Friday, 17 January 2014
Barbel fishing diary 2006-2007 part 2
5th November - Hazelford
Another short morning visit, the river was clear and running off but it was a nice bright sunny morning. The water was now at 8.6c.
Today I tried everything bait wise to tempt a bite to no avail, so decided to give bread flake a go, this induced an immediate take which I missed, so I cast out again to the same spot. Still holding the rod felt a tug gave a little line by moving the rod forward, felt the next pull,struck, and landed a chub of about 4lb.
No other bites so off home at 11am.
14th November - Hazelford
I arrived at first light somewhere around 7am to a clear bright start to the day and a water temperature of 9.3c, and set myself up by the weir wall.
I had decided before hand that I would dump a big bag of hempseed off the footbridge in the hope that it would ground bait the swim. I wasn't certain if it would work, but it had been left out of the freezer and was starting to mature, so why not give it a try!
Once again I went through all the baits I had with me in attempt to lure my November barbel, but all I managed to hit was a chub of around 4lb8oz on garlic Spam at around 11am..
Almost immediately after with one of those donkey choker Dynamite pellets fixed on the hair, on my down stream rod had the 3 foot twitch, at long last a barbel of 9lb4oz!
After this nothing happened, although the Reverend Hugh turned up, we had a short chat and he headed of down stream.It started to rain so I packed up and headed home.
18th November - Hazelford
It was windy cold and cloudy when I set myself up at around 11.30 the water was 9.6c. and was about a foot on from my last visit
A tough day again with no bites, so I packed up at 4o'clock with just a 2lb chub for my efforts.
28th November - Hazelford
On arrival at 10am it was obvious that there was even more water in, it was about 6feet higher up the bank and was running off fast, and quite coloured.
I set myself up about 10 swims down from the weir wall, the water was again 9.6c, the water going in was obviously warm, so no temperature change.
I set up two rods and had one barbel by 2pm a pup of about a pound on garlic spam.
A little later I lost a fish which felt good, but on inspection one of my knots had parted!
I continued to fish with a pair of halips pellets glued back to back on the hair on the upstream rod and was soon into a barbel of 8lb 2ozs, which took some time to recover, and shortly after a fish of 5lb10ozs.
The downstream sleeper rod showed no movements, but it was more in hope than anything else as I had baited it with garlic Spam and margin fished.
As was on my way at 4pm.
5th, 26th 29th and 31st December - Hazelford
Four trips and four blanks, the water temperature had dropped to the 7's, and there had been more water going in following a wet month, and air pressure was falling throughout the month so my quest for a barbel a month failed.
15th and 30th January 2007 - Hazelford
Two days on the river,one morning and one afternoon session produced no bites whatsover. I had started taking air pressure levels by this time to add to my information, whether this will tell me anything is yet to be seen.On both days the pressure was dropping and water temperature dropped from 9.3c to 7.9c
24th February - Hazelford
Arriving at first light about 7am the river was high and running fast, so I decided to fish on the fishery limits downstream towards Fiskerton in swim 84.
It was misty start to the day but warmed up to be sunny with occasional cloud and rain. The water temperature was 9.1c the air pressure was rising from 990 during the session.
I started getting tell tale knocks almost immediately and had 3 barbel of 7lb4oz, 8lb 4oz and 4lb10oz by
11 am.
I fished for another two hours, but had no further bites.
I passed by 5 other members on the walk back to the car all of whom hadn't had a fish but had arrived about noon. On reporting later I found they had all blanked.
3rd March - Hazelford
The river was two foot down from my last visit but I still walked down to the end swim in misty rain, that quicly moved off and it turned sunny. The air pressure rose during my stay from 7am to noon from 1000 to 1005, the water temperature 7.9c. I sta it out for about 3 hours before walking back to the car park swim hopping, but ended with another blank
13th March - Hazelford
A final fling found me down the usual place at around 6am on very bright warm morning.
Air pressure was still on the rise from 1028 and the water temperature was 9.3c.
The river was low but in good colour so I settled in the last swim under the willows.
Just one rod today fishing, and a sleeper down the margins.
I had two barbel on halips between 7.30 and 8am of 5lb8oz and 9lb6oz,and that was it.
