ABF Barbel Challenge 2015

Finally we come down to the Army Benevolent Fund [ABF] challenge for the third year.  Each year Gerry Gleeson has set different parameters for those taking place and this year is no different.   With two teams, one for the north and one for the south, each would be made up of five regular members and a guest and going on to the different rivers.     This year the number of rivers has been reduced to five for each region, four in the north, four in the south and then both teams meet up on the Wye.  With 24hrs allocated as the maximum for each river it obviously means that less time than this would actually be spent fishing since the groups would need to travel between rivers within the 24 hrs.   This year the target is to get three doubles off each river, then it is hoped to back up the doubles with singles as well, difficult but that’s what targets should be.

I’ll be writing this blog about my contribution with just a few comments about other members of the northern team, but I would say that the total doubles count was 12 for the north and 11 for the south, a worthy total even if it failed the targets of three off each river.

Arriving at the River Nene for the first element of the north challenge I was set up in my swim well before dawn and within 30 mins my challenge had begun with a 10lb-1oz barbel that took the Elips pellets.  Making the fish safe I made a phone call to Mark Smith, the PDAA bailiff, he was walking back down the stretch and was quickly next to me in order to verify the weight and take the photos.  A pleasing start, although I then went through the daylight hours without any further signs of fish.  I had moved slightly along the section I was fishing with the intent to move back to the successful swim in the evening.

Jerry fishing quite a way up the stretch had more luck in daylight and took another double of 10lb-6oz to keep us on track, better still he added a couple of smaller fish to his tally.  

                                              First of the challenge Nene 10lb-1oz

Meanwhile dusk approached and yet again I cast my pellet offering to the raft that had formed on a trailing branch on the tree opposite.   No instant response this time, but it was not too long a wait before the tip shot round in the expected fashion and the strike confirmed that it was a barbel.   The swim was full on streamer weed from my bank to about half way across; the first double had come upstream along the clear channel on the opposite side.  This time the fish shot straight into the middle of the streamer giving me one hell of a fight where I thought I would lose him several times having to wait as he pulled himself out of the weed.  Trying to net him was the next problem since there was a lot of weed collected on the main line, twice I netted the fish only to have him pulled out of the net by the weight of the weed, in the end I netted both fish and weed though then I could hardly lift the net.

I thought it was going to be a good barbel, but when I finally put him on the scales I was amazed to see a weight of 14lb-6oz.  Before completed the weighing I had called Matt Marlow down from the next swim and I got him to get his scales since this would be a new best weight for the largest known fish on this section of the Nene.  Matt’s scales actually showed a weight a couple of ounces higher so I took my scales reading being quite happy they are accurate.  By now four of the team had arrived in the swim and several cameras, both still and video went into overdrive in order to keep the fish out water for the minimum time.  

                                                 River pb for me at 14lb-6oz

Two fish and two doubles, it was a happy lad that made his way across to the Trent for the next leg of the challenge.

We had had some rain in the period running up to the start of the challenge and although it had not affected the Nene to any degree it appeared the Trent had risen and it was now on its way down again.  I tried a few casts and found that my normal half way out was not really feasible; too much weed was coming down so I came closer in to the side.  With the time of year there were plenty of boats going back and forth hopefully when these slow down on dusk it might help reduce the weed problem and so it proved the case.  The Trent is one of the in form rivers at the moment but today it seems to be a little slow.   Fishing my usual big feeders with a mix of pellets and hemp along with Elips on the hook I had to wait until near dawn for my first and only bite.  Fortunately it weighed in at 12lb-2oz and Paul Floyd came along to do the honours with the camera, another successful river for me and now we moved onto the Derwent.

                                                      Trent contribution at 12lb-3oz.

A stop off at a local café gave us a welcome chance of a full English breakfast before the onward trip.  We would be fishing at Borrowash where two different clubs meet at the bridge over the river.  Earl of Harrington upstream and Derbyshire County AC downstream.  I would be fishing downstream along with Julian Barnes while the other lads fish upstream.  A big thank you here to both clubs for the 24hr permissions for those without tickets.   The river looked spot on with just a little colour, but no drifting weed and Julian took full advantage taking barbel of 11lb-9oz, 12lb-8oz and 13lb-1oz.   I caught a near double of 9lb-14oz with a change of bait to one of the MAD bait offerings that Justin suggested I try.  Meanwhile Matt was in heaven having taking a monster of 13lb-10oz for a new river pb.  A very successful river and now onward to the Dove with a stop at the café yet again for breakfast.

