A couple of tough sessions and roach not ready

Its been a tough couple of weeks for different reasons . The first was that I had another quick afternoon session on the middle Trent and conditions looked good other than an strong wind blowing .

The swim I was in has given me mixed fortunes in the past from giving me a few double figure barbel to alot of roach including a nice one of 1lb 7oz but its also given me a few cruel blanks , an end of season session that failed to deliver the chub or barbel but did produce bream after bream but its most cruel day was the one covered in my high winds and heart breaker post which as those who read it was when what would have been a pb chub escaped my landing net before I could weigh and photograph it . this session turned out to be one of the blank ones despite trying numerous things resulted in one half hearted bang on the rod tip .

My next planned session was going to be a bit different in that I was planning a day of blasting maggots and float fishing in hope of catching roach and chub unfortunately 3 days before the session my van's starter motor and ignition switch decided to give up the ghost . I lost a full days pay and also despite been told it would be fixed the same day it took 5 days due to problems getting the part .

I finally go out today for a few hours and due to plans for the next couple of days I had to be on my way home by 5.30pm . The river again looked perfect and other than it been a bit bright I fancied it for a fish or 2 . Things started badly the swim I wanted to get on was free but the bank up to it and behind it was a bog and it was obvious a couple had been stuck but me been me decided to give it a go and first try got stuck , after about 5 minutes I managed to get myself free and got to terra firma and re-accessed the situation and worked out how I could get my van close enough to the swim to fish it . So got it settled and set up , spoke to couple of other guys who were fishing and they were struggling . I really should have called and picked up some maggots but with the river been just slightly up and still holding a bit of colour I went with bacon grill on the upstream rod and the down stream was using a groundbait feeder with a mix of groundbaits of halibut , krill and explosive fishmeal with hemp and krill pellets added , taking a gamble with the weather been way too warm for december I decided to go with these beauties on the hair .

These are the now defunct Teme Severn Lamprey pellets , one of the saddest loss's to angling in the last few years and unlike the 2nd rate ones been marketed by a certain 3rd rate bait company in Nottingham these are brilliant , luckily for me they supplied me with half a kilo of both the 8mm and 12mm ones and today it was gonna be a single 12mm . Out went the rods and sat in the back of the van and on went the kettle and that was it , casting the downstream rod every 20 mins to get some bait down for the first 3 hours and nothing was happening . Mark Reid turned up for a brew and a chat about our annual roach session on Woodland Waters in a weeks time and just as Mark left Lee the bailiff turned up and the kettle went on again . Lee left me at 4.30pm and still no sign . At 5pm I made one last cast on both rods , now knowing this stretch well and despite been informed that the fish that had been coming out were coming off the far bank I had been putting my bait in a third of the way out . At 5.20pm I started putting stuff away and with just the rods out at 5.27pm I turned my alarm receiver off and looked at the rods to see the alarm light up on the downstream rod and the baitrunner going , the fight was prolonged more for the reason that I didnt wanna lose it but even when I decided to give it some stick and net it the fish had other ideas and extended the fight by a couple more minutes , not the biggest barbel at 7lb 4oz but in mint condition and very welcome .

As mentioned earlier my next session is the annual roach session with Mark , not sure what it will bring with the weather been so mild but time will tell and will try and do a blog on xmas eve to bring you how it went .

Decided to just update this with the roach session and it turned out as hard as we thought , The weather is still too mild for the bigger roach to feed or indeed to get them into their usual feeding areas , the bailiff reported that while the odd fish had been coming out they were moving around alot and not much over 12oz .

After a good look round me and Mark decided on a social swim where we had caught on previous trips , the usual set ups were used heli rig fished maggots and after we were fishing it was time for a brew and annual selfie pic .

It took 3 hours for the first indication and it set the tone for the session as Mark received a typical drop back but made contact with nothing , I was next suffering the same so slight tweaks were made and made no difference then next indication I got resulted in the first roach but as the bailiff said it was a pristine 12ozer .

