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Floody Hell

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on January 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »


Sorry, couldn’t resist that!  Well it has certainly rained a bit recently.  And oh boy when it rains it really rains.  Most of the country seems to be under water, with the vast majority of the UK’s rivers on flood alert.  The news channels are awash (sorry) with pictures and stories on the latest developments as they happen, minute by minute.  Some areas have had devastating water level rises and to all of those poor souls who have had their homes flooded out, my deepest sympathies.  Let’s hope we’ve seen an end to it for the remainder of the winter.

Of course generally winter floods means warm rain and milder weather.  All that basically means feeding barbel.  However when levels rise this much you have to be very careful indeed.  I love to catch barbel but I’m not risking life and limb to do it.  You need to know your stretch like the back of your hand before attempting to fish in these exceptionally high conditions.  The fields are flooded and you need to know every nook and cranny of the beat you are going to fish.  Ditches, holes, uneven ground, crumbling banks, feeder streams etc. etc. can all become death traps if you go wandering off kitted out in your waders oblivious to the dangers.  Unless you are 100% confident, then don’t bother.  Wait for the river to drop to a safer level and then give it a go.

I did manage to venture out after a 3 week hiatus.  This was mainly due to work but also a chest infection which has lasted the best part of 4 weeks and has left me a little run down.  Danny and I met at the world famous (or is that infamous) Max’s Cafe for the full Monty before exploring a couple of sections of the Kennet.  The river had burst it’s banks around the upper Benyons, however the car park side appeared to be OK.  A walk downstream confirmed that it was safely accessible.  Danny and I found a number of good looking spots to try but wanted to look at another stretch first.  So we drove to the second beat and due to the time, decided to fish it.  However once we had walked the beat with the gear, I realised it was a mistake.  There were far less areas that looked fishable to me, whereas we had left a stretch that had a number of excellent opportunities on offer.  We persevered but unfortunately failed to get a bite.  By 4pm the river was rising and spilling out into the adjoining fields.  It was time to head home and after being poorly for so long I felt completely exhausted from all of the walking.

With the kind permission of Micky Holtam

With the kind permission of Micky Holtam

With the kind permission of Micky Holtam

With the kind permission of Micky Holtam

The next day saw Geoff and I heading to an old haunt in search of some roach.  These are a group of small lakes in Herne, Kent.  They are renowned for the quality of the roach fishing.  The wind had sprung up and became very blustery and remained that way all day.  We opted to float fish in an area of around 4ft (which is good for these lakes) and slightly sheltered from the wind.  My swim had a sunken tree in close which I thought offered a nice feature to fish to.  The set up was fairly simple; 13ft Maver Reactorlite, fixed spool reel with 4lb line and a 3.5lb hooklink with a size 14 hook.  The float was a simple Drennan loaded waggler.  I had a number of baits at my disposal including Pallatrax Hidra small snails, maggots, luncheon meat cubes and expander pellets.   Additionally I had sprayed the maggots and Hidra’s with the Winter Almond over spray and also mixed up some of my favourite groundbait which is the excellent Pallatrax Bloodworm and Maggot Crush.

Bloodworm and Maggot Crush

Bloodworm and Maggot Crush

Bait Selection

Bait Selection

After carefully plumbing the swim, I opted to fish close to the sunken tree at around 1 rod length out.  I mixed up the groundbait and put out two small balls and some maggots.  I continued to feed golf ball sized balls of groundbait throughout the day.  Initially I opted to fish on the bottom and alternated between all of the baits at my disposal.  Bites came almost immediately and unfortunately it seemed that small skimmer bream had become quite populous here.  In the past it was rare to catch bream on this particular lake and now they were far more prevalent.  Still it was nice to get the rod bent.

A few decent roach put in an appearance and numerous fish were netted up to 10oz for me.  Geoff managed a couple of better ones at 13oz and 14oz.  In the past we have caught good numbers of 1lb plus roach here but it wasn’t to be today.  The bream were generally small with the odd better fish, possibly up to a couple of pounds.  Both Geoff and I had a couple of surprise captures; we both had two nice chub apiece, with the biggest about 3lbs.  I also lost a big common carp near the net when the hooked pulled.  We saw the fish on numerous occasions before it came adrift and it looked to be well into double figures, so I was a bit gutted to lose that.   Then just to keep up with the Jones’ as they say, Geoff also lost a good carp.

As the day wore on the bream took over.  So I decided to fish up in the water and shallowed up the float.  Alternating between baits I fished at around 18″ deep.  Now when bites came roach were the culprits.  It made a big difference and soon I had notched up a couple of dozen nice roach.   I think by the end of the day I had counted 59 fish for me, give or take one or two.  So all in all a fun day.  Geoff trailed a little with probably high 20s I think.  Perhaps my superior angling came good on the day or it could have been the groundbait and flavoured maggots that made the difference! Or maybe I was lucky, who knows.  Geoff normally excels at this kind of fishing, so it made a pleasant change to dish out a can of whoop ass! 🙂

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2013 in review

Posted in Angling Diary on December 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »


The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 50,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 19 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Mr Kipling’s Exceedingly Good Barbel Baits

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on December 19, 2013| 1 Comment »


The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  Geoff and I had arranged an early morning start, well more like the middle of the night actually.  We headed off at 3am with our sights firmly fixed on arriving at our chosen destination before anyone else.  The reason was so I could do a bit of trotting in one particular spot.  Now that’s always a dangerous thing to do.  Firstly you pin all of your hopes on one swim and if it doesn’t work your scuppered and secondly if there’s already someone in situ when you get there, then yes your scuppered! Still it was a one off, we’re not normally too fussed if we can’t get into this particular swim as there are other areas that will produce chub and roach.  However this specific spot really does suit trotting and is probably the best on this section of river for barbel, hence it’s so very popular.  Anyway we arrived at out chosen destination at 4.45am and yes you’ve guessed it….someone was already in the car park.  Several expletives later and we decided that if someone was that keen, then good luck to em…the filthy, dirty bas….!