                                                    My Derwent fish of 9lb-14oz.

The Dove has not been kind to me over the previous two trips and I’m yet to catch a barbel off the section we fish, not to be demoralised I made my way to my chosen swim and settled in for the night.  Following the usual routine of baitdrop hemp and pellet then sit back and wait.  Come dusk I cast out and caught chub but no barbel, in fact it was 3.00am when I finally struck into one of the target fish and yet again my luck held when paul could take photos of a 10lb-13oz specimen.  My third river double out of four – well pleased since I knew the chance of a double off the Wye was very low.   Matt again was well pleased with yet another river pb at 12lb-6oz. 

                                                    10lb-13oz beauty off the Dove.

  The next river was least interesting to me but off we went to the Wye only to find that the other team had arrived early had occupied the going swims.  I think this was reflected in the result of the south with 37 barbel and the north 4.   Fortunately I caught one of those four so I ended the challenge with barbel caught on all five rivers, very pleased with that.  Jerry did fish the following day having got a better swim and made the best of it in the form of a barbel of 10lb-0oz exactly, the same fish he caught at the start of the season obviously a friend J

By this stage I had had enough and so come dusk after that first day on the river I came home job done.

Giant bream and even better crucians.

The following couple of trips after the capture of the 13lb-8oz bream reported in the last blog I was just day fishing and I caught a few perch but no sign of the bream.  Then that good luck factor came in again and the next bite, mid-afternoon on a sunny day, I got a bite typical of bream, the bobbin dropped and then slowly rose again and the fight certainly suggested it would be a bream although with the power it would be big.  Sure enough it proved to be just that and the lad from the adjacent swim confirmed a weight of 15lb-4oz, yet again the target set and achieved.

                                                           15lb-4oz Giant bream.

It was now fast approaching the 1^st of May and the club water well known for its large crucians would become available for fishing again having been closed for six weeks.  Plans were made and I arrived on the evening before only to find the place already packed out.  I dropped into a small out of the way swim prepared to wait until a better choice became available and since anglers are always coming and going to their own personal timetable I got my chance midmorning next day.  The rules only allow the anglers to stay for two nights and then they must leave for a minimum of 24 hrs. Though this can be awkward for the travelling angler I’m in total agreement with the rule since it does allow swims to become available on a constant basis with no long term occupation of good areas.  I stayed in the swim for 36 hrs, but with no success so I moved to the opposite end of the dam to try a totally different area.  The results around the lake were generally very patchy with a blank or one or two fish the normal catch, one angler did very well with 15 crucian to a best of 3lb-13oz, but amongst the other anglers fish being caught were odd specimens of 4lb plus including samples to challenge the current record of 4lb-9oz held jointly be myself and two others.   My  move proved to be worthwhile when I caught a succession of tench to 6lb-11oz and two crucians of 3lb-6oz and 3lb-12oz a fish equal to my best for the venue, then I had to leave having reached the end of this session..

                                                  Equal pb for the venue at 3lb-12oz.

                                     The best of well over 50 taken over the 9 days at the venue 6lb-11oz.

My tackle and approach would be the same throughout my sessions here, two 12ft 1.25lb Drennan Avons were matched with Mitchell 300’s loaded with 6lb line going to flatbed method feeders.  Very short hooklink of 4lb Fireline with Kamazan size 14 hooks carried a single artificial caster on the hair rig.  I would use one pint of caster per day along with a similar amount of 4mm pellet put out with a Spomb at regular intervals, this to allow for the tench and rudd that invariably would be cleaning them up. 

My next three day session proved equally as difficult with the first day and a half almost totally blank so again a move to a different bank altogether.  Yet again the same potential record fish came out and again I was called on to witness it but I also saw a 4lb-2oz fish caught in the swim next to mine this giving me some hope and sure enough I again caught two crucian of 3lb-2oz and 3lb-5oz along with another load of tench to 6lb-9oz.  All the time I’m getting reports of lots of blanks but the average crucian being caught is up from last year by perhaps 4oz and that gives the chance for a good number of high 3lb’s plus fish into the 4lb range.

                                                              3lb-5oz best of the day's brace.