Unfortunately this didnt signal the usual avalanche of fish in fact I added just 2 more roach of similar size , Mark added 1 between my 2nd and 3rd and looked like that was it but he managed to add another late on and at the death a 2lb skimmer bream . We both suffered losing a couple of fish to the barbless hooks falling out .

A tougher than usual session but that has to be down to the weather , we need some frosts and colder weather but that looks unlikely . I am planning my next session for New Years Day on the Middle Trent with the river carrying a couple of feet of extra water I have a couple of swims that should produce a fish or 2 .

When will winter arrive ?

Well by now my winter chubbing has started but the weather is still too warm . Since my last brief update I have had 2 day sessions and to say I have struggled for bites is an understatement . The sunday before my first session we were on our way to Sheffield to see family and decided to call in at Newark for a walk along the river and to have a look at the devastation off one of my favourite swims on a club lake . I will put the before and after pics up but will say no more as words fail me .







While walking the river towards the lake , this particular stretch is a day ticket water that it appears still does not have a bailiff , I used t fish it quite regular a few years ago and had a lot of barbel to double figures and the odd chub , speaking to the only angler there he hadnt seen sign of a barbel but had managed a couple of chub which he didnt weigh but said they were around 4lb mark .

3 days later and I parked in the Newark Piscatorial s stretch and decided to rove the day ticket stretch and then return to the Newark stretch for the last hour of day light and an hour into dark .

I spent the first 3 hours roving 4 swims fishing liquidised bread in a cage feeder and flake on the hook for not a sign . I decided to try a cube of meat for the last hour before heading back to Newark , conditions did seem more suited to bread but the fish didnt think so .




Within 15 mins of switching to meat the rod banged a couple of times and I was connected to my first chub of winter , a spirited fight finally saw a chub of 2lb 7oz on the scales , not the biggest but in pristine condition .




I returned the fish 50 or so yards downstream and had another half hour but nothing followed . I walked back to the van for a drink and then wandered down to the river but the swim I wanted was kind of taken up as there was an old guy sat fishing between it and the one above , to make matters worse he had parked his car in the swim above as he didnt want to risk getting stuck so he was in fact taking 3 swims up . I dropped my gear 6 swims upstream of his car and decided to have a chat with him . Seems he lost his wife a year ago and travels from Halifax to try and catch his first double figure barbel . He told me had had a chub around 3lb earlier and while talking he had a very tentative take and was into a barbel , now I wont knock folk for what they fish with especially when on a budget but he was using 2 carp rods that were more like beachcasters , very little action and the last foot was a brilliant white and with 15lb line he was taking no prisoners but was playing the fish very gingerly , it suddenly dawned on me that he would struggle to get down and land the fish so offered to net it him , the barbel was around 8lb and when I turned to bring it up the bank I couldnt see an unhooking mat , when I asked where it was he replied that he didnt have one and wasnt necessary , I was going to argue but think we all know where it would end up . He asked how big and when I took the guess of 8lb he didnt want to weigh it as he only wanted a double , luckily the hook was only just in and I managed to unhook it in the margin and release it with ease . As he wound his rig in it was caught on some bank side foliage and when I freed it for him I noticed how he was rigged up , now he had only had a couple of slight taps to hit I pointed out the reason was the way his lead wass set up but again he didnt wanna know and said it worked for him . While that was true I spent another 10 mins with him and he was getting similar taps on his other rod and suspect a slight change to his lead set up would give him a more positive indication and maybe just maybe that elusive double . I bid him good luck and went to the swim I had dropped my gear in and just managed to get my rod out before dark , the river had started to rise about 2 hours earlier and had now risen 6 - 8 inches and there was a fair bit of weed and rubbish coming down and despite giving it an hour into dark I had no further action .