The Lea

The Lea

So it was plan B.  The only problem was we didn’t have a plan B!  Still we plumped on a couple of other swims and hoped for the best.  I had a selection of rods with me.  As explained my primary reason for coming here was to trot for barbel.  The reason for that was to try out some new baits I’d received from Pallatrax, that I think will be ideal for this type of fishing.  I have mentioned them before; they are small dried snails that once rehydrated in water return to their natural state.  They can then be fished on a small hook (14 or 16) and offer a high protein and very natural bait.  So I had my Drennan Power Float set-up for barbel, the Drennan Ultralight for chub and roach and my Torrix for fishing bottom baits, if the other method failed to produce.

As the light slowly broke through the gloom of dawn it was time to run a float through the swim.  The flow was much less than I expected, especially following some of the heavy rain of recent days.  Also the flow sharply angled from the far to near bank after just a few yards, which made presentation a little tricky.  Still if the float was started tight to the reeds opposite I could get a decent trot down before the float headed to the nearside bank and disappeared from view.  I had sprayed the bronze maggots with some Winter Almond spray the night before and they had a delightful (well almost) cherry bakewell aroma.  I loose fed a few maggots every cast to get the swim going.  If the fish started to respond then I would be using a selection of baits but maggots would be my opening gambit.

After an hour I’d had one small perch and a nice roach of about 8oz.  No signs of barbel.  I popped down to see Geoff and on my return thought I’d give the Ultralight a go.  First trot through and yes, typical, a barbel was hooked.  The fish plodded off powerfully downstream.  Gentle, steady pressure stopped the fish advancing any further and a tug of war ensued.  The barbel sat under the reeds sulking whilst I kept the pressure up.  Then it was gone.  The hook to nylon had parted close to the spade end of the hook.  I’m not a fan of hooks to nylon for this very reason.  They seem to fail on big fish a lot and I much prefer to tie my own.  Today though I thought they’d be OK for roach and dace but they are not man enough generally for barbel, in my opinion.

The Baits

The Baits

The barbel float rod was employed again for about an hour or so but failed to produce and so the lighter outfit was put through it’s paces once again.  Typically first trot through and another barbel was hooked.  I had this one almost ready for netting when the HTN parted again close to the spade end.  I decided to change the line on the power float rod and reduce it to a mainline of 0.15mm (5.14lb) and use a 5lb hooklink.  It could be that the heavier set-up was spooking the barbel.   This also allowed me to use a smaller float.  I had been alternating between bulk shotting and shirt button style and today the shirt button style seemed to be producing the goods.  Sadly though the flow seemed to keep changing and by now the wind had picked up considerably making float presentation almost impossible.  That was a shame because it can be such a rewarding method but there are times when its just not practical.

A typical Lea barbel

A typical Lea barbel

So it was to the Torrix Barbel Rod that my hopes were now pinned.  I was using around 3′ of Pallatrax Steamlink for my hooklink, a size 10 ‘The Hook’, a flying backlead to make sure it all stayed pinned down and a medium sized Stonze weight.  It all looked very good in the margins and the Steamlink, which had been passed through the steam of a kettle, stayed nice and straight.    For bait I was using the new Winter Almond squabs.  They are a nice size and not rock hard either.  I like slightly softer baits for my river fishing.  These Winter Almond baits smell just like cherry bakewell.  I think if I’d of had some custard with me I would of ended up tucking into a bowl full!  Watch out Mr Kipling there’s a new kid on the block and Pallatrax make exceedingly good baits!!  Anyway I digress, I used the squabs with either paste or dipped into the thickest glug I’ve ever used and then rolled around in the maggot box to create an enticing cocktail.  Then additionally around the Stonze weight I moulded a ball of the Bloodworm and Maggot Crush Groundbait.  Keeping it slightly over damp ensured it stayed on well and allowed for a slow break down process, gradually releasing all of those nutritious little morsels for the fish to hone in on.

Pallatrax Stonze

Pallatrax Stonze

I was fishing to a deep area just where the flow diverted and right next to the reeds.  A few knocks and the rod tip hammered round.  There’s nothing quite like a 3 foot twitch to get the adrenaline pumping that’s for sure.  The culprit was a small but perfectly formed barbel.  As always it put up a tremendous fight and I’m pleased to say there were more to follow.  The time was now around 2pm and the skies had darkened quite considerably.  Heavy rain was forecast for later in the day and the wind was howling across the fields.  Still all the while is stayed dry we decided to persevere.

Out went the bait and a short while later round went the rod tip.  Another feisty barbel resulted.  In fact throughout the remainder of the afternoon numerous barbel followed and I lost just one fish.  It seems it’s not just me with a sweet tooth then, these Lea fish like a bit of barbel bakewell too!  I was suffering with man-flu and the wind was beginning to get to me.  We decided to finish at 4.30 before it got too cold.  By now I’d had 6 barbel to 6lb 3oz and Geoff had caught around 10 reasonable chub and one barbel.  It was great to see the rod top whack round so often for a change and one of the  highlights of the day was seeing a stunning red kite glide past, which I’ve only seen here once before.

Recovering Nicely

Recovering Nicely

In case I don’t post again before Christmas, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Small Stream Fishing

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , on November 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »


Geoff and I headed to Hertfordshire to tackle the upper reaches of the Lea.  The river here is narrow and shallow, with an average depth of around just 24″-30″.  However despite its brook type appearance it holds some surprisingly good fish.  Whenever we visit this stretch we are always hoping to find some of the big roach that call this stream home.  It regularly throws up big fish in the 2lb+ bracket and a three is a distinct possibility.  The only drawback here is the amount of barbel  that frequent this stretch (even in the winter months) and often bully out the big roach.  It’s not often you’ll hear me complain about the amount of barbel present but here they can be a right pain in the proverbial.

Recently I’ve been using the Pallatrax Bloodworm and Maggot Crush Groundbait.  Normally I’d be using either liquidized bread or maggots and hemp.  On receiving the groundbait I was impressed by the amount of bits in it.  Let me expand on that comment.  It contains bloodworm and maggots of course, as the name suggests, but there are other little bits and pieces in there and it offers a very nutritious and highly visible alternative to liquidized bread.  I hoped it would be good for roach fishing and maybe give me that edge that you sometimes need here.