Again the 130 miles back home to recharge the bodywork and I’m back again hoping to beat the time when the crucians will spawn, last year I only got one trip and by the time I returned they had spawned.   Dawn saw me walking down the bank to find a vacant swim and I soon had my tackle in place and cast out.  There was quite a strong wind blowing into the bank and the wind chill factor made it quite cold until the afternoon when the sun got past the surrounding tree.  Fortunately the cool conditions did not stop the crucians and at about 11am I got one of 3lb-11oz to give a very pleasing start to the trip.

When fishing you never know what is waiting just around the corner and at just after 2pm I finally got my long await 4lb crucian, this one weighing a very pleasing 4lb-6oz to make the previous effort on the venue well worthwhile.  That said fate was not finished with me and just a couple of hours later I was calling Mark from the next swim again to confirm the weight on his scales and  photograph a magnificent sample of 4lb-8oz to give me the best confirmed brace of crucians in the country.

                                                       4lb-6oz smaller of the brace.

                                                          4lb-8oz larger of the brace.

The following day I topped the catch up with a 2lb-13oz and yet another big fish of 4lb-2oz though after that fish the next 30 hrs were dead but Of course I did not mind that, yet again target set and achieved.

                                                Third of the 4's at 4lb-2oz.

The large bream campaign begins.

The river close season used to mean the end of fishing for three months, now I can continue to enjoy my sport but only on allowable still waters.  I have been trying to catch a large perch of one such venue and although I caught to well over the 3lb mark as mentioned in the last blog I still await the 4lb fish I hope is swimming around there.

                                                           A 3lb perch that still holds spawn.

As we move into April my thoughts change to the tench and bream potential and with very little change in the rigs I cast further out and hope for a large bream to show.  The main problem with bream is their nomadic nature on most venues, you may see them rolling but that only tells you where there are at that moment not where they will be or where they will feed.

Over the many years that I’ve fished for the bream I imagine I’ve tried every known method and bait in their pursuit, the only conclusion I’ve come to is when they are prepared to feed they can be easy and caught on almost any method.  The other side of that coin is that most of the time they are very difficult, if not next door to impossible.

This early in the season I had decided on a very frugal approach and just rely on maggot loaded swimfeeders and a double hook rig with the maggots on the hook nearest the feeder, then an artificial corn/maggot combination on the top hook.  This is not going to going to make a big catch of fish but so far this year just three bream have been caught, all singly with this suggesting they were not shoaled up.

                                              Pull the small hook into the corn and job done.

With the overnight rain I expected the water temperature to have dropped and with the east wind blowing it was not with the highest of expectations that I set out for an afternoon –evening session.  Rods are already set up and it was just a cast of casting for the horizon and sit back and wait.  I recast every hour but it was more a case of hoping a fish would come across the feeder offering and pick up the hookbait.  In the words of the famous saying ‘nothing kept happening all the time,’ but that had been the case on my previous visits for the bream so no surprise there.

It was well into the afternoon when one of the bobbins dropped slightly and then gave a little giggle.  It was not the usual bream bite that hits the deck in one movement and I was quite surprised to hit into heavy resistance on the strike.  Playing the fish to the bank I discussed the possible culprit with the lad who had come along from the next swim.  Not a perch, no bangs typical of their fight, possibly a tench or maybe a jack pike since they have been picking up maggot baits, not a bream though since it was too good a fight.  Fifteen yards out it flashed on the surface and to our surprise it was the bream I had hoped for, when the scales showed it weighed in at 13lb-8oz it was a very nice welcome to a new water venture for the bream.  The fish had taken the artificial bait proving yet again their worth in the angler's armory. 

                                                                   First of the year.

Monster perch and other bits.

For a few seasons now I’ve tried to improve my perch personal best of 4lb-4oz taken from Wilstone Reservoir in 2003, the nearest I’ve come to that ambition is a well spawned out 3lb-15oz fish that would easily have beaten the target just days previous to my capture of such a brilliant fish.

                                        Spawned out 3lb-15oz Specimen

Currently we seem to be in a vein of waters producing large perch and here I talk of 3lb plus being a large fish.  Most specialist anglers will fish for the day and if such a specimen comes within their catch they will feel it has been a successful trip, often such a fish will be joined by others of a similar weight since they do shoal together in an age group of their companions.  Many tactics can be used for the perch and the recent popularity of the drop-shot techniques has definitely led to an increase in the reports of large perch from our canals as well as other venues around the country.