My next and most recent session was nearly a week ago and was to be even shorter . I had a dentist appointment mid morning and didnt arrive at the Newark stretch til dinner time and after a quick look at the river and assessing the weather which was extremely wind and with rain predicted I took the decision to pick and swim and sit it out but to do it from the shelter of the back of the van . I noticed the river was slightly up from the last trip but was obviously starting to fall . Having got the rod in position I put the van in a position that allowed me to sit in the back and be sheltered but also able to see the rod , Starting bait was cheese squab covered in paste . The wind was horrendous and seeing any indications looked hopeless , I switched the quiver tip rest for one of my alarms in the hope something would at least alert me to any action . 2 hours on nothing and the bailiff Lee arrived who I hadnt seen since feb and so wound the rod in and stuck the stove on . Lee's welcoming words were " thought I would come down but didnt expect any one out in this lot but if there was it would be you , you must be mental " , he knows me so well as been fishing the stretch for the last 6 winters in some crazy conditions . After a half hour catch up and with the light fading I told Lee I was switching to meat for the last hour and he was off home . Out went the rod with the change of bait on and sat in the van and the rain came and the van rocked and then out of nowhere the alarm went mental and the bait runner was spinning , lifting into the fish it was obvious it wasnt a chub and on my light gear it was gonna have to be a take it steady time and after a very steady and spirited fight I netted a lovely fat barbel of 8lb 12oz and I was soaked and wind swept but very happy .




If you read my last blog you will know my fishing next season is still up in the air but one decision has been made and thats the Newark Piscatorial ticket will be renewed as the chub , barbel and roach fishing is top drawer and I have missed it with the other club ticket which I will have to renew but if the syndicate ticket comes off I wont be fishing on the club ticket .

Til next time Tight Lines guys

Brief update

Ok cant believe I have not updated this since the opening of the river season but to be honest its not been worth it , this update wont have any pictures and is just a quick catch up on a season that has had the odd high but some incredible lows .

Following on from my opening on the Tidal Trent my heart wasnt in the river , I fished a couple more sessions on the middle but the fact that the fish were 6-8 weeks behind where they should have been resulted in mediocre barbel fishing and only slightly better chubbing . I took the decision to concentrate on catching a carp off the lake and had a 13lb 4oz common first session and spent the best part of the next 3 months on it and caught 5 more carp including a pb common of 21lb 8oz and an official mirror pb of 16lb 15oz . My time on the lake has been on the whole was enjoyable and included my wife Louise starting to do nights with me on fridays and saturdays and while she doesnt fish the wildlife and the relaxing nature made for some nice time together along with Dizzy the dog . Also mick the bailiff enjoyed sessions with us along with several other members unfortunately all good things have down sides and our time on the lake ended up been marred and in the end ruined by a man who somehow returned to the club as head bailiff , this guy has no idea on fishery management and using work parties and his own time while others were trying to relax to completely butcher the lake , my own opinion of this man will be toned down here but basically considering he is a pensioner he is a massive bully and god knows why but other members , bailiffs and even committee members seem scared to stand up to him . I wont go into details of what was the final straw for me but the out come was I expressed my feelings and have since learned that a meeting took place where the others who werent happy failed to back me up and I was described as been very vocal . I havent fished the lake since but have had a couple of very back to basic river sessions as the fall out from the lake devastation and a couple of back days at work left me feeling very low .

This week I was guested onto a venue I last fished 6 years ago and is now a syndicate , I received a warm welcome from a couple of the guys who were on last time and even the bailiff who is now also the syndicate boss . The guys asked if I would be putting my name down for a place for next season and I was immediately tempted but wanted time to think and access what it would mean . Well been back to have a chat with a few more of the guys today and have been told that theres no problem with Louise and Dizzy joining me for sessions and while a ticket is only for the one lake I can of course hold on other tickets for my river fix , so I am now officially on the waiting list . I am now at a stage in my fishing were the title of my blog is more important to me than ever as long as the atmosphere is right which for the last month has not been the case on the club venues , while if I end up giving up this ticket I will miss alot of the guys its not enough when there is a couple of people who have ruined my feeling for the club and with a lack of backbone by people to stand up and sort these people out I feel I cant carry on the way I have .
The syndicate lake is not an easy venue but the rewards are fantastic for several species and at the moment I honestly believe its where I should be . I did have another option for a season ticket on another venue and if I hadnt been guested on the syndicate lake it would have got my vote .

