Season 16th June 2008 to
14th March 2009
17th June – The Bridge- Great
Wickenham - Wensum
We had decided to have a few days in Norfolk, so I took my
travel rods.
As it turned out, today was the only day that I managed to fish
and was on the bank from around 9am to 5pm.
The river was clear and 17c, the weather fine cloud and hot.
Not ideal conditions for fishing. As it turned out, I didn’t get
a touch all day.
Spoke to a few anglers on the bank, there had been no reports of
barbel but chub were showing well, after dark.
First day reports from everywhere showed that this year was not as
good a start to the season as last. No floods!
20th June – Hazelford
Three others down when I arrived at around 2:30pm on a warm
cloudy day.
The river was running clear and a temperature of 17c. Air
pressure, on the rise from 1016.
I decided to fish in the swim just where the willows start and
within half an hour had a chub of around 5lb, on Quest liver boilies, followed
shortly after by it’s brother of the same weight.
Both fish were empty and flabby, I hope I meet with them later
in the season, they were big framed fish.
I fished until around 11:30pm with just a 4lb chub disturbing
me. Not a sniff from the barbel to my chunk of garlic spam down under the
willows or indeed the variety of baits tried out in
the flow.
Steve Brown had one barbel for his day long effort along with
few chub.Hobby blanked!
1st July – Hazelford
Fished the
same swim as ten days ago, on a hot sunny day, the river was still clear and at
19c, air pressure falling from 1012.
I set myself
up at around 1pm with the intention of fishing into darkness.
It took until
9:20 before I got my first bite and landed a chub around four and a half
pounds.
Twenty
minutes later, the rod fishing for itself free lined under the willow with the g.spam
gives the signs of fish interest, picking up the rod I feel for the positive
move off, and it almost instantaneous, so I lift into the fish and it’s off on
a slow run out into the current.
A short while
later, I’m not one for letting a fish get it’s own way, it’s in the net and
resting.
Steve Brown
is around yet again, for my capturing of a double, and doing the photography,
this fish is 10lb3ozs.
A couple of
weeks into the river season and a double, so I decide to call it a day, and I’m
on my way home by 10pm.
As an aside, I’ve been keeping a log of moon phases, is it a co-incidence I wonder, my better fish have been captured around the New moon?
21st July – Hazelford
Guested an FM
“mate” Richard Farrow, who had made the 5 hour round trip from Norfolk, arriving
at around 2pm, in the hope of catching his first ever barbel.
The river
was low and clear at 18c and running off, on a hot and sunny day. I wasn't confident!
Well, he did succeed
his first at 5lb12ozs and two more, the biggest 7lb. He also lost one under his rod
tip. He fished beside the weir wall
I caught 2
chub of about 4lb a piece, and two barbel at around 6lb each fishing in my usual swim so far this season..
We left at 9:30pm
for Richard to get home at a reasonable time.
23rd July - Hazelford
Pauline fancied a picnic, and who am I to argue?
So we arrived at the fishery around noon and settled in in the last swim beneath the willows, plenty of room for two.
The water was rising for no obvious reason and was warming from 18c.
We sat in the swim until about 9 pm, during which time the picnic went down very well with a few pots of tea made up with the aid of my Kelly kettle.The fish weren't having it though until just before 8 pm I hit a fish that took me very fast across river...my line parted!
We left for a pint at the Bromley Arms at 9pm.
1st-2nd August - Hazelford
Paul Thompson came over from Hereford, for what is becoming his annual stopover with us.
I met him at the pub and we fished to around 7:30pm. I had 4 barbel all around the 5lb mark from the wall swim and Paul fished below the willow swims and moved further down about 8 or 9 swims, and reported in with 2 chub and a barbel of around 5lb.
On day two we arrived at about 2 pm, Paul dropping down to the last swim he fished yesterday and I dropped in just upstream.We ended at 7:30 for Paul to head home, he jsut had a small bream and me a couple of small chub of a pound a piece.