In recent times many of the venues that were giving up a good standard of perch to my efforts seemed to have come to the end of their cycle.  It would seem that unfortunately perch are one of the shorter lived specimens that we pursue and once they get to and interesting size they do not stay around for too long before Mother Nature makes a claim on their life.  One advantage for me of the drop-shot rage is that it had shown the potential of many of our Midland Rivers and I felt I should at least try to take advantage of that before this age class disappears yet again.  All too often I have been involved in other target searches and though I would fish for the perch on another occasion only to find I tried too late, this time a strong effort over the later part of the season would hopefully produce the goods.

Arriving at the venue I chose a section that had a reasonable amount of cover on the nearside bank, this had given a number of slack areas downstream of their obstacle and the one I chose to concentrate on extended over some 15 yards or more, plenty of space for the perch to hunt in.  I had decided to use a quivertip rod rather than the float since it would give me more chance to flick the lobworm bait into little gaps and the outside edge of bushes.  A 2oz quiver on a Drennan Medium Feeder rod and 6lb line  to a size 6 wide gape hook gave plenty of power to beat the size of fish I hoped for, that being a 4lb plus  specimen.

I dropped into the first choice swim and cast right down to the bottom end of the slack.  Then I began feeding red maggots into the head of the swim, these slowly went downstream on the slight flow that still existed within the slack area.  My idea was to very slowly retrieve the lobworm by turning the reel handle just one turn at a time to cause the quiver to bend right over and then return to its original position.  I kept repeating this action every minute or so and in my mind I felt this was akin to the action of a slow motion drop-shot method with a moving bait to attract attention of the prey fish.  It was with some surprise [though I’m not sure why] when after several of these turns of the handle the quivertip straighten and then almost immediately pulled round again.  The pull round was nice and steady; I returned the favour with a nice and steady strike and pulled into a good weight of resistance.  Over the previous days we had been getting quite hard frosts overnight and I can only assume these were the possible cause for the comparatively poor scrap off this monster fish that came into the net.

                                                        5lb-4oz of monster perch.

I had hoped for a 4lb perch and as I looked I could see I had definitely got it.  That said, when the scales showed a weight of 5lb-4oz it was well beyond my expectation and it now ranks amongst my top three all-time personal bests.   I thought the dimensions would be of interest to many and these were length 19.125 inch with a girth of 16.5 inch.  One thing is definite about this fish and that is that the weight and dimensions cannot possibly portray the fish I was looking at on the bank.

Over the next week I did a bit of perch fishing on a local stillwater and took a good number of 2lb and 3lb plus fish though not the 4lb specimen I was hoping for, still a bit of time for that yet.  A trip to the Warwickshire Avon gave a nine fish catch of chub with two over 5lb, the target was barbel and with the addition of two of those at 3lb and 6lb it proved to be a very active day.

                                                      A good brace of stillwater perch

I had thought to let any interest in the big perch die off and now as the days on the river were running out I decided I would return to try for one of her larger relations, be it sister or brother I did not mind as either would be quite large.   On the previous trip I had used just one rod, this time I decided to include a second float rod which I would use to present a prawn bait in appropriate areas where possible.  That first perch had come within 20 minutes of me starting but this time I searched swim after swim without any indications and as time ran out I returned to the large slack where I began.  As my self-imposed 6.00pm deadline approached I put the float rod away and tidied up the rest of my tackle.  Still feeding the red maggots into the swim, along with the slow retrieve and with just 10 minutes to go the tip finally pulled round in response to a bite.  This time the fight was worthy of a big perch and all the time I was hoping the hook would hold as the fish was shaking her head in the normal fashion of the species.  It did hold and I landed another large perch but I thought it was the same fish and the weight suggested such was the case.  I took a couple of photographs to conclusively confirm this thought and they did just that showing a slight dip in the lower lobe of her tail.  Of course a pleasing capture, but I had hoped for a different fish and now that must wait until next season as long as these monsters stay around that long.

                                                  Still 5lb-4oz and worthy of a photo.

A review of February part 2

Over this week the weather was changing almost by the day, warm bands crossed the country only to be followed by a cold band the next day. Along with this change also came the rain and wind, so it was a real mix to try and gauge the best time to try again for the barbel.  I completed a work party on one of the waters I fish and that definitely showed my age as it left me with aching muscles when I know they would not have perhaps only five years ago.