I left at 11am having decided that it felt that was all for the day.
So, I failed in my quest of a barbel a month, I had also not caught a Trent double yet.
My barbel tally after 25 trips
June 1
July 4
August 7
September 1
October 4
November 4
December 0
January 0
February 3
March 2 including best of the season at 9lb6ozs!
My target for season 2007/8 was set once again at a barbel a month, and a Trent double.
Did I make it ?
Are you really interested ?
All I would say is that June 16th started very well and I was introduced to a new method of bait presentation later in the season that gave me some surprise results.
Barbel fishing diary 2006-2007 part 1
Season 16th June 2006 to 14th March 2007
The note at the top of my season start journal page reads
" My aim is to catch a barbel a month throughout the season"
This was my third season of active barbel fishing and was mainly at that infamous syndicate water of the middle Trent
16th June - Tidal Trent -Girton.
I thought I would give the un-fished side of the Barbel Society stretch a try.
It's a warm and cloudy day, the river on this side is shallow out for about twenty feet and is crystal clear.
The bottom is covered with heavy gravel.
For 12 hours I fished two tides with not a touch.
Had a chance to chat with Reverend Hugh, who was just down for a visit, and Barry the Baliff who was fishing just up from me on the maggot feeder.He also blanked
27th June - Tidal Trent Sutton
Another blank, I fished the tide run off from 13:00 to 19:00 on another cloudy but warm day.
Hugh was down again, he had arrived earlier and had a couple of bream and a barbel of 3lb4ozs.
After I left he latched onto and landed two more barbel.
30th June - Middle Trent Hazelford
Took Pauline along for a picnic and we arrived at about 11:30 to find a low and clear river, as expected, on a very hot day.Nobody else around.
I decided to use two rods in a swim about 40 yards down from the weir and under the bank side willows.
There were the occasional plucks and pulls and after about five hours when it had started to cloud over, I hooked and lost a fish on the downstream rod.
I hooked into and landed my first barbel of the season of 5lb 2ozs, at about 5:30pm.
Fished through until about 8pm, and as fellow syndicate members had started to turn up in numbers, decided to call it a day.
I later learned as they fished into the night until dawn that at least a dozen barbel had been landed in the willow stretch up to 10lb13ozs.
5th July - Hazelford
No sign of rain as yet but an overcast warm day.The river is looking painfully low.
A crowd around today under the willows, when we arrived at 4pm, just when I wanted to give Ray Coleman my neighbour and guest a good chance to catch his first barbel.
We squeezed in just below the weir wall on the "beach", I fished next to the wall, Ray just where the run of bank side willow starts.
Fairly uneventful until I struck into a big fish, that I thought I had well under control, but it then took control and started taking line off the reel and headed upunder the footbridge towards the weir pool. I tightened up in the hope of putting stop to it's run, but it just kept going...my 8lb line parted!
Ray in the meantime had caught a pup of a barbel of about 2lb, we left at 10pm without any further fish.
Ray wants to go again!
18th July - Hazelford
Decided to have an evening session on what had been a red hot day. I fished in the same swim where I had the picnic with Pauline.
I had a very good rod wrench as soon as I put the bait in and landed a barbel of 6lb8oz.I thought I was on for a good session but found,as usual, what appears to be indications of a good session soon fades.
I fished until 10o'clock with a few tugs and knocks. This was my first barbel on a boilie.
24th July - Hazelford
Arrived at the river at around 5;30am,with my guest John Ledger.
It was starting to feel very warm already, and the river had a fair bit of foam coming down from the weir that really did make John moan. as he wanted to trot a float down.
He did however, despite his moans land a very good netful of roach from just down stream where the foam had thinned below the stretch of willows, fishing with tares and caster.
As the sun moved around and started to become very hot he moved up under the willow shade and just sat and chatted with me.
In the meantime I had landed a barbel of about 4lb on my first cast and around an hour later landed one of 6lb8oz.
Two in the first hour.
I then proceeded to catch fairly regularly chub to about 2lb8oz and my first bream from this stretch, only about a pound but a change from the usual.
