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 .

Close but not quite

My last 2 sessions have been very different yet I was targeting the same species . I was out friday night targeting barbel but back on the Tidal Trent on a syndicate section that I had targeted almost exclusively 2 season ago and that had only seen me 3 or 4 times last season due to a mix of the floods and joining another club and so trying their stretches .

On arriving at 4pm I walked the entire stretch checking out all the swims that had been cut out , the first thing that struck me was that the floods had changed a number of the swims , some beyond recognition . A couple had even been moved and cut out in different positions . I finally settled on 2 possible swims and returned with my marker rod to check for snags and find the gravel and any deep holes . I made my final decision and loaded my barrow up and maybe my way to the swim . Now the last forecast I had seen had said that it would be fine and that rain would arrive mid saturday afternoon soon given this I had only taken my stormshield brolly and just my reclining chair which was a good job as you can see the swim was a bit tight and surrounded by stinging nettles .

 After getting everything set up I knocked myself a bacon sandwich up and sat back and relaxed . I then had a phone call that was to have me wondering whether not bringing the bivvy was a good idea as my mate who was on another stretch told me that the latest weather forecast had said heavy rain from 9pm . I got my rods out with the usual baits of fish based pellet upstream and double pellet on the downstream . Just after 8pm I hooked and landed a bream of around 5lb .At 8.55 I had a single bleep that went on for a few seconds before I lifted into my first barbel of the session and at 6lb 5oz it was a good start .

It then started raining thankfully not heavy at this point and I took 2 bream in quick succession around 3lb each . The rain then picked up but fortunately I had brought my army gortex gear so wasnt in any danger of getting wet . Just after 10pm I connected with another barbel and the fight told me this was a better fish and the scales confirmed this when the y swung round to 8lb 1oz .

The rain eased a little while I got the picture done and I slipped the fish back and had just recast the rod when the other rod went into meltdown and I was again scrambling down the steep incline and on to the rocks to do battle with another barbel .

I took this picture the following morning and the tide was in and the at the time of the bite above it was 3 feet lower . After a prolonged battle I guided a large barbel into the net , I unclipped the hooklink and put the rod back on the pod then lifted the net to take it up the bank and got the feeling that it may be my first double of the season but what the scales said was a gutter as they settled on 9lb 15oz which was another season high but still 1oz short of the target .

The rain then came back with a vengence but it didnt put the fish off as I took another bream of 4lb 2oz and then 2 barbel around the 5lb mark which due to the weather getting worse were unhooked and released in the water . At around 2am I decided to reel the rods in and get my head down and leave the rain to it . As I lay on my now fully reclined chair and started drifting off the rain incredibly got heavier . I awoke just after 6am to find the rain had reduced to a drizzle recasting the rods more in hope than anticipation and got the bacon on again I had just finished my bacon butty and had just stuck the kettle on when the upstream rod started nodding which signaled bream number 5 was on its way , again I unhooked it in the margin and slipped it back it looked around 4lb . Now just as I had finished brewing my coffee I had the most unbelievable take . I received a single bleep on the upstream rod and as I stood with my hand on the rod awaiting a further indication the alarm screamed into life and the baitrunner was a blur as a fish turned and shot down stream at an incredible pace to such an extent that by the time I had lifted into it the fish was on the verge of going round the bend 20 yards below me and the line was in the trailing branches of the overhanging tree .

So I was now fighting a fish intent of disappearing downstream and the tree that had my line caught in it , having stopped the fish it did the only thing that would help me and shot back towards me and also out into mid stream and miraculously pulled the line off the branches and freed it , with no more drama the fish slipped into the net first time and on the scales was a surprising 6lb 4oz . 

My luck continued as the rain never returned and all my stuff was dry and I was ready to leave by 11am on returning home I arrived just in time for the next lot of rain that was starting .

Now having been so close to that season opening double I had to get back out now I would love to report how I went out and finally found that fish but I didnt in fact the session was a serious let down . The river and conditions looked spot on and the tide was favourable but the fish didnt think so . I cast out at 6pm and at 3am I was on my way home scratching my head , I lost a bream early on and had to wait 2 hours for another chance and this was the highlight as it was a river high of 7lb 10oz .

Now friday the fish had been crashing all over the river even during the heavy rain tonight hardly a one showed and the only thing that I could put it down to was the very bright moon which I have found to be a bad thing before . I went on to take 3 more bream all around 4lb but the thing that had me shaking my head and swearing out loud was when I had a screaming take and on getting to the waters edge had the fish well under control and my net in position the fish a barbel that looked around 7 or 8lb came up and as usual took the final surge and all fell slack , now I swore before I even retrieved the rig thinking I had suffered a hook pull but on inspection I found my hook link had broke halfway along , I have not lost a fish like that for a couple of years and can only assume it had been damaged it before and not noticed . That will be put in the memory bank for future reference . So there we have it some nice fish caught and as always something new learned . I will be trying to get an after work session in later in the work .