Finally, I could see a window of acceptable weather and the Tuesday saw me making my way up the Derbyshire Derwent with a thought of fishing from midday through to about 10pm and hoping for a barbel.  The day was perfect, quite mild with a temperature of about 9C going down to 4C during the evening, no wind and just a light drizzle coming over during the dark hours.  This was shown by the number of lobworms that appeared on the field behind my swim, dozens of them but they quickly disappeared once the torchlight got anywhere near them.

As I had arrived on the bank I could see that Alan had already got there and was in the process of setting up, he took the water temperature as I passed and informed me it was at 5.9C.  This is not ideal, but at least it would be rising and yet again the river was carrying extra water that would help combat the lower temps.  I would be using the same tackle as used on the Warwickshire Avon the previous week, although I did need a heavier feeder to hold out in the stream.  As is my usual practice I fished one rod across to the far bank and the second rod more towards the near bank hoping to intercept and fish moving upstream.  I had pellet on one of the rods and Dynamite Crave on the other though it was the pellet bait that was taken at about 6.45pm.  Again the fight was not up to the usual standard although the fish did make a couple of powerful runs when I first tried to net it.  When it finally went over the net I brought it up the bank and Alan moved down to help with weighing and photos, so much easier and quicker than when on your own.  The fish weighed a very pleasing 12lb-5oz and the photos that Alan took proved to be very good and up to the normal standard of his shots.

                                                     First of the brace at 12lb-5oz.

There seemed to be lots of leaf matter coming downstream and I finally gave up trying to hold the far bank moving the bait into midstream and changing that rod over to pellet as well.  Alan had left just after helping me so when the next fish showed around 8pm I was on my own.  This fish gave a very good account of its size and it took me a little while to get it into the net.  Once weighed I could see why, it was only 1oz below my river best coming in at 13lb-4oz and also a good brace of barbel from any river.

                                                    Second of the brace at 13lb-4oz.

With the conditions still good I went back to the swim on the Warwickshire Avon that I caught from last week, I thought it should be good for more than just one fish.  The day was going colder and the wind had got up giving a significant chill factor but even so I hopes were raised when I took a fish of about 4lb within the first five minutes of casting in.  I’ve been at this fishing game for long enough to know that all too many times you catch that quick fish only to continue for hours afterwards without a twitch to show for the effort, fortunately this was not to be the case.  Again a smaller chub put in an appearance somehow getting past the long hair I intentionally leave to avoid such fish, then the barbel showed and this time it was fit and so fat I weighed it at 7lb-13oz.  I had no more indications of fish, but with two barbel caught on the day yet again I left the river well happy with the results on day.  I had now done three days after barbel in February and caught on each, but the following day it came back to normal and I had a total blank with just two weeks to go it will not be the last but we live in hope.

                                                       The last fish of February at 7lb-13oz.

A review of February - Part 1.

Arriving back from Suriname during the third week of January was a definite wake up call, I say ‘wake up’ but in fact it put my fishing on a definite sleep mode waiting for the temperatures to rise up again to something like normal.  Many years ago I would go fishing irrelevant of weather, but now I’ve gone soft and like it to at least be above freezing when I’m on the bank in daytime.

                                                From a time when I did go in freezing conditions.

After about three weeks of this layoff I decided I must go fishing and so I arranged with a friend to spend three days on the Hampshire Avon after the monster chub that live there.  It was still quite cold especially in the northerly winds, but enough is enough and I wrapped up well and arrived at Ringwood about midday on the 10thFeb.  I already had a thought as to where I would start providing the swim was free and as I drove down the nearby track I looked across the field to see it was indeed available, first part of the plan in place.  For me, winter fishing for chub is fine tackle, small hooks and either maggot or casters.  Cheese, meat and pellets and other baits will obviously work as well, but I love the feel of a very large chub on tackle that he could break with a flick of his tail, now that is exciting.  My tackle this time is a Drennan Medium Feeder rod and the usual Mitchell 300 reel loaded with 6lb main line.  The large maggot feeder is used with Drennan ready tied size 18 or 20 Superspade hooks to take either a single or double maggot.

                                              A smaller feeder than used but still a chub setup.

My swim is typical of the Avon in winter in that it is racing through on a very fast glide but my saving grace is that of slower water alongside the rushes on the far bank, with 30gram of extra lead on the 50gram feeder and the rod held high to keep most of the line out of the faster water I can just hold.  In these conditions the extra weight does not deter the chub too much, finely balanced against the flow the slightest pull on the bait will dislodge it and the tip is seen to quiver as the fish moves downstream with it.   With small hooks there is no need to strike, just pick up and play the fish, no problem in that, except the fish is on the other side of the raging river and I have got to bring it across on the tiny hook.