In the meantime John had moved up close to the weir wall, so I moved up one swim down from him so we could continue our chat and I was soon into a barbel which gave me an excellent tussle under the rod tip and weighed in at 8lb14oz. It did have somebody elses deep swallowed hooklength which I snipped off as low down as possible,. I didn't want to go digging around it's insides!!
So we lingered on,and decided we would get the the local pub in Fiskerton for about 1o'clock as it was really heating up.
.John had one more cast and landed himself an 8lb barbel and vowed that next time I invited him he would barbel fish only.
We went along to the Bromley Arms to sit on their riverside patio, with a couple of good pints of ale each before our journeys home.
4th August - Hazelford
I took the water temperature when I arrived at 1pm on a cloudy but warm afternoon, it was 19.7centigrade!
IH was already in the first swim of the fishery under the weir wall.It ended up he had six barbel between 1215 and 4pm and then nothing.
I was down a few pegs and my rod was active all afternoon, but no barbel the chub had moved in and I had six between about a pound and the biggest 4lb10oz. I left at around 8pm after a few motionless hours.
16th August - Hazelford
Another warm and sunny day which started to cloud over before I left after a five hour session from 6:30am.
I took the water temperature again out of interest, and it had reduced from my last visit to 17.1c; I decided to fish below the weir wall as there there was still a good current running through the low and clear river.
I was very soon into the barbel, in fact 3 in the first 15 minutes.
It came to the point where I decided to discontinue fishing with two rods, as they were both nodding away to the activity in the depths and were neither getting my full attention.
A pretty good morning catching 5 between 4lb6oz and 8lb7oz and loosing three to snags.
28th August - Hazelford
Another hot and sunny day with a threat of heavy rain, that just moved around the valley. The river was still low and clear but was running through quite quickly, so some rain was falling upstream.Water temperature 17.5c.
Fished for nine hours in total, three of which were downstream, no bites. I moved up to the weir wall swim and tried prawns and mussells as bait, no barbel but a chub of about 2lb8ozs and a roach of about oozs.
Two others in attendance IH who was piking and Barry the Baliff, he had one barbel.
30th August -Hazelford
The river was still running clear at 18.3c, when Ray and I arrived at 4pm for an evening session on a warm afternoon that developed into a misty rain evening by the time we left at 8.30pm.
One again I fished the weir wall with Ray just down stream from me.
Fairly slow fishing, but Ray ended the afternoon with two chub at 3lb14oz and 3lb8oz on small pieces of luncheon meat.
I finished with two barbel at 8lb14oz and 8lb8oz.caught on pellet and Source boilie
9th September - Hazelford
Fished from 8am to 1pm in the wall swim and blanked as also did KT who was there when I arrived.
Water temperature 18.3c.
25th September - Hazelford
A hazy sunny morning start on the river at 7am and another visit with John Ledger for his barbel session.
The river was pushing through and fining down, with a temperature of 17.6c.
John lost his first fish after an hour of starting, and ended up with four barbel all around the 4/5lb mark.
I caught a chub of 4lb13ozs on the Source!
We left at 1.30pm for the Bromley Arms
27th September - Hazelford
A late warm afternoon session from 3.30 to 7pm found me again fishing the weir wall.
I have made a habit of taking the water temperature just to see what affect it has on my fishing, and will continue to do so, today it's 17c.
I also needed to get out to maintain my quest for a barbel a month and today would be my last chance in September and on my first cast a 6lb10oz fish.
What followed was a number of line and hook length failures. My main line should have been renewed at the start of the season, and now it was beginning to punish me with 3 fish lost!
Totally my fault and bone idleness, hopefully I will learn! Kicked my own arse all the way home.
12th October - Hazelford
The river is at the highest level I've seen it this season and quite choppy, so I chose to move down stream.
I fished with one rod from around 11.30 am and was into my first, and what turned out, after it snagged me for a short while, to be my only bite and barbel of 7lb14ozs. Caught on a double Teme Severn hali pellet.
It took a long time for the fish to recover, probably about 15 minutes, but it was a fish in fine condition.
The Reverend Hugh turned up shortly after I arrived and fished to about 3 30pm and left me for another hour on my own..biteless.
31st October - Hazelford
The river was clear and running off when I arrived at 1pm on cloudy,blustery rainy afternoon.