Til then tight lines guys

Short update

This will be a very short update to avoid me getting behind . I wont be able to get out for another 10 days but that could be the start of 3 sessions in quick succession . I went out sunday planning on a doing a session into night . I left home at 7pm for a half hour journey and made good time but after driving to several stretches of the Trent both middle and tidal and speaking to a few people and watching from a discreet distance , this sounds sneaky but some people do tend to try and mislead you , I tried a final spot close to my last session . I arrived as the bailiff was leaving but he still stopped for a chat by the time he had left I got my rods out it was 9pm and nearly dark . The river was flat calm and was alive with small fish but no sign of any decent fish rolling . After an hour of no indications the downstream double pellet rod tore off and I was connected a my first barbel and it was soon in the net , now in my haste to set up I forgot to get the camera set up and rather than leave the fish in the net too long I decided to quickly weigh and return it . On the scales it went 5lb 2oz , half hour later and the upstream rod starts nodding to indicate a bream has found my bait ,sliding it into the net it looked around 3lb and I unhooked and returned it without taking it out of the water .
The river was strangely quiet and despite having people around 100 yards either side of me I saw no sign them catching . I waited another half hour and with no further action I decided on a change and swapped the downstream rod from feeder to straight lead and the pellets was removed and one of my home made boillies put in its place . Within minutes I was getting strange knocks on the rod tip that never developed . I then took another barbel of 4lb 7oz on the upstream rod .

This was quickly followed by another of 4lb 3oz which I didnt bother photoing . The knocks , some quite savage continued on the boillie rod and as I was working later I decided to give it half hour more as it was 3am and needed at least a couple of hours sleep but felt I needed to make a change so went for shortening the hook length on the boillie rod . I began putting stuff away and had just finished putting away one rod when I had a bang on the boillie rod , I went and stood next to it and a series of taps and knocks started and as it was now 3.30am decided to take a chance and hit it and I connected with a fish that was oobviously not a barbel and after a very spirited fight on 12lb line I netted the fish , on putting my head torch on and peeling back the mesh of the net I discovered I had netted a decent size chub .On the scales it was a season high of 5lb exactly and doubly satisfying caught on my own bait .

Have heard reports from elsewhere that some have been having some quite sizeable barbel and others having multi catches so get the impression the fish are shoaling up again with the low clear river . I could have fished the same area I had my 2 multiple catches from but apart from liking to fish different areas I have another reason for leaving that area alone but wont divulge why out of respect for someone . So my search for my first double of the season contunes .

Quick after worker

Well decided to have a quick after work session that involved shooting home loading van and making sure dogs were ok . Now I planned on doing something that I swore I would never do and that was fish my winter chub section in the summer . My reasons for not fishing there before the first frosts is that while it produces fish it also hosts some complete idiots and pond life not dissimilar to that well known circus section of the Tidal Trent .

Now I didnt get there til 4pm and as expected there was a few on and some did look dubious but I managed to find an area that gave me a good chance of a fish or 2 and limited chance of anyone getting too close to me , yeah I know , its not that I'm anti social I just hate people .

I got the rods set up and decided to fish out of the back of my van to save time and make packing for a fast getaway as I had to be up at 4.30am for work .

I made 6 quick casts on each rod to get some bait in and settled back to await action , 10 mins later and the tip of the upstream rod bounced and and knocked and on lifting into it the bang of a good chub was obvious , as I got it close the margin it did what chub are good at and thats find a snag and transfer the hook !!!!!!!!.
I rebaited and cast out after a quiet 30mins the downstream rod started getting small knocks and taps and after trying to hit one without success I made an alteration and shortened the hair with immediate success as a roach of 1lb 1oz came to the bank , now at this point one of the down sides of fishing here reared its head , as I went down the bank to net the fish I found a very big pile of human excrement with a loads of toilet paper dumped on top of it !!!!!!! Bloody animals they should'nt be allowed on the bank !!

The bailiff arrived and we had a chat and told him about the shit and he just said idiots , think its same as other club stretches in that as ong as they get their day ticket money they dont care . While we were chatting the downstream rod signaled another roach of just under 1lb .
As time went on and 9pm arrived , I had about half hour left when yet again indications showed something was interested in the downstream rod , this time though the fact that the alarm screamed and the baitrunner was giving line and I was attached to an angry barbel after a spirited fight a 5lb 14oz specimen was on the mat .

