shouted up to me how big , I bent down to unclip the hooklink and just stared , I stood up secured the fish in the margin and took the rod up the bank to the pod and told Jon I thought it would beat my pb of 13lb 2oz , by the time I had got back down to the fish Jon was at the top of the bank behind me , I went to lift the fish out of the river and turned to Jon and said I cant lift it , struggling I eventually managed to get the fish up the bank , as I passed Jon he said thats a 15 , I cant repeat what I said as kids may read this but on placing the fish on the mat and putting my head torch on I peeled back the mesh and what happened next is a blur , on the scales the fish went an incredible 15lb 8oz , the picture below were taken by Jon and cant thank him enough not only for the pics but for the heart felt congratulations he gave me .
For the next 20 -30 minutes I dont remember much , I didnt recast as the weed was getting mental and jon at one point nearly had his rod wiped out by a branch . This is how Jon posted it on my Facebook wall and cant really think of anything to add .
"Just walked away from a stunned, shocked and bewildered Bob Beal. Anybody would think he had just destroyed his personal best barbel and taken it from 13lb 2oz up to a beastly 15lb 8oz lol. Congratulations mate you've earned that. Caught on a Hookbait Company SM Pro boilie "
We decided that due to the river going the way it was and the threat of rain later we would get away after first light and to be honest I couldnt focus on fishing on , I did try to get some sleep but probably had an hour at most and then the phone calls of congratulations started . I cant thank all who rang or posted on Facebook congratulating me .
I must add that I have dedicated my pb to my wife Louise , she has had alot to put up with and supports me through all my fishing trips and when I rang her at 7.30pm to tell her my news she cried with happiness and also told me off for not ringing her at 3am to tell her .
I got home and emptied the van got cleaned up and flopped into my chair , my head was still numb and while i had spoke to people about it , it still hadnt sunk in and to be honest it didnt til much later in the night , On Facebook and people were clamoring for the pictures and after initially posting I would add them the following morning I was still not ready for sleep so uploaded them and more messages of congratulations followed , at 10pm I needed to sleep and realised I had had about 1 hours sleep in the last 36 hours . I slept soundly . Since then i have continued to get messages and posts saying well done and up to now only one that while congratulating me also hinted at the weight been wrong but hey ho I know the weight is right as does Jon my witness .
One other thing has happened since the last day , Jon has sorted the Yorkshire Specimen Group out and removed a few including one who was one of the main reasons for me leaving and I have accepted the groups offer of rejoining . There has also been another development that I will report on my next blog along with the Close Season sessions so far .
Cheers and tight lines to you all