The water temperature is 12.8c.
Hugh is in attendance again, but we both blank with no sign of life, as I left at 5pm the evening shift of five members turned up. After spreading the doom and gloom I left for home.
My barbel tally so far after 13 trips
June 1
July 4
August 7
September 1
October 4
I will return with Part 2. Did I make my target,or will it have to wait until next season ?
The note at the top of my season start journal page reads
" My aim is to catch a barbel a month throughout the season"
This was my third season of active barbel fishing and was mainly at that infamous syndicate water of the middle Trent
16th June - Tidal Trent -Girton.
I thought I would give the un-fished side of the Barbel Society stretch a try.
It's a warm and cloudy day, the river on this side is shallow out for about twenty feet and is crystal clear.
The bottom is covered with heavy gravel.
For 12 hours I fished two tides with not a touch.
Had a chance to chat with Reverend Hugh, who was just down for a visit, and Barry the Baliff who was fishing just up from me on the maggot feeder.He also blanked
27th June - Tidal Trent Sutton
Another blank, I fished the tide run off from 13:00 to 19:00 on another cloudy but warm day.
Hugh was down again, he had arrived earlier and had a couple of bream and a barbel of 3lb4ozs.
After I left he latched onto and landed two more barbel.
30th June - Middle Trent Hazelford
Took Pauline along for a picnic and we arrived at about 11:30 to find a low and clear river, as expected, on a very hot day.Nobody else around.
I decided to use two rods in a swim about 40 yards down from the weir and under the bank side willows.
There were the occasional plucks and pulls and after about five hours when it had started to cloud over, I hooked and lost a fish on the downstream rod.
I hooked into and landed my first barbel of the season of 5lb 2ozs, at about 5:30pm.
Fished through until about 8pm, and as fellow syndicate members had started to turn up in numbers, decided to call it a day.
I later learned as they fished into the night until dawn that at least a dozen barbel had been landed in the willow stretch up to 10lb13ozs.
5th July - Hazelford
No sign of rain as yet but an overcast warm day.The river is looking painfully low.
A crowd around today under the willows, when we arrived at 4pm, just when I wanted to give Ray Coleman my neighbour and guest a good chance to catch his first barbel.
We squeezed in just below the weir wall on the "beach", I fished next to the wall, Ray just where the run of bank side willow starts.
Fairly uneventful until I struck into a big fish, that I thought I had well under control, but it then took control and started taking line off the reel and headed upunder the footbridge towards the weir pool. I tightened up in the hope of putting stop to it's run, but it just kept going...my 8lb line parted!
Ray in the meantime had caught a pup of a barbel of about 2lb, we left at 10pm without any further fish.
Ray wants to go again!
18th July - Hazelford
Decided to have an evening session on what had been a red hot day. I fished in the same swim where I had the picnic with Pauline.
I had a very good rod wrench as soon as I put the bait in and landed a barbel of 6lb8oz.I thought I was on for a good session but found,as usual, what appears to be indications of a good session soon fades.
I fished until 10o'clock with a few tugs and knocks. This was my first barbel on a boilie.
24th July - Hazelford
Arrived at the river at around 5;30am,with my guest John Ledger.
It was starting to feel very warm already, and the river had a fair bit of foam coming down from the weir that really did make John moan. as he wanted to trot a float down.
He did however, despite his moans land a very good netful of roach from just down stream where the foam had thinned below the stretch of willows, fishing with tares and caster.
As the sun moved around and started to become very hot he moved up under the willow shade and just sat and chatted with me.
In the meantime I had landed a barbel of about 4lb on my first cast and around an hour later landed one of 6lb8oz.
Two in the first hour.
I then proceeded to catch fairly regularly chub to about 2lb8oz and my first bream from this stretch, only about a pound but a change from the usual.
In the meantime John had moved up close to the weir wall, so I moved up one swim down from him so we could continue our chat and I was soon into a barbel which gave me an excellent tussle under the rod tip and weighed in at 8lb14oz. It did have somebody elses deep swallowed hooklength which I snipped off as low down as possible,. I didn't want to go digging around it's insides!!
So we lingered on,and decided we would get the the local pub in Fiskerton for about 1o'clock as it was really heating up.