Bloodworm and Maggot Crush Grounbait

Bloodworm and Maggot Crush Grounbait

Our day here was met with what seemed like ideal conditions.  The weather had finally settled down a little and remained dry for around a week.  Temperatures had also steadied and it was far from chilly.  The river had a slight tinge of colour but was a little lower than we had hoped.  Nevertheless it looked promising.  Geoff and I split up, I headed upstream whilst Geoff remained on the lower section.  We both hoped the roach would show but we had both tackled up with chub and barbel in mind too.

I had two set-ups; a light chub one and a much beefier one geared towards barbel.  The lighter one was still a little too heavy for out and out roach fishing in all honesty but would give me a chance if they showed and at least I would stand a good chance of landing any big chub or barbel that put in an appearance.  If the barbel were active then I had a power float rod and 7lb low diameter mainline and 6lb hooklinks set up that would deal comfortably with these powerful fish.  I had a number of baits with me but was pinning my hopes on maggots and the Pallatrax Hidra small snails.  For those that don’t know the Hidras are professionally dried natural baits that can be soaked in water and rehydrated back to their normal state.   I think they will make ideal chub, roach and grayling baits.  I also had some hemp to loosefeed and some of the Winter Almond squabs and paste if I decided to leger.

The Upper Lea in it's winter cloak

The Upper Lea in it’s winter cloak

I started the day by checking the depth of the swim and set both rods up with Avon style floats with the shot bulked around 12-14 inches from the hook.  Small dropper shots around 6/7 inches from the hook finished the set up off.  On the out and out barbel rod I used a size 16 Pallatrax ‘The Hook’ which are incredibly strong and I’ve been using them for quite some time.  They are a nice shape and can cope with really big fish.  On the lighter outfit I used a much lighter gauge 16 hook.

I baited up the head of the swim with a couple of balls of groundbait and rested the swim for half an hour whilst it got a little lighter.  I mixed the groundbait fairly light so that a small ball would explode on impact with the water.  Some lumps would still hold together and sink to the bottom, whilst other parts exploded into a cloud of tiny morsels of food.  I hoped that this would pull in the roach and chub.

The Upper Lea

The Upper Lea

Once light, I started to run the float through the swim.  With each trot through a pinch of maggots and or hemp were thrown in.  This is important; you must keep feeding a very small amount with each and every cast.  This keeps food constantly flowing downstream and past the fish.  Eventually they become more and more inquisitive and start to hone in on this free stream of food.  That’s when they often let their guard down and you start to catch some decent fish. Then every 30-60 minutes I put out another couple of small balls of groundbait.

Initially the chub put in an appearance however I could tell it was going to be one of those days.  You know the ones where absolutely everything goes wrong!  I managed to land a small chub of around 1lb 8oz but lost two much bigger fish to hook pulls.  Very frustrating but I hoped there’d be plenty more to follow. I was in an area where the chub are very prolific and 20 odd chub a session would be quite normal.  The chub here go well over 5lb too so they aren’t small fish either.  For some reason though the chub more or less dried up.  I had a couple more around the 1lb – 1lb 8oz mark or tiny ones.  Luckily though after throwing in another couple of small balls of groundbait the roach seemed to show themselves.  I had several roach to around 12oz and they were in pristine condition.  I love to catch roach regardless of size, they are just such lovely fish.  The roach bites genuinely seemed to coincide with the burst from the groundbait, which I would expect anyway.

A Typical Lea Roach

A Typical Pristine Lea Roach

Overall bites were few and far between but I wasn’t the only one struggling.  Geoff had managed some near record breaking Gudgeon and the odd roach but otherwise not much and other than the odd barbel, no one else had caught anything earth shattering.  Despite the conditions looking ideal the fish seemed to have other ideas as usual.  I continued with the float tactics, altering the depth and speed at which the float travelled downstream through the swim.  As the day wore on I lost another couple of big chub to hook pulls but had failed to find any barbel.  The roach remained and I ended up with a nice tally of fish to around the 1lb mark.  Towards the end of the day I shallowed up and trotted through at around a depth of 12-18 inches.  I used this in conjunction with much larger amounts of maggots going in and this produced instant results.  The fish had moved up into the water to intercept the freebies.  Several big chub took the bait and a couple of nice roach.  Yet again I lost two decent chub to hook pulls…..argh….! I did land a couple though at around 2lb 8oz-3lb.

Geoff decided to change to a leger and fish luncheon meat and managed to tempt several barbel before darkness prevented me from trotting any more.  Perhaps I should have set up a barbel rod and legered but it had been a very early start and enough was enough.  We finally called it a day at around 4.30 and it was time for Geoff and I to indulge in a family feast designed for about 4 people at the KFC….it’s finger licking good. 🙂

 

 

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Wye Woes

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , on November 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »


It’s that time of the year again.  After a long and reasonably dry summer the winter has finally arrived and what a mixed bag of weather conditions we’re having.  We’ve had loads of rain over the last month which has caused a certain amount of flooding in places.  Then a severe drop in temperatures has put cold rain into the rivers and made the fishing a little difficult, to say the least.  However with luck things will settle down and we can get on with some decent fishing.

November brings not only frosts, it also signals our annual trip to mid Wales for some grayling fishing.  Things have been looking considerably iffy weather wise.  The Wye has been over the banks in places during the last couple of weeks and we were keeping our fingers crossed that conditions would settle down prior to our mid November trip.   They did but only for a few days.  It always amazes me at how forecasts can change so quickly and so dramatically in a very short space of time.  Still it is called Mother Nature and we all know why! 🙂  Despite the forecast indicating that conditions should be just about spot on from Monday onwards, by the time we arrived a change was in the air.  We were met by rain on arrival, although that was expected.  In fact things improved quite quickly at first.  It was nearly lunchtime by the time we were able to commence fishing.  During the afternoon the sun came out briefly and the whole of the valley was ablaze with autumnal colour.  The hills and trees were resplendent in the sunshine, a mix of rich colours of varying hues.  It at least offered a temporary respite from the harsh conditions that were to follow.