So thats where I am , waiting is now the name of the game and it could be May next year before I know if I have got in but in the meantime I will be roving the Trent and Upper Witham looking for a 6lb chub and can see the end of the season been spent on the Tidal trying to beat my barbel pb one last time .

I dont know when my next update will be but I will try and make it a positive with some nice pictures for those of you who find reading hard

Season opening

Well after 3 months off the river and the trials and tribulations that I have had this close season I was looking forward to getting back on the flowing water . Now we all know that the opening few weeks are very hit and miss as the fish get used to been fed but still wouldnt miss the first night .

My starting point was the stretch of the tidal I was guested on for the final day and of course we all know what happened then ,  this time I would be going on as a full member . The plan was to me Jon down there and decide where to go . After a substantial KFC meal I arrived at the river at just after 1pm and parked the van up off the track and began walking the stretch , surprisingly no one was in sight and half way down the venue my phone rang and Jon was on the other end saying he would be there in half an hour . Now on the last day the cattle werent in the fields but today they were.

They dont do any harm but are very inquisitive and enjoy licking vehicles and bivvies which with the acid on there tongue is not a good thing . Walking back to the van and Jon comes down the track and picks me up and we head off to the far end of the stretch a mile and a half way , in between moving cattle and looking at various swims we ended up going to the other end of the stretch ,having had a good look around we settled on an area that was not only easy to get the vehicles next to the bivvies so we could watch the cattle , the other reason was that the cattle didnt appear to have been using this particular area .
We got set up and settled and it was only 6pm so 6 hours to go and time for some chatting and a bottle of red wine , my traditional opening night drink and of course a small amount poured into the river for luck .

At 8pm I put 10 droppers of hemp and pigeon conditioner in and at 10pm we decided to have an hours sleep was in order , Jon set his alarm for 11,55pm so 5 mins to bait rigs for the off . I dont know what happened with Jon but me I just didnt stir and woke 15 mins into the new season ooooooooooops , got the rods out and went up and woke Jon who finally got his act together and rods out . Now from mid afternoon til dark they had been fish crashing everywhere so when at 1am neither of us had  had a sign it was starting to get worrying and more so when I heard a snorting sound and saw something drifting down the margin on went the head torch and pair of big eyes bounced the light back at me and then disappeared with a splash . Its not unusual to see a seal occasionally and so we settled back in our chairs , then Jon's alarm sounded and he was in but it was one of the many trent bream . 10 mins later I landed one both around 3lb and we expected to be playing bream for a while but nothing happened until 3.15am when my upstream rod went into meltdown and I was on it and connected to my first barbel of the season , after a decent fight I netted her and when Jon asked how big , I replied about 6lb but on the scales she went 7lb , she had a sore patch on her underneath with looked like gravel rash from spawning .

I returned her and put the rod back out and decided to get back in the bivvy . Nothing happened til 7am when a single beep and a slight drop back had me lifting into a small fish which turned out to be a pristine roach of 1lb 1oz .

I put the kettle on and set off with my brew to see Jon who was just coming round , he hadnt had a sign since the opening bream which is strange given the way the bream are . Around 11am with the temperature starting to soar I wound the rods in and went for a walk to see how the 3 guys round the corner had got on . After a lengthy chat they had faired a little better with 3 barbel , 5 bream and 2 chub . I returned to my swim and after a brief chat with Jon decided on a new tacked and instead of putting hemp and pigeon conditioner inside the feeder I went with neat groundbait and pellet and over the course of the next 2 hours added 6 more bream to 6lb 4oz .

I put some more of the hemp and pigeon conditioner in with the bait dropper and went back to same in the feeder while I had my tea . I took a walk to the top of the flood bank and saw the sky looked on fire .

Now what was to happen next was to be a surprise as I decided to get my head down at 10pm for an hour , imagine my shock when I woke up at 6am !!!!! I got up sorted the rods and within minutes I managed to snare a nice eel of 1lb 7oz .