.John had one more cast and landed himself an 8lb barbel and vowed that next time I invited him he would barbel fish only.
We went along to the Bromley Arms to sit on their riverside patio, with a couple of good pints of ale each before our journeys home.
4th August - Hazelford
I took the water temperature when I arrived at 1pm on a cloudy but warm afternoon, it was 19.7centigrade!
IH was already in the first swim of the fishery under the weir wall.It ended up he had six barbel between 1215 and 4pm and then nothing.
I was down a few pegs and my rod was active all afternoon, but no barbel the chub had moved in and I had six between about a pound and the biggest 4lb10oz. I left at around 8pm after a few motionless hours.
16th August - Hazelford
Another warm and sunny day which started to cloud over before I left after a five hour session from 6:30am.
I took the water temperature again out of interest, and it had reduced from my last visit to 17.1c; I decided to fish below the weir wall as there there was still a good current running through the low and clear river.
I was very soon into the barbel, in fact 3 in the first 15 minutes.
It came to the point where I decided to discontinue fishing with two rods, as they were both nodding away to the activity in the depths and were neither getting my full attention.
A pretty good morning catching 5 between 4lb6oz and 8lb7oz and loosing three to snags.
28th August - Hazelford
Another hot and sunny day with a threat of heavy rain, that just moved around the valley. The river was still low and clear but was running through quite quickly, so some rain was falling upstream.Water temperature 17.5c.
Fished for nine hours in total, three of which were downstream, no bites. I moved up to the weir wall swim and tried prawns and mussells as bait, no barbel but a chub of about 2lb8ozs and a roach of about oozs.
Two others in attendance IH who was piking and Barry the Baliff, he had one barbel.
30th August -Hazelford
The river was still running clear at 18.3c, when Ray and I arrived at 4pm for an evening session on a warm afternoon that developed into a misty rain evening by the time we left at 8.30pm.
One again I fished the weir wall with Ray just down stream from me.
Fairly slow fishing, but Ray ended the afternoon with two chub at 3lb14oz and 3lb8oz on small pieces of luncheon meat.
I finished with two barbel at 8lb14oz and 8lb8oz.caught on pellet and Source boilie
9th September - Hazelford
Fished from 8am to 1pm in the wall swim and blanked as also did KT who was there when I arrived.
Water temperature 18.3c.
25th September - Hazelford
A hazy sunny morning start on the river at 7am and another visit with John Ledger for his barbel session.
The river was pushing through and fining down, with a temperature of 17.6c.
John lost his first fish after an hour of starting, and ended up with four barbel all around the 4/5lb mark.
I caught a chub of 4lb13ozs on the Source!
We left at 1.30pm for the Bromley Arms
27th September - Hazelford
A late warm afternoon session from 3.30 to 7pm found me again fishing the weir wall.
I have made a habit of taking the water temperature just to see what affect it has on my fishing, and will continue to do so, today it's 17c.
I also needed to get out to maintain my quest for a barbel a month and today would be my last chance in September and on my first cast a 6lb10oz fish.
What followed was a number of line and hook length failures. My main line should have been renewed at the start of the season, and now it was beginning to punish me with 3 fish lost!
Totally my fault and bone idleness, hopefully I will learn! Kicked my own arse all the way home.
12th October - Hazelford
The river is at the highest level I've seen it this season and quite choppy, so I chose to move down stream.
I fished with one rod from around 11.30 am and was into my first, and what turned out, after it snagged me for a short while, to be my only bite and barbel of 7lb14ozs. Caught on a double Teme Severn hali pellet.
It took a long time for the fish to recover, probably about 15 minutes, but it was a fish in fine condition.
The Reverend Hugh turned up shortly after I arrived and fished to about 3 30pm and left me for another hour on my own..biteless.
31st October - Hazelford
The river was clear and running off when I arrived at 1pm on cloudy,blustery rainy afternoon.
The water temperature is 12.8c.
Hugh is in attendance again, but we both blank with no sign of life, as I left at 5pm the evening shift of five members turned up. After spreading the doom and gloom I left for home.