The Wye

The Wye

It proved a tough afternoon.  Between Geoff, Dan and myself I think we had just 5 or 6 grayling, despite targeting swims that have always produced good catches in the past.  Even Kevin’s banker swim proved fickle with only 9 grayling coming to the net, although the best was a 2lb fish.  So that first few hours of our trip proved arduous but we were confident that with a settled spell of weather ahead, we would soon be amongst the fish.  How wrong we were!

The following morning we switched on the news, eager to see what lay ahead of us.  That delightful young girl on the local news channel beamed broadly in that enchanting way that they do and informed us that basically the forecast had changed and it was going to be shite.  She didn’t quite put it like that but that was how it translated.  And yet she did it with such feminine guile that we were almost grateful! 🙂

Snow was falling as we watched from the comfort of a warm sitting room.  Hot cups of teas and coffees steaming quietly which remarkably seem to ease the burden of what we were witnessing.  Still snow we could cope with.  It was rain that would be our downfall, yes that old arch enemy of the seasoned grayling angler.  High and coloured water is the kiss of death for this species and things were not looking good.  Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were now going to consist of high winds and heavy rains sweeping in across Wales.  Not only that, the rain was due to last the best part of 10-12 hours.  I think ‘bugger’ pretty much sums up our feelings at this point.  Originally the weather had looked very promising.  There was some rain forecast for Wednesday but nothing Biblical like this.  And oh boy did it rain.

Still Tuesday morning saw us tucking into a very hearty Welsh breakfast, as always provided by our excellent hosts Richard and Jane.  The accommodation provided is of a very high standard and Richard is always happy to contact his friends for us to locate beats of rivers that normally wouldn’t be available to fish.  They really are the perfect hosts and nothing is too much trouble. I can’t recommend them highly enough: www.pwllgwilym-cottages.co.uk

Pwllgwilym Cottages

Pwllgwilym Cottages

After breakfast we headed off to try the upper Severn around Newtown.  We haven’t fished in this area before but with the Severn producing some quality grayling fishing recently we felt it was time to check it out for ourselves.  The drive up was incredible.  With snow on the ground and then then the sun breaking through the clouds we witnessed perhaps the most stunning views we have ever encountered.  The drive from llandrindod Wells to Newtown winds its way up through the surrounding hills on the A483 and presents you with the most spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding valley, which is quite simply breathtaking. My only regret is we didn’t find somewhere to park so we could take some photos of this incredible view.

Upper Severn

Upper Severn

After wandering through Newtown we eventually found the tackle shop.  We managed to glean a certain amount of information from the owner, purchase the day tickets and get to the river.  Just above the footbridge we found the river to be deep and slow.  It certainly didn’t look like your typical grayling river.  However as we explored further upstream we discovered a much more enticing section.  Here the flow was much swifter and clean gravel could be seen in the shallower depths.  We were soon tackled up and fishing away.  The sun occasionally broke through the dark clouds and was interspersed with sporadic rain and snow showers.  However when the sun did break through, the surrounding trees sparkled in the winter sun.  There were just so many colours to see; coppers, browns, golds, reds and so many hues it was stunning.  It seems autumn is late this year and we were treated to one of Mother Natures finest spectacles.

Anyway back to the fishing.  It was getting late already, we didn’t commence fishing until around 12pm which was much later than we had hoped.  Because of the delay we really had to get a move on.  I had hoped to try out the Pallatrax small hydrated snails and Bloodworm and Maggot Crush groundbait today but in the rush left them in the car, which was now about a mile away from where we were fishing.  Although disappointed, I thought there would be further opportunities to put this promising bait to the test later in the week so carried on regardless.  The run I was fishing was much deeper than I at first expected.  This area was below some shallow water and dropped quite dramatically into a deep gulley.  The bottom was gravel and there was little evidence of weed.  The depth was around 6 feet and shallowed up after around 15 yards and so offered a decent trot.  First trot through and the float disappeared.  A quick, sharp strike connected to the unseen culprit.  It stayed deep and the occasional thump, thump was clearly felt as the fish headed upstream.  Then as quickly as it came it went, as the hook and fish parted company.  Still it was encouraging.  A few more trots through provided me with a couple of small grayling and a few trout.  Sport at least but I was hoping for something a little bigger.  Geoff reported a complete lack of action in his chosen spot, whilst Kevin had found a swim with some good grayling in.  He took around 14 in the end to just shy of 2lbs.

Jammed packed with nutrients - Pallatrax Bloodworm and Maggot Crush

Jammed packed with nutrients – Pallatrax Bloodworm and Maggot Crush

Pallatrax Baits

Pallatrax Baits

My day provided slow but steady sport.  I kept changing depths and baits in an effort to entice more bites.  However the fish liked the bait on the bottom and held back slightly.  By the end of the afternoon I had taken 9 grayling to around 1lb 6oz and 9 trout to around 2lb 8oz.  I lost 1 grayling at the net and a couple of big trout.  Geoff only managed 2 grayling and I think a trout.  As the light faded we decided to call it a day and head back to the cottage.  Danny had opted to remain on the Wye today and fished the town section.  Despite only fishing for a few hours after a certain amount of trials and tribulations, he managed a decent net of mainly trout plus a number of nice grayling to around 1lb 8oz.  So he was happy with that and had some entertaining stories to recount about his numerous trips to and from the river, collecting things he’d forgotten to bring or lost along the way!

The weather forecast that evening proved grim viewing. It seemed very heavy rain was definitely moving in early hours and would remain until Wednesday lunchtime. Still despite this we thought we’d actually give it a go on the Wednesday.  The rain eased off by late morning with the sun braking through the gloom and so we headed to the town section of the Wye.  However not only was the weather shocking, there were two anglers in the spot we had hoped to fish.  What is the world coming too, I ask you?!  What a bloody cheek.  Two blokes in our swim.  Bring back the birch, hard labour and yes, even the death penalty for people like this.  However the river was rising even as we fumed at our misfortune.  The levels crept over the banks and started to spill into the trees.  The river had that muddy look and it was like a cabbage broth made with leaves, and I mean millions of leaves.  Every cast resulted in a hooked leaf.  Brown ones, red ones, yellow ones, every conceivable colour and shape and all on the end of my hook at one point (pun intended 🙂 ) or another.   Incredibly I actually hooked a fish, which typically and in good old “that’s just my bloody luck” type fashion, twisted and shed the hook after a few seconds.