I made a brew and sat back down and unbelievably managed to crash out again til 11.20am .. Jon had started to pack up as there was a threat of major rain , he had managed 2 more bream and so while I packed up I put the groundbait feeder out and added 2 more bream and small but nice hybrid , also the cattle that had stayed away til now seemed to want to eat the grass we were on so it was packing up and trying to keep them away though I reckon Jon was getting a burger urge lol.

And that was it for the first session of the season . Tomorrow I will be trying a night on the middle Trent .

Hope you have all managed to find a fish or 2 to start your seasons and may we all have tight lines til march

Stop Press just been informed the fish above that I thought was a hybrid is in fact a silver bream !!!!!!!! not seen one for years

Crap weather and fishing for carp !!!

Well hows your close season been ? Mine has been terrible to start with but with a week to go to rivers opening the last couple of weeks have picked up but not the way I was planning .

I started the close season by visiting the match ,lake to warm up my tench methods ready for my season ticket assault on Sywell but it went from bad to worse . Firstly the spring weather has been same as the winter , couple of warm days and then a couple of cold ones , so not settled and not good for tench . 4 sessions on the match lake produced 6 tench but all between 2lb 4oz and 2lb 7oz , more annoyingly was the damage they had suffered through bad angling , below are 2 pictures showing one bad one and one near perfect .

As usual the stocked carp were a pain as I was catching 6 or 7 a session , the biggest was a common of 7lb 7oz and mirror of 8lb 1oz

At least Sywell was beckoning and for the start of my campaign it would be 2 nights for the tenchfishers fish in . It was great to be back and my hopes raised of a tench as I saw the view as I left the car park .

I decided that as it was more a social and with the amount of gear I had to take a short walk and get settled . As expected things were slow and over the weekend only 3 fish were caught but the good thing is that all 3 came to 3 anglers and top blokes who had not caught a Sywell tench before . the first was for Mark Daffern the event organiser who caught a very well deserved pb of 9lb 9oz around midnight on the first night , the second came to the guy with the boy band looks Ben Kennedy whose fish I believe was 5lb 8oz , the final fish came at the last hour as we were all packing up Andy Mackenzie had his first Sywell tench around 5lb , me well I had som very strange indications that no one could work out but it was a great weekend and nice to be back .

My next session wasnt for 2 weeks and in that time the weather had been up and down but you never know so off I went , not much to report other than a pike of around 5lb taking 2 buoyant maggots and then biting me off as it went into the net and this lovely sunset .

A week later and I returned to what I can only describe as terrible conditions , I pulled into the carp park have driven the 68 miles in constant rain and found it still bouncing down . After consulting all the oracles who are my friends on facebook I climbed out of the van loaded the barrow and set off on the 3 quarter of a mile walk to the swim I wanted . this would be my first session using my new Fox Supa Brolly System shelter , the wind was totally in the opposite direction to the forecast so set up to protect me from the ensuring down pour , with everything set the rain stopped and the sun came out and the wind started swinging to the predicted direction or in English straight into my shelter on seeing the dark clouds approaching I made the decision to empty the shelter and spin it round , I literally just got everything back in position when the heavens opened .For about half an hour the rain was a deluge and then it cleared and the sun was out again .

That was the pattern for the full 24 hours deluges and then dry but not a single bleep or sign of a fish of any description . When I loaded the barrow up the following morning it was blue sky so put the waterproofs away , half way back to the van and the heavens opened and a drowned rat arrived back at his van !!!!!

I took the decision to leave Sywell for a week or so in the hope the weather would settle and my next session was to be a catch up on the club lake with the bailiff and to see how the carp were showing as I still hadnt caught one which I told him I would . I also took both my roach rods and fished maggot heli rigs while catching up . The news was the usual , odd carp coming out but mostly folk just catching bream , I took 5 bream around the 5lb mark , all males covered in tubercles , I lost 2 and was broke by something as well .