Recasting the rod I started getting thing ready for leaving at 9.15pm the downstream rod tore off again and this time the fish was seriously going for it , after stopping the original run and gaining some line it turned and went again before I even got chance to stop it the line fell slack and I thought the fish as pulled off but ne retrieving the rig I discovered the braid had broke or been cut almost where the eye of the hook was , I have never had this happen to me before . I decided enough was enough and started putting the rod away when the other rod went off , this time there was no mistake and another barbel was on the mat only 4lb 1oz , still no double but plenty of fish of all species coming my way . I packed my gear away and drove home and was already planning my next trip which is going to be sunday teatime til around 1am , the only thing that aint been decided is where .

Sessions coming thick and fast

My intention to do updates session by session is failing due to getting out more often . This update will be covering 3 sessions and will be up to date as of today . As will become apparent I couldnt possibly put all the photos I took .

My first session was a 2 night social with Jon Preen and Chris Axon from the YSG . I met Jon and we set off to have a look at a few venues on the middle Trent and made a decision as where we wanted to go and on arrival had a brew with Mick the bailiff , now I have fished for 40+ years and can honestly say he is the best bailiff I have ever met .

having finished our brew we selected 3 swims and set up leaving room for Chris . Who arrived mid afternoon . After getting things ready for a cast we decided on different approaches , I went for my usual put bait in through the feeder while Jon and Chris went for droppering bait in . I decided to fish feeder and pellet on ym upstream rod and a lump of meat on the straight lead on the downstream now I put out the meat rod first and by the time I had cast the pellet rod out the meat rod started banging resulting in a chub of 2lb

It then went very quiet and as Chris had sorted a bbq and food I wound the rods in and went to join him and Jon . After devouring a couple of burgers and sausages and a can of cider it was back to the rods . Now it had been red hot during the day and there was no sign of the heat reducing but just after dark I had my first barbel and what was to be the smallest of the session at 5lb 9oz

Thinking that the barbel had arrived I prepared for a busy time but an hour later and no sign I was beginning to wonder if not putting a bed of bait down had been a mistake when I started getting knocks on the pellet rod which signaled the bream had arrived . I quickly took 5 in consecutive casts with 2 around 2lb , a 4lb
2oz , a  5lb 8oz and this 6lb 2oz

A quiet spell of half an hour was interrupted by a chub of 3lb and then this one of 4lb 2oz

With nothing happening for an hour and the long hot day catching up with me I decided to reel the rods in and catch up with a few hours sleep . I awoke just on day break and decided to put 10 baitdroppers of hemp and pigeon conditioner on the both spots and left them to settle while I had a sausage sarnie and made a brew and went for a walk . I had left the swim for an hour and put both rods out and within minutes the pellet rod tore off and after a feisty scrap a barbel of 6lb 10oz slipped over the rim of the net . A quick weigh and pic and rod was back out not more than 5 minutes later the same rod roared off again this fight was more considered and deliberate which is usually the sign of a bigger fish and sure enough when it went into the net it looked a good fish and I was thinking it could be the seasons first double but it was not to be and on the scales it was a seasons best 9lb 8oz .

As I slipped the fish back the downstream rod rocked in the alarm and I was attached to what was to be a another chub this time a good 4lb 10oz

The heat was already getting oppressive and so I wound the rods in and went to see the others who by now had decided to try the float and see what was about both of them were catching roach , small chub and bleak so cadging a pint of maggots of Chris I went back and set up my stick rod and started feeding hemp and pigeon conditioner while using maggot on the hook after about 10 mins of nothing the fish showed up and I was catching roach with the odd bleak every cast , I then decided to try something old school and slipped a piece of wheat on the hook and proceded to take roach after roach until the wind decided to pushing in to my face and made it impossible to get decent presentation but in the 2 hours of fishing the float a very healthy 10lb+ of roach had been put together it seems the river is in perfect health .

I put another 10 droppers of bait in before sitting with the guys having a chinese .As dusk arrived the rods went back out .

During the night 3 more barbel graced my net of 8lb 1oz , 7lb 11oz and 6lb

1 week later and I was out on the middle again with the river still holding a tinge of colour and a little extra water and it looked perfect , now I arrived late after noon and unbelievably first cast a chub of 2lb 8oz was in the net

No further action followed then following a glorious sunset

First fish on dark was a bream of 5lb 1oz and then another chub of 1lb 10oz and out of nowhere it went barbel crazy as 7 came to the net over the next 2 hours topped by this 6lb 15oz

 The session was a strange one as yet again the size of the fish was surprising as the majority of the fish were either just above or just below 5lb .