It was time to go.  The fishing was by now almost impossible and I had to keep moving my tackle (ooh er missus) to stop it from being submerged in a quickly rising river.  It seemed appropriate that night to indulge in a little ‘surf and turf’ at the excellent local hostelry.  A big sirloin steak, scampi and some superb  tempura prawns with chips, mushrooms, onion rings and tomatoes helped to settle me down after such a trying day.  Oh and of course a pint of the local bitter helped too.

The next day was a right off.  The river was bank high and heavily coloured although the Irfon looked much better. It was still high but seemed to lack the murky colour that ruins grayling fishing.  We had expected to call it a day and head home early, however we now felt we might just squeeze in the last day on the Irfon.  As we’d come all this way it was worth taking the chance.

Sadly the final day didn’t live up to our expectations. The river was remarkably clear despite the amount of rainfall, however it was a little high and pushing through.  We explored around a mile and a half of beautifully wild water and yet we couldn’t muster a bite.  The sun had come out today and the whole place was awash with every conceivable colour and hue.  It was a stunning spot to end our visit.   We persevered until around mid afternoon and by the end 3 of us had caught a solitary grayling each.  They were all over a pound with the biggest around 1lb 12oz but that was it.  It was time to say goodbye to Powys and head home.

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One for you Steve

Posted in Angling Diary on November 7, 2013| 3 Comments »


My good mate Kevin has been going through some tough times lately.  He was at last rewarded with a fish that he more than deserved.  Dropping onto the Thames tributary that we have been targeting this season, produced a tremendous new PB barbel for him.

Amazingly the trip that produced this fish was due to be a roach session on a local lake.  However the weather seemed perfect for barbel and so Kevin and Geoff changed their minds on the day and instead decided to head to the Kennet.  The traffic was horrific on the M25 and the normal 90 minute trip dragged on into several hours.  Due to the severe loss in fishing time they felt it would be better to head to the Thames tributary instead, it was closer and could be fished later if necessary.  It seemed fate was playing her part in more ways than one.

On arrival Kevin and Geoff went for a scout around and eventually picked a couple of swims.  They hadn’t been fishing long when Kevin’s rod top slammed over and he was in.  Fortunately as Kevin was playing the fish, Geoff had decided to wander up to see Kevin.  After an amazing fight and one which entailed Geoff struggling to net Kevin’s prize, the fish was finally subdued.  They both looked at disbelief at this leviathan staring up at them from the folds of the landing net.  They weighed the fish and could hardly believe it, she went 15lb 2oz and smashed Kevin’s previous PB.

Kev's 15lb 2oz Barbel

Kev’s 15lb 2oz Barbel

Kevin’s brother Steve has been suffering with a degenerative illness for the last year.  Over the last couple of years Steve has enjoyed numerous fishing trips with us.  Steve was a very keen angler in his youth but due to family commitments his fishing pretty much dried up.  Despite Steve’s condition he enjoys fishing with us when he can or at the very least getting constant running commentaries throughout our trips about what is being caught and by whom.

When Kevin went to see him in hospital and told him of his monster barbel, Steve was overjoyed at the news.  Steve loves to hear about what we catch and loves to read my blog (well someone was bound to at some point 🙂 ).  The fact that his brother had caught such an impressive fish really delighted Steve and rightly so.

It is with great sadness that I have to report that Steve finally succumbed to his illness a couple of weeks a go.  It happened far quicker than expected.  My thoughts are with Steve’s family.  I know Steve will be sat by that great barbel filled river in the sky, filling his boots.  Kevin has dedicated his barbel to Steve and justly so.  RIP Steve.

RIP Steve.

RIP Steve.

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Team Pallatrax – Exciting Times Ahead

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , on October 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »


I am delighted to announce that I have joined Team Pallatrax.  Pallatrax are a growing company.  They are incredibly innovative and forward thinking.  It’s products like their Dried Naturals and Hidra range that highlight just how much these guys are market leaders when it comes to  innovative and imaginative products.   Add to that an incredible and thoroughly tested range of boilies, pellets, glugs and sprays and it isn’t difficult to see why they are expanding so rapidly.

The Stonze is a remarkable success story in it’s own right.  They have produced a product that is virtually undetectable by fish and unique in the world of angling.  The product is Internationally patented and award winning and we’ll be seeing a lot more world wide focus on these over the coming seasons I’m sure.  The other tremendous benefit of the Stonze is that they are environmentally friendly, which takes some doing in this day and age!

I haven’t even touched on their impressive range of terminal tackle either.  Pallatrax’s ‘The Hook’ has been around now for a couple of seasons and has proven to be a solid, dependable hook even in the most extreme conditions.  I’ve been using them for some time and they are an exceptional hook and in a great range of sizes too, not just big.  Of course that’s the tip of the iceberg really, they have so much more to offer than just hooks.

Check out the Pallatrax website for a full range of products and some brilliant videos with Simon Pomeroy, highlighting some of the great bait ideas they have come up with.  It really is an eye opener.  Roach and chub here I come!

Pallatrax Catch more fish - Logo on black

PALLATRAX

Then of course there is the Lone Angler range of products that hit the market recently.  Lone Angler is a sister company of Pallatrax and comes under the Pallatrax umbrella.  Headed by that barbel catching God Trefor West, you know that the range has been thoroughly field tested and made to the very highest standards.

LONE ANGLER

So I’m really looking forward to experimenting with baits and the Stonze system over the coming months.  I’ve already got a hundred and one ideas swirling around in my head!  I can’t wait to get out and start utilising some of these superb products.

My thanks go to Simon Pomeroy and the Mad Hatter himself Jez Brown for bringing me into the fold.  Cheers guys.