My barbel tally so far after 13 trips
June 1
July 4
August 7
September 1
October 4
I will return with Part 2. Did I make my target,or will it have to wait until next season ?
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Time to test the water
With river conditions around the west and south of the country looking pretty poor I've been keeping an eye on my local rivers, in particular the Witham and the Trent River level
No real flooding although there has been a good deal of water in the systems.
So hearing reports that the access to the middle Trent fishery is pretty poor for the non 4x4, I decided to have a look at the Upper Witham at Long Bennington.
Having sorted myself out and decided to only fish for chub with the ledger, I minimised my tackle and took along a tin of Garlic Spam and a chunk of Stilton.
My attempt at making some bread for flake failed,we have a problem with our bread maker.
So just the two baits for about 3 hours fishing should be enough.
I took my Fox barbel special and my Purist ll along, with the usual tools and bits and bobs.No chair just a weigh sling,landing net and a unhooking mat to double up as a chair. The lightest I've fished for many a year.
My journey to the river took the hour as usual and I was set up at around 12:30.
The footpath to the fishery had my boots fully clogged with mud before I got to the footbridge over the river,so I knew the banks could be a bit slippery.
Indeed they were, but having set my self up just below the footbridge and opposite a willow I set about trying to catch a fish.
Conditions looked pretty good, the river was up and had obviously been on the banks judging by the amount of debris along them.
The water was coloured but it appeared to be dropping out.
I stayed for an hour testing the water from the bridge down to just below the willow, before moving below the willow and testing that area for another half an hour.
Not a touch in an area usually having it's resident chub as the ducks are fed off the bridge.
So I dropped down river, skipping from swim to swim without result and finally settled with around 45 minutes of light left in a swim which had produced a my best chub from the stretch about this time last year.
No movement of the tip again although, I did manage to snap the avon tip with a wrap round of line when pulling from a snag. Perhaps now my decision on what to sell when my R&C auction rods arrive will be easier. Anybody want a 12' Fox Barbel Special with just the quiver section?
A quick switch to the quiver section left me with half an hour and it wasn't until my, put a big chunk of Stilton on, "last cast", that I got an excellent take but connected with air and a hook loss in the waterside vegetation. Sod it, I thought I'm going home, I couldn't see to knot the hook anyway and I should have been off the fishery anyway.
All in all an enjoyable first trip out for my start to 2014, a few dog walkers about and just the birds to keep me company.
I must do this more often this year, but should remember to get my boots and their half hundred weight of mud cleaned up before my next trip!
No real flooding although there has been a good deal of water in the systems.
So hearing reports that the access to the middle Trent fishery is pretty poor for the non 4x4, I decided to have a look at the Upper Witham at Long Bennington.
Having sorted myself out and decided to only fish for chub with the ledger, I minimised my tackle and took along a tin of Garlic Spam and a chunk of Stilton.
My attempt at making some bread for flake failed,we have a problem with our bread maker.
So just the two baits for about 3 hours fishing should be enough.
I took my Fox barbel special and my Purist ll along, with the usual tools and bits and bobs.No chair just a weigh sling,landing net and a unhooking mat to double up as a chair. The lightest I've fished for many a year.
My journey to the river took the hour as usual and I was set up at around 12:30.
The footpath to the fishery had my boots fully clogged with mud before I got to the footbridge over the river,so I knew the banks could be a bit slippery.
Indeed they were, but having set my self up just below the footbridge and opposite a willow I set about trying to catch a fish.
The water was coloured but it appeared to be dropping out.
I stayed for an hour testing the water from the bridge down to just below the willow, before moving below the willow and testing that area for another half an hour.
Not a touch in an area usually having it's resident chub as the ducks are fed off the bridge.
 |
| Last knockings under the tree |
A quick switch to the quiver section left me with half an hour and it wasn't until my, put a big chunk of Stilton on, "last cast", that I got an excellent take but connected with air and a hook loss in the waterside vegetation. Sod it, I thought I'm going home, I couldn't see to knot the hook anyway and I should have been off the fishery anyway.
All in all an enjoyable first trip out for my start to 2014, a few dog walkers about and just the birds to keep me company.
I must do this more often this year, but should remember to get my boots and their half hundred weight of mud cleaned up before my next trip!
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