With no sign of the weather improving or settling I decided to chance the club lake for a go at the carp , at least it was only 20 miles from home . On arriving I was shocked to see  people already on , now most lakes that would be ok but there is only 15 swims on it and this was a wednesday , I walked the lake and the 2 swims I had wanted to try were both taken . Back in the van and drive to the furthest swim and well away from every one . this will do I thought as I was next to the inlet that connects the the river . A quick lead round I found a gravel patch 2 yards off the reeds on the far side and another 30 yards in front of me . Now the thinking by those in the know is not to put much bait in , this is for 2 reasons , firstly the carp dont seem to like it and the other is it lessons the chance of bream turning up . With this in mind I crushed 2 boilies up and pva bagged them and hooked them into the hookbait and sent them to the gravel near the reeds and put 6 boilies at various points up the reeds , the other rod was set up with a different flavour of boilie and a bag of matching pellets out that went and the kettle went on . As expected nothing was showing or happening , then out of the blue the rod on the edge of the reeds went mental picking it up and looking out in to the lake my heart sank as a female mallard flapped about with my bait clearly swinging below her beak , I gingerly reel her in and half expected a good pecking that you usually get when these things happen but no she calmly sat on my knew and as I held her just under the head she went limp and relaxed , the hook came out easily and when I released her she jumped on my shoulder and flew off !!! .

I recast the rod and just stood there and pondered going home , at this point I decided to have a change of tact and did something a bit different I put 6 bait droppers of pellet over the other rod . As I took the dropper rod back up to the van the reed rod screamed off again , spinning round and scanning the lake no bird life visible I lifted into what was obviously my first carp and it was very angry and heading for the middle of the lake !!!! After a spirited fight a nice common went in to the net and on the scales it went 13lb 4oz , not my biggest but my first when targeting them and also mission accomplished .

My only other action was in the middle of the night when a bream of around 6lb turned up . the following morning mick the bailiff turned up and gave me a good handshake and a well done , so tough is this lake that some experienced carpers have taken a year to catch one .

I had by now decided to write my tench fishing off for this season and so needed to think what i wanted to do , the result will have no doubt surprised alot who know me as I took the decision to carry on going for the carp . Now I have fished in some shocking conditions and had my sanity questioned but my next session was something else , the forecast was for a massive low to come in around dark and wind up to 70mph and heavy rain . I arrived to find only 3 anglers on and yet again my first choice of swim to try was taken , it was also the one that would offer the most shelter , oh well lets try another swim I wanted to get on , now I already knew that these swims had been seeing alot of angler and they had been putting quite a bit of bait in and also where it had been going , now I may be knew to carping but I do know about where and where they wont feed . I was fishing in a smallish bay that had reeds all round it and the far side was where the bait had been going tight to the reeds , a quick lead revealed silt and chod tight over and it didnt smell very pleasant coming back towards me I found a gravel bar and drawing across it I found a small pocket of silt , that would do , rod was clipped to fish right on the edge of where the gravel me the silt . one rod had the same type of boilie that had taken the common a week earlier and had the same feed set up , the other rod had a new flavour for me to try , again with matching pellets . I settled down and noticed the wind starting to build and the first rain start . By 7pm it was getting a bit wild and wet it just seemed to be peaking when the new bait rod went off and I donned the gortex and was a little disappointed to find myself playing a bream around 5 or so pounds unhooked in the margin the rod was re positioned I went back to the shelter to dry off . By now I was the only one there and after a brief respite the weather started getting worse again . I battened down the hatches and got my head down , I was awoken around 1am by an absolute one toner and by the time I picked the rod up it was still going and heading out of the bay into the main lake , I managed to stop it and bringing towards me and after several good runs it went into the net . I secured it in the margins and turned to discover my 5 litre water bucket that was full of water had blown into the lake and sunk without a trace such was the force of the wind !!!! I put the fish in the mat and discovered it was one of the lakes rare mirrors and lovely fish that went 16lb 15oz

That was the end of the action but I left the following morning happy with my result .