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A Trenting we will go

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , on October 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »


Sonnet I. To the River Trent

by Henry Kirke White

Once more, O Trent! along thy pebbly marge
A pensive invalid, reduced and pale,
From the close sick-room newly let at large,
Wooes to his wan-worn cheek the pleasant gale.
O! to his ear how musical the tale
Which fills with joy the throstle’s little throat:
And all the sounds which on the fresh breeze sail,
How wildly novel on his senses float!
It was on this that many a sleepless night,
As lone, he watch’d the taper’s sickly gleam,
And at his casement heard, with wild affright,
The owl’s dull wing and melancholy scream,
On this he thought, this, this his sole desire,
Thus once again to hear the warbling woodland choir.

Couldn’t have put it better myself, I must say!  Anyway the Association of Barbel Fishers were holding their annual AGM at Newark on Saturday 12th and as an Officer of the association I intended to attend.  It seemed pointless driving all of that way just for a meeting and so Geoff and I decided to go earlier in the week and do a spot of Trenting or more precisely; barbelling.  I booked some day tickets for Tuesday through to Saturday and hoped that the weather would hold.

We arrived on Tuesday evening.  During the afternoon it was an amazing 22c, however by the  following morning the temperature had dropped to a rather cool 14-15c and the wind was fresh to say the least.  A northerly had sprung up and it was blowing at 25mph and gusting to well over 35mph.  Wow what a difference and what a bloody shock to the system.  We’ve had a terrific summer really and September and early October have been outstanding.  So I won’t be complaining.  I might add the rain stayed off, at least whilst we were actually fishing.  And thank goodness for that.  Persistent rain and high winds really don’t do it for me I’m afraid.  That’s when its time to head to the pub. 🙂 and then things get really wet and windy, particularly after a few picked eggs……!!

Tuesday evening was very mild and so we decided to grab a couple of hours on the river.  Geoff and I shared a swim and Geoff was soon in.  The chub were active it seemed and Geoff ended up with a couple of nice fish.  I managed a bream and then a nice feisty barbel of 8lb 5oz.  We were both tired and the action was pretty slow to be honest, despite the seemingly ideal conditions and so we headed to our pits for some much needed sleep.

We don’t often start early if we are going to be fishing into darkness and these few days were not going to be any different.  By now the wind was blowing a hooley and the temperatures were dropping.  Still its nothing that a full English wouldn’t sort out.  We headed to Waitrose (we’re posh don’t you know)  and had the works in the restaurant (that’s cafe to you peasants) and grabbed a few provisions before heading back to the caravan to load the car and get off fishing.  Flasks made, food packed and we were on our way. After a good walk checking out a few spots Geoff and I finally decided on a couple of swims.  Although a bit cooler today the temperature seemed to have stabilised at around 15c, so not too bad considering the time of year.

The Bondi Beach of the Midlands

The Bondi Beach of the Midlands

Fortunately for me I seemed to find a swim with a few fish in.  By now it was around 3pm.  I had decided to fish two rods; one for barbel and the other a Drennan quiver tip and fish for roach or bream.  This was set up with 6lb mainline and a flurocarbon hooklink of 5lbs.  Bait was sweetcorn and maggots with maggots or hemp in the blockend feeder.  Regular casting of both rods would get a bed of bait down and hopefully attract some interest.  It was the barbel rod that hooped over first and a small barbel of around 3-4lbs was soon returned.  At this time of the year the barbel seem to fight particularly hard.  They really do give it their all, which is great fun.  Meanwhile the quiver rod registered the odd twitch but otherwise nothing much.

The barbel rod did the old three foot twitch routine again and a similar sized barbel was subdued.  The light was fading fast and I decided to change the bait on the quiver rod to a single banded elips pellet.  The theory being that the roach and bream are used to seeing pellets here and therefore that’s probably what they mainly feed on.  The plan worked but not for the aforementioned species.  As the quiver tip bent round at an alarming rate, it had to be barbus barbus on the other end.  After a great fight another fine barbel was returned and a short while later round it went again.  I ended up with 7 barbel to 9lbs and a few good bream to around 6lbs.  A pretty good result as far as I was concerned.  Geoff managed a couple of chub but couldn’t find the barbel.

The following morning (late of course) found us at the farm shop where the breakfast is first class.  The garden centre and shop are full of interesting bits and pieces and with a great selection of cakes, biscuits, sausage rolls and other consumable paraphernalia to keep you occupied.  Once again we headed to the river around 2-2.30pm and picked a couple of swims.  The wind seemed even stronger today and the sky was dark and foreboding.  Rain was a distinct possibility but we hoped that with such a strong wind it would keep pushing the rain away and so it turned out, as it remained dry throughout our session.

This time Geoff found the fish taking 4 barbel to 10lb 9oz and a few chub.  I only found one barbel, some chub and bream.  However one chub was probably over 5lbs and bream to around 6lb.  Eventually the temperatures dropped to just 7c and so at around 9pm we called it a day.  We returned for our last session the following day having tried out Morrison’s breakfast first of course.  Not at all bad by the way.  Plenty of food and good value.  The rain had put us off going too early but eventually we arrived at around 2.30.  It was still threatening rain and the forecast was pretty grim.  We decided to stay put until the rain started and then we’d beat a hasty retreat.  Luckily for us the rain never materialised and we remained dry but somewhat wind beaten.

Geoff's 10lb 9oz

Geoff’s 10lb 9oz

This time I enjoyed some really good action.  The rods were whacking round quite frequently and throughout the entire session.  There was the odd quiet moment but otherwise steady action from the barbel, chub and bream.  I ended up with 7 barbel to 10lb 7oz, 8-10 chub to over 5lb and a couple of nice bream (if such a thing is possible!).  Sadly Geoff struggled a little but I think had 1 barbel and some nice chub.  we ended the few days here with over 20 barbel between us and with two doubles and a bucket load of chub and bream, we felt pretty satisfied with events.  It’s been slow going this season so to get this much action was very rewarding I must say.  As ever thanks to Geoff for his company.