My final session of this blog will be quick as I only did it last night and other than the numbers of fish involved it was very similar to the last few . I had planned on getting up at 4am and fishing til mid afternoon but a last minute decision to go at 7pm and fish through proved a good one . I spent an hour and half driving round looking for somewhere that appealed to me .

What followed was incredible I made my first cast at 9.15pm just on dark and one hour later I had taken 3 barbel and a chub , after a quiet hour the fish returned and with them came the rain I fished til 1am and decided to wind the rods in and get some sleep and see what morning brought . I awoke at 5am to discover it was still raining and also that I had made a school boy error in that my bivvy table wasnt quite fully under my brolly and had filled with water and that my mobile was in the middle of it and even as I type this its still not dried out right .

I put the rods out and surprisingly the fish were still there and as the rain finally stopped I decided to take advantage and pack up in the 7 hours of actual fishing time I had 10 barbel between 4lb 9oz and 7lb 11oz , 2 chub of 3lb 5oz and 3lb 8oz , 3 bream of 2lb , 3lb and 5lb 15oz and a greedy gudgeon that took 2 x 8mm pellets . The biggest of each species is pictured below .

I may be out again for a quick after work session in a couple of days if not will be 10 days or so .

Tight lines everyone

Short Evening Session

Well didnt think I would get out for a couple of weeks with work load but managed to do a short after work session . Now this session was to have 2 aims neither of which happened . Firstly the YSG clothing was supposed to have been delivered and Jon Preen was meeting me to hand mine over , unfortunately despite him waiting til lunchtime there was no sign and when he contacted home late evening still no sign , secondly while people have been struggling with the hot weather some have been having some good catches on maggot and float , now didnt have time to pick any maggots up so went with hemp and pigeon conditioner as loose feed intending to fish corn , hemp and wheat over the top .

As a back up I also took some liquidised bread and a light feeder rod . To be honest I picked the wrong swim as I had 12 feet of water a rod length out and little flow , I gave it a couple of hours without any success , there were roach starting to swirl at my loose feed and so decided to make a change , my plan was to remove the heavy avon float and bulk weight and switch to an ordinary stick float and fish shirt button style to try and catch a roach . Rather than waste valuable fishing time I mixed the liquidised bread with some hemp and pigeon conditioner and added some of the water from the sweetcorn and set up a 30 gram gripmesh feeder and attached a 6 foot hooklink of 4lb line with size 14 carbon feeder hook . 

The feeder was filled and a grain of corn put on the hook and cast 3 rod lengths out into a deep hole . now I hadnt taken any alarms so set the baitrunner fairly loose . I picked up the float rod and stripped off the rig and had just attached the other float when the baitrunner sprang into life , lifting into what was obviously a barbel , after a few minutes of careful playing on the light tackle the fish rolled into the net . On the scales it went 5lb 12oz not massive but more than welcome .

I rebaited and recast and continued with setting the float back up , all the while feeding a little hemp and pigeon conditioner . As I completed the set up a couple of knocks on the feeder rod signaled a roach of around 10oz . I took the opportunity to try the new float set up but after half an hour of battling the wind which had now increased a little and was pushing down stream and into my bank control was out of the question so was put back in van and went back on the feeder . Another roach of similar size to the first one was soon on its way to my net . It then went very quiet , my attention was taken by the site of a grey heron flying over my head to the far side of the river where it was met by 2 large black birds which mobbed it and sent it flying back to my side of the river . Around the same time 2 swans appeared on the far bank and then proceeded to get down to mating , now I have never witnessed this despite fishing for 45 years but the noise they made were incredible , it sounded like someone been throttled !!!!!!.

I noticed my rod tip just not once and then drop back , I dont know why but decided to hit it ans was soon connected to a very angry fish , the fight was totally different to the first a more plodding fight than the tearing runs which is usually the signal of a big fish however when the fish finally rolled into the net it didnt look much bigger than the first and on the scales this was confirmed as it went 6lb 10oz .

I managed to take a bream of around 2lb the next cast .

Now as the light faded fish began sowing all over the river and I fancied I might just nick a couple more but as this pic shows that would prove difficult as I had forgot my isotopes for the tip of the rod and though I could see the odd knock on the tip there werent clear enough to hit and was getting shredded corn .

At 11pm and having been up since 4.30am for work I called it a night and to be honest was more than happy given the way the river was fishing .