The session that brings me up to date was a great one as when I arrived I found Mick the bailiff and another angler called Martin on 2 of the 3 point swims , they had taken a carp each and with a swim behind Martin facing into the main lake free I decided to drop in and make it a social with the chance of a fish . Quick lead around again and I found the gravel bar around 35 yards straight in front of me so one rod went on that the other rod was put in to a drop off 20 yards to my right down the spit that forms the channel into the bay I had been in the previous session .

Martin made a brew which was to become a feature of the session as we sat drinking and talking about things ,Mick told me that my mirror was only the second out this year and the biggest of the 2 , Martin had his dog Maisey with him who loves attention and playing ball . Suddenly Martin's middle rod went off and while he played it Mick grabbed the net and stood by but before Martin could get the fish back half way one of Micks rods went off so I was left to help Martin if he needed it , now I am sure that most anglers know you dont net a fish for anyone unless they ask you to , which Martin did a very spirited fight saw the fish drop into the net and as we got it on the mat one of his other rods went off , very unusual to say the least here . He asked me if I could deal with the fish on the mat while he played the other fish , no problem I said and proceeded to put the fish in the weigh sling and secure it in the margin and then man the net for the next , as that went in mick shouted for help with his fish as he wanted a photo so off I went while Martin took a minute to take in what had happened . Micks photo done and back to Martin and weighing his he had 2 commons off just over 15lb and the other a 20lber , now this fired me up and I said that was to be my next target . With all the action over for now we settled down for another brew .

With the wind pushing into my face we all agreed I should pick one up at some point , I took the decision to rebait both rods for the night and also changed the bait that was out in front of me to different flavour and also a bigger one . Rods repositioned and once last brew and head down . I answered a call of nature around 2am and my heart sank , a clear sky and a full bright moon , conditions I hate . I climbed back into the bag and out like a light I went . Suddenly I was awakened by what sound like 2 alarms and on getting to my rods both had gone at the same time but what was more confusing was they were bending towards each other !!! I picked the margin rod up and as I did so Martin appeared and offered to sort the other out , at this point with the lines crossing we thought one had actually took the other out but after ducking under the rod Martin had it became apparent I had 2 fish on  . Martin said he would just hold the other while I played mine to the net , a lovely common was soon in the net and Martin handed me the other rod and went to get his net , he had just returned and I had the fish under the rod tip as it surfaced the hook pulled !!! for a second or 2 it hung on the surface and Martin who was stretching due to not having his wellies on to get to the end of the swim made a desperate lunge with the net but just missed it and of it swam . As much as it would have been nice to have them both on the mat I reasoned that 1 was a good result as the fish we had been taking were the only ones coming out . The fish that came off was another common and Martin said it was around the same size as the one in the net which on the scales went 15lb 2oz and Martin did a great job with the pics .

We had a celebratory brew and chatted about the fact that the fish had actually gone at the same time and were probably 60 yards apart but swam at each other . As mick appeared and congratulated me the margin rod dropped back and a bream of around 7lb was unhooked in the water and released , Mick had another common of around 17lb something before Martin added another common of 15lb+ and that was the last fish I saw before I had to leave .

My next session is a little unsure at the moment as I have to take Dizzy dog for an xray and and will have to wait to go and collect her and see how she is , while waiting I will be boiling some hemp up for the start of the river season in a weeks time .

Until next time Tight Lines and thanks for reading

Well a small update before the rivers open , just dont another 24 hours on the club lake and despite the weather been spot on and fish crashing in various areas no carp turned up and my only fish was a 7lb bream . Also had a few liners and after trying to drop short it seemed the fish were just not feeding but just swimming round . Was given some information about another species that may warrant some of my time ;) .

Quiet end to the season and then bang !!!!

Well my end of season plans changed and my midweek trip to the tidal Trent was cancelled for reasons which will become clear .

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

End of season approaching

Well with the seasons end approaching I have been cramming sessions in and am writing this as I have taken 2 weeks holiday and still have 3 more sessions before the last day .