10lb 7oz

10lb 7oz

On the Saturday we attended the Association of Barbel Fisher’s AGM.  I guess there were around 16/17 of us there and we had a very good and worthwhile meeting.  After the usual formal procedures and votes we were able to discuss what the ABF should do next and this created a very positive and lively discussion.  Lots of sensible ideas were muted and some good action will result.  I am certain that over the next few years the ABF will go from strength to strength.  We have some great people on board now and with Steve Richardson as our new secretary, I personally feel we are in a very strong position indeed.

 

 

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Lean times

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , , , on October 1, 2013| 4 Comments »


Well it’s been a tough old season, that’s for sure.  Geoff, Kevin and I have been targeting a Thames tributary and thus far it’s proven to be a tough nut to crack.  Although both Kevin and I have lost one barbel apiece, only Geoff has actually managed to bank a small barbel of around 6lbs.  I guess I must have done around 8-10 sessions here, comprising of a Tuesday evening and pretty much all day on Wednesdays.  We have at least had some nice chub, thank goodness.  I have managed a nice brace of mid ‘5’s’ and one really good chub of 6lb 1oz.  I love catching chub and to me they are a real bonus.  I’m really looking forward to fishing here throughout the winter with simple link leger tactics using breadcrust or lob worms or trotting a float through a few mouthwatering swims.  Maggot and caster never fail to produce a chub or two in the right conditions, so we’ll see what the winter brings us.

6lb 1oz

6lb 1oz

I did have a short break from the rivers due to the poor sport and headed off to Marsh Farm in search of some tench and crucians.  I only did two short evening sessions.  The first gave me a few crucians to 2lb 7oz (I think, although it may have been 2lb 9oz) and a solitary tench.  The second session proved much more productive with 8 crucians all around the 2lb mark.  I weighed one which showed 2lb 2oz on the scales and the others all looked to be of a similar stamp.  I also had numerous tench to well over 4lbs.  So all in all some good sport and it made a pleasant change from the blanks on the rivers!

2lb 7oz Crucian

2lb 7oz Crucian

Geoff and I also decided to make the most of the benign conditions and head to Britford on the Hampshire Avon in search of some summer roach fishing.  Armed with hemp and tares and the Drennan 14ft Matchpro Ultralight, plus light mainline and fine hooks we hoped we could tempt some of those big Hampshire Avon roach.  Fishing two areas in particular, we soon had some reasonable roach boiling on the surface as they intercepted the hemp-seed.  Most of the fish appeared to be on the small size and we hoped that as the day wore on the bigger fish would start to show.

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

The river was gin clear and thick streamer weed choked most of the river.  However there were plenty of clear spots in amongst the weed and plenty of gravel runs to be trotted.  Presentation really was quite straightforward and the weed offered little in the way of hindrance.  By constantly feeding hemp and running a single tare through on a small hook, bites came almost immediately.  Both Geoff and I started to catch roach from the off.  Not particularly big roach but quite a few of them.  It was good fun and a few nice dace put in an appearance too.

As the day wore on so the big roach started to show.  They tended to hang back from the main shoal but they were still there in reasonable numbers.  A few looked like big fish, probably in the 2-3lb bracket.  There were plenty of fish well over a pound showing too.  A handful of hemp had them boiling on the surface.  When you see them like this you might be fooled into thinking it’s going to be a bit like taking candy from a kid, however the reality is different.  A trick that did seem to work though was running the float below the main shoal so it passes them and gets to the bigger fish hanging back.  Holding the float back allows the tare to flutter up enticingly in the water.  Fortunately a big roach took the bait.  A jagged fight ensued and the fish did the swimmers roll on the surface.  As I grabbed the net it shed the hook.  I seem to remember a string of obscenities wafting through the air on this beautiful summer’s evening.  Hopefully they didn’t quite reach the Cathedral although the bells did start ringing!  That fish looked close to two pound and would have been my first ‘2’.  Still it’s there for another time.

A decent Roach

A decent Roach

I continued fishing and missing bites and casting in the wrong place and  getting tangled of course.  Despite this there were plenty of fish to keep both Geoff and I occupied and a few around the 1lb-1 1/4lb mark.  As the light started to slowly fade my patience evaporated!   It was just one tangle too far.  I had a severe tooth ache and had to keep taking very strong painkillers to keep it at bay and they were making me very tired and very irritable (even more than normal, if that’s possible).  I finally snapped and so did the middle section of my beloved Drennan Ultralight.  I feel most embarrassed about it but it was out of my control.  Never mind a replacement has been sourced through Apollo Tackle at the Marsh Farm complex.  Steve’s a real brick (? 🙂 ) and did me a good deal on a replacement.

After that session I had a 3 day trip to the Wye with Geoff and an American friend who had never fished in the UK before.  He has fished extensively in the US and also Scandinavia.  I won’t go into details about it now because we are writing an article about the trip and how it compares to fishing in the States.  So hopefully that will be available soon.

The Wye

The Wye

I then managed another trip to Berkshire to fish the Thames Tributary, which despite looking spot on never produced a bite for either Geoff or myself.  We bumped into Paul Whiteing and Andy Myers who ended up doing rather well on the barbel and chub front.  We discussed some ABF business before settling down to try and tempt a barbel.  As the light began to fail so the mist started to swirl over the fields.  It drew closer and closer before enveloping us in its cold and unearthly grasp.  We were now wrapped up in our full winter clothing; fleeces, over-trousers, gillets and jackets and still the cold crept into our bones. We both resembled Nanook of the North!  It felt about 8c and we remained biteless throughout the night, packing up around 11.30pm.  Paul Whiteing had indicated that it was incredibly mild!  That seemed crazy, however on walking back upstream we discovered the mist was absent from this area and the temperatures were much, much higher.  When we arrived back in the car park the car thermometer was showing 13c.  We stripped away all of the cold weather clothing and enjoyed a nice cuppa by the cars in just shirt and trousers and were very comfortable in the early autumn air.  Just goes to show how conditions can vary and how they affect the results.

The following day we headed to the Kennet to target the Benyons.  We didn’t want to be leaving there very late, hoping to head home around 8.30-9.00pm.  We arrived at the river a little later than expected at around 11am.  I wandered downstream whilst Geoff headed upstream.  We thought this might provide a contrast and if one area produced the other could always move.  I baited up a deep marginal swim with some hemp and fished the inside line.  It was a good 7ft deep and offered loads of bankside cover, with overhanging trees and undergrowth hopefully sheltering a few fish.  Sadly it appeared to be quite snaggy and after a few hours of inactivity I felt a move was in order.