17th August - Hazelford - The day of the long knives.
Having taken on the editorship of Barbel Fisher and as a result the Communications Chair of the Barbel Society, it was a baptism of fire for me at my first committee meeting.
The meeting was outside Worcester at Callow End, and I was to meet some of the committee in the pub car park to be shown the meeting location in what was then Stanbrook Abbey.
A plot had been hatched to attempt to oust Steve Pope the Chairman by a group of committee men. To cut a long story short, it failed.
I withheld my vote on the basis that I had no experience of Steve's ability as Chairman, and I have to say I was encouraged by the way he handled himself, having been caught on the hop,so to speak!
It was the beginning of the end for me as a member of Hazelford Piscatorials!
Anyway, I had put my travel rod in the boot along with my Purist ll and a tin of garlic spam, so Biggun and I stopped off at the fishery on the way home, arriving at around 7:30 pm.
The level was up from my last visit and running clear at 18c.
It was a warm cloudy evening with a touch of rain.
I pitched up in the last swim under the willows and Biggun dropped down below me.
Freelining a quarter tin of garlic spam down the inside I was soon into the fish, and netted a new personal best of 10lb11ozs within 15 minutes of setting up.
By the time I left at 11pm, with no garlic spam left, I had 4 more barbel weighing 9lb4ozs, 8lb1oz, 9lb2oz and 9lb, probably my best session, size wise, since my start in barbel fishing.
26th August - Hazelford
Took my neighbour Ray Coleman with me for a morning session, we were met by a cool down steam wind and a rising air pressure from 1016.
Ray chose to fish the swim down from the wall I went into the swim from my last visit.
The inside line with spam was my choice for one rod and pellets out in the current.
I was straight away into a fish and thought, here we go again, except this time a chub of 5:10 took it into his head to attempt the big lump. I hooked him fair and square but the lump of meat was up the line!
This was followed up almost immediately by a barbel of 8lb12ozs, but that was all to be had on the inside line.
Out in the current on salmon elips, I took 2 more barbel around the 4lb mark and a couple of 2lb chub.
23rd-24th September Flanesford Priory - River Wye
We arrived at Flanesford Priory set below Goodrich Castle, we put our bags in the room and set out along the banks of the river to find a suitable location upstream of the bridge.
To say it was wet was an understatement, the field adjacent to the river was planted right up to the bank with beet, and it was still soaking from a fast receding flood.
I decided there and then to give myself a couple of days before fishing, having found a suitable gravel beach under the flood debris laden branches of bankside willows.
I fished two sessions of 3 hours in the evening of the last two days.
My travel rods, of which I now have complete confidence and my 5010's were put to good use, with an open end feeder filled with damp pellet on both and salmon elips as bait.
Overall, I had five barbel between 3lb 4ozs and 7lb, and a small chub of 2lb.
I did loose two bigger fish,due to fundamental angling errors, a poor knot and too small a hook for the bait.
16th November - Hazelford
My last barbel fishing trip of the year proved to be fruitless. I fished from 10:30 to 4:30 without a bite. with rising air pressure from 1029 and a water temperature of 10.5c.
13th January 2009 - 12th March - Hazelford
Seven outings over this winter period saw me catching only one barbel of 6:4 and five blank days.
My last trip down on the 12th March turned out to be a chub day and was crowned off with a personal best to match my Adams Mill chub of 6lb12ozs.
Two other fine chub of 5lb6ozs and 4lb made my day.
All in all this season was not my most active for barbel fishing, with two doubles including my new personal best I can't complain.
A final fling for the chub made it worthwhile
The 2009/2010 season was my last at Hazelford.
Reading my journal it's obvious I had lost interest in my fishing, the daily reports over 15 trips being short, to the extent they were almost non existent. Even my entry of the 7th September where I pulled out 4 barbel between 9lb2ozs and 10lb4ozs, all on the big g.spam got just a couple of lines.
I gave up my ticket and membership of Hazelford Piscatorials at season end.
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