Following my sessions on the stretch with the gypsy problem it was good to get back on the club stretch though things aint turned out the way I expected . First time back and after 4 bite less hours in 3 swims I settled into the swim that had so far only produced gudgeon ,  I tried bread flake for the 1st hour but with no signs went on maggot figuring that at least a I might catch a gudgeon , over the next 2 hours I lost 4 big fish , 3 to bites , which I cant remember happening for god knows how long and also got one chub that dived into a submerged tree branch , that must have come down in the floods, which resulted in a straightened hook , again another first for a number of years . I finally slipped the net under this 3lb 11oz chub

Another lovely fish but had some damage at the bottom of its tail .That was the end of the action .

5  days later and I'm back and it followed the pattern of the last regarding the blank first few hours but after trying a couple of different swims I finally found a fish in the shape of this 3lb 9oz chub .

Again the swim went quiet but then had 2 quick roach of 12oz and 6oz heres the 12oz one

The only further action fish wise was a lost fish that smashed me with no problem , But I did get a show from a group of tufted ducks on the far bank.

The only thing to say about the next session is that the river was fairly high and I ended up in the swim that produces gudgeon when its up and roach and chub when normal . Result today 5 gudgeon 2 of one ounce and the others smaller .

Watching the river levels on the online site my next trip was looking promising and on arrival I found the river about 6 inches up and carrying a little colour , I had decided to have a more settled session and so went straight into the swim from my last session in the hope that the river been near normal meant the chub and roach would be back . The first 2 hours were so frustrating I had smashed maggots every cast and never saw an indication , I tried shortening , lengthening , and going finer on the hook link and altering the hook size but still nothing , took the feeder off and put a straight lead on , no that didnt work either and the bite suddenly stopped . An hour later and no signs , I had decided today that I would put a sleeper rod out with these Lone Angler cheese mania squabs and matching paste .

I had been putting 3 or 4 of the squabs out every hour and so put the rod out and went back to my maggot feeder rod . I hooked and landed a roach of around 6oz and this was quickly followed by another of similar size . What happened next will stay with me for a long time , now the other rod was out for chub but when the rod hooped over and the baitrunner screamed with line tearing off the reel it was obvious it wasnt a chub , the fight seemed to go on for ever , after the initial run which took about 30 yards of line the fish headed out in to the river and thumped about , usually a sign f a big barbel and so it proved after 3 runs as I tried to bring it over the rim of the net . I looked in to the mesh to see a very nice barbel looking back at me . On the scales a very pleasing 12lb 7oz , I must appologise for the pic as didnt realise had the shadow of a near by bush in it .

I added another roach around 4oz and very small dace but headed home very happy .

My last session for this blog was yesterday and the weather was atrocious a very strong cold wind was blowing straight into my chosen swim . The air temp was 4 degrees but the wind chill was well into the minus's add to this the hail showers through out the day . I put the same sleeper rod out but during the whole session other than the wind giving me the odd bleep nothing . the maggot feeder rod on the other hand gave me some action . It took 3 hours for the first hitable bite and resulted in a 10oz roach , now at this point I was using 6lb mainline and 4lb hooklink for chub but since it appeared none where at home again I dropped my hookling down to 2lb and the hook to a size 18 in the hope it would bring constant roach action , initially it seemed to work as I added 2 quick roach around 10oz each .

The next bites produced a skimmer of around 3lb and then it went quiet before I received a drop back bite that slowly pulled round , I lifted into a heavy object that went for a short run and for the next 10 minutes or so I gained and gave line to a fish that was either a big chub or another barbel , all through the fight I was convinced the best I could hope for was to see the fish and felt I wouldnt landed it but with careful playing and alot of luck I did eventually land this lovely pristine barbel of 6lb 7oz .

I settled back down and added another 10oz roach .

I then took a small dace and my final fish of this session was a lovely 5 and a half ounce dace .

That concludes this blog and my next session is planned for tomorrow and may be on the tidal trent but that will be part of my end of season update which will involve 3 sessions