I checked out a few likely looking swims with a rod to plumb the depth and feel what the riverbed was like.  I finally plumped on a nice spot which had a deep run under a overhanging tree and a far bank line of trees where the flow offered an enticing crease.  I decided as the day wore on to concentrate on the far bank run.  This looked the best spot; it had a good flow and lots of cover and seemed an ideal interception point.  I baited the tree line up with catapults of hemp and then fished a block end feeder with hemp and two elips pellets on the hair.

Hemp is a great attractor

Hemp is a great attractor

It was beginning to look like yet another blank when there was a bang on the rod top.  At last a sign of life!  Perhaps it was just a chub investigating the bait but who knows?  Around 10 minutes later with the light fading fast, the rod top started to dance.  I was fishing upstream with a bow in the line and this was an all out bite.  I grabbed the rod and pulled into the fish.  It was solid and nothing moved.  I could then feel a thump from something on the other end and this fish started to power off on a very slow and determined run, taking line from a begrudging clutch.  As I pulled back the fish seemed to get stronger and just hugged the bottom.  I honestly thought it was snagged for a while and then started to realise it was in fact just a good barbel on the other end.

I managed to coax it eventually to the nearside bank where it headed straight for a sunken bush.  With steady pressure I easily kept it away from any real danger and suddenly the fish popped up on the surface.  I made the most of this opportunity and managed to slip the fish straight into the waiting landing net.  Phew what a relief. At last a barbel and a decent one at that.  I quickly called Geoff and informed him of my catch and said it looked 13lb+ possibly even 14lb I thought.  I waited for Geoff to wander down and then we weighed and photographed a magnificent Kennet barbel in beautiful condition.  The fish tipped the scales to 13lb 3oz and was my second biggest Kennet fish to date.

13lb 3oz

13lb 3oz

With that the rain started and as it was already about 7.45 we decided to call it a day and head home before the weather turned really nasty.

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I’m reviewing the situation…….All the trials and tribulations!

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , on August 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »


The fishing seems to be particularly tough for us at the moment.  We are struggling on the river in Berkshire and I have yet to secure my first barbel on my local small river too.  There is some comfort in chatting with anglers bankside who are also reporting similar results to ourselves.  At least we know its not just us.  However I think we need to adopt a different style of fishing to try and beat the current doldrums.  I guess what I mean is perhaps a more roving style, targeting more swims and  using different baits in an attempt to make things work in our favour, rather than hoping that eventually things will improve anyway.  I have used a roving approach on the Medway and Kennet in the past and it worked extremely well.  If you know the stretch really well you can continue to rove throughout darkness too, although there is always the option of then sitting it out in one swim after dark and hoping the fish are present.

My latest trip with Geoff was a continuation of current form.  The Thames tributary we are fishing this season is proving very difficult.  However others are also struggling as I said, so we have to take some consolation from that fact.   We fished until midnight on Tuesday but staying in just one swim apiece.  Either the fish were not home or we didn’t fish the right baits/tactics because neither Geoff or myself had so much as a knock.  Throughout the evening and night I never head a single fish turn on the surface, which always disheartens me to be honest.  I like to hear movement because it signals life and activity.  You at least know that fish are on the move.

At one point a stamping noise behind me awoke me from my thoughts and when I looked round a roe deer was running away from me in the direction of the trees.  I could see its white tail bouncing up and down as it hurried off to find cover.  That was about it for me that night sadly.  Tiredness finally won the day, and at around 11.45 I packed up very much disillusioned again.  So a re-think needed for future trips.

The next day we decided that a change of scenery was in order and so we agreed after breakfast to head to the Kennet.  We popped into Tadley Angling so Geoff could pick up a night permit for Reading and District Angling Association and whilst there I bought some block-end feeders and some hemp.  Tadley is a well stocked and well run shop and the owners are very friendly and helpful.  It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

There was only one car in the R&DAA car park and we decided to have a recce first.  We then loaded up with gear and headed off downstream to explore.  We walked some distance downstream, spotting lots of decent looking spots to fish on the way.   The level looked good and the river had a decent pace to it with a good tinge of colour.  In fact it looked perfect.   I decided to bait up a couple of swims with hemp and then fish a block-end feeder with hemp in and fish elips and paste on a 4′ tail.  By the time I cast out it was probably 3.30pm.  I had decided to fish this swim for a couple of hours and move if nothing happened.  I could always return later.  At about 5pm the rod top slammed round and my heart jumped into my mouth.  A three foot twitch never fails to get the adrenaline flowing and the pulse racing.  I pulled into what was obviously a barbel and it used the strong flow to full effect.

I could tell it wasn’t a big fish from the fight but a very welcome sight that fish made when I managed to slip it into the waiting net.  I hoisted it out and admired the colours and sleek, muscular form.  I would have taken a quick snap of the fish on the unhooking mat, however senile dementia has well and truly set in because the battery for the camera is still sat on the table at home after being charged up last week.  Doh!  Anyway the fish was slipped back and I opted to move into the other baited swim.  Geoff was also on the move, opting to fish further downstream from his original position.

A large tractor turned up in the field behind me and started to move hay bales from a huge stack onto a trailer.  The farmer had assistance from another guy in a car and two small dogs.  I could hear their excited yapping as they were let loose in the field.   They were tearing around the stack of hay bales, I guess looking for rats maybe.  At times they were almost in a frenzy of excitement and it at least proved a distraction from the fishing.  As darkness fell I wished the dogs were with me as the rats started to appear.   Several large rodents scampered through the undergrowth and out into the open, searching for food.  They could obviously smell my bait as despite my best efforts to scare them off they would soon return even more brazen.   I think those dogs would have made short work of disposing of the rats.

However despite another move on my part no further action ensued and Geoff had remained fish-less also, so we decided to call it a day around 10.15pm.  We both fancied a coffee at the services before the long drive home.

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