After our sojourn to the great Ouse last week, we decided it was time to stick to the job in hand and try to catch a few fish from the Kennet. I have always liked September on the rivers. It’s a month which has historically produced some of my best fish. I’m sure that statement would be borne out by most angler’s experiences. The barbel are starting to pack on a bit of weight during the Autumn months in readiness for the onset of winter. I tend to get more doubles at this time of the year than any other, with the exception perhaps of late February and March.
The Kennet
So with this in mind Kevin, Geoff and myself felt that Aldermaston was the place to concentrate our efforts on. This would give us the opportunity to fish a few hours into darkness on the first night and an early start the following day. We are getting conflicting information regarding the best periods to fish. Some advocate night-time, up to 1 or 2 in the morning. Others are saying their catches are coming early morning up to 9 or 10. So we decided to try both, although we would probably only fish until maybe 11.30 or 12 on the Tuesday night. I do need my beauty sleep, as anyone who knows me will testify, often telling me that it’s quite obvious I’m not getting enough!
I had decided to go all out on the hemp and caster route. Armed with about 12 pints of hemp and 6 pints of casters for the loose feed and then using 4 casters superglued onto a longish hair. I hoped that by having a long hair, I’d hook less dace and roach and therefore create less disturbance in the swim. It’s not a cheap excercise, as casters are £3.25 a pint, but it might prove worthwhile. We arrived in the lower car park and found it empty. After setting up camp we headed off to find a few suitable swims.
The largest loaded bait dropper
My intention was to stay put and bait the swim up throughout the duration of the session. Kevin and Geoff found a couple of swims, but would consider moving if they felt it was appropriate. I found the swim that I fancied and after bouncing a lead around, just to double-check the depth and weed situation, I used the largest bait dropper to deposit about 2 1/2 pints of hemp and caster into the swim. I then intended to leave the swim to rest for an hour. I tied up a new hooklink for my main rod and went about setting up the chair and oh yes the landing net. Now where is my landing net handle…oh not in the quiver…..must have already taken it out…..er no….not in the car either……ah, think I left it at home. What a total wazzock! I had already realised that I had forgotten my fleece top as well. Things were looking a bit dicey. It was going to be one of ‘those’ sessions. Luckily Kevin was just a few yards upstream of me, so offered to stay there during the duration of the session, despite my comments about him and Geoff missing the Junction on the motorway last week! I just hoped that I wouldn’t disturb him too much. Well, chance would be a fine thing!
So after much cursing and coffee drinking, I finally swung the bait out into the swim. My intention was to bait dropper 3 loads every 20 minutes using the medium sized dropper and re-bait and re-cast every 40 minutes. In the event of a fish, I would bait dropper 6 loads and rest the swim for 30 minutes. This is very much a Steve Pope method of fishing hemp and caster. If it’s good enough for him, it is certainly good enough for me.
6lb Kennet Barbel
15 minutes into the first cast and the tip whacked round. A strong fish fought like a tiger on the other end. I knew it wasn’t a big fish, but what a great fight. The barbel was around 6 pounds and went back very strongly. I did the 6 dropper thing and enjoyed a coffee. Out went the bait again after 30 minutes. A little while after, the rod tip went round again and this was a small but strong fish. It felt too strong for a roach or chub, so it had to be a small barbel. It was. A perfectly formed and pristine fish of about a pound in weight. Very encouraging for the future. At about 10.30 the rod tip whacked round again and this time a really nice fish of close on 8lbs resulted. Both Geoff and Kevin had not had a bite. Maybe there is something to this hemp and caster lark after all.
A near '8'
At 11.30 we called it a day. It was still warm and I could have fished on for another hour or so, but we wanted an earlyish start. So we headed back to camp for a cup of freshly brewed tea and the usual late night chin wag, then off to bed ready for day 2.
The River Angler 
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