                                                  Opening swim on the Avon

I bait dropped both hemp and maggot at regular intervals and around 5pm I finally got my reward as the tip quivered and I began the heart stopping fight against a fish that initially was determined to run into the rushes by his side.  Fortunately I could pull him away or at least hold him in place, if I had been on that bank I would undoubtedly lost him since there would be little chance of stopping him moving the few feet to his side.   Holding him making the rushes was the first part of the battle and now as he moved away from them he was in the extra flow to help his already powerful runs.  This is where the Mitchell comes into its own for me.  I have used them for near 50 years and in this situation they become part of my arm, I don’t need to think when playing a fish on fine tackle and I rely on a backwinding method as I feel necessary.  With most reels if you set the clutch to cope with the sudden lunges on 2.5lb line you cannot reel against a powerful run, hence the backwinding method.  It has been over a year since I had seen a very large chub and as this swam past under the bank in crystal clear water I thought I had a 7lb specimen on the hook, when I finally landed him the scales showed my error in that it weighed 6lb-6oz, still very pleasing for the first day.

                                                              6lb-6oz Avon Chub

The following day produced just one bite again and this time it weighed in at exactly 6lb so good average but a definite lack of bites.  With a total blank on the last day it confirmed the local opinion that the fishing was hard at the moment, still with two 6lb plus fish not too disappointing!

                                                 The second 6lb of the trip.

My first river trip for barbel was in fact on the 17^th February and I went to the local Warwickshire Avon with the thought that just possibly a stray barbel might feed.  It had been very cold for some considerable weeks and now there was a definite increase in temperatures going 6C or even 7C during the day so worth a chance trip.  An extra bonus was the heavy rain a couple of days earlier and the river had rising noticeably, I’m a firm believer the floodwater can beat the cold when looking at whether barbel will feed or not so here goes.

I had gone onto a section of river that I had not previously fish and my first choice of swim looked perfect, a large obstruction mid river gave a big slack below it and fast flow down either side, surely a barbel must live here.  Several casts and one 2lb chub later I had found the problem, with the river well up it was not so noticeable but I’m sure a visit in the summer will show either heavy rush beds or cabbage beds all along the nearside bank and out into the slack area.  Each cast had been snagged on roots and a couple of times I thought I would need to pull for a break before it finally came clear at the last moment, time for a move.

The next swim was a narrow neck where the river came off a good size pool, strong flow along the far bank and a far steadier pace from the nearside bank out to just over half way across.  There was not a crease as such but the difference in the flow rate was noticeable and I felt hopeful that a fish would lie in the water just off that fast pace to conserve energy, worth a try anyway!

Tackle was as usual 1.75lb test Drennan Barbel Specialist with Shimano 5000RE reels loaded with 12lb line, a large swimfeeder to take my pellet mix and hemp goes down to a 12inch length of 15lb Pro Gold mono to act as a stiff rig and this is tipped with 6inch of 15lb brain with a size 8 Drennan Continental Carp hook tied with a knotless knot leaving a 0.5inch hair rig in place.  Two or three 10mm Elips pellets are then superglued onto the hair and all is ready.

                                                  My first barbel of 2015.

Fortune favoured my efforts and it was not too long before I was looking at my first barbel of 2015, a fish of about 7lb that did not fight all that well in the cold water, perhaps he had only just woke up from his enforce nap.  My next trip on a river the following week proved far more productive, but I will write that up tomorrow.

Adventure to Suriname 2015

As you will have seen from the yearly review I do travel abroad a fair amount as well as fishing in the UK so it will come as no surprise that this blog is on foreign fishing.   My fishing partner on the majority of the trips abroad over the last 30 years has been Joe Taylor who runs J&K Tackle in Bicester and yet again I will be travelling and fishing with him in Suriname.

                                                    A hummingbird photo after trying for many trips.

The intention is to fish for laulau, a catfish that may grow as large as 300lb but 200lb is a very respectable target and even to catch one at all can be a challenge.  Fortunately Joe has travelled and fished in many South American countries on different river and now had found a river that gives an above average chance of catching, almost guaranteed in fact.  With that thought in mind we got onto the EasyJet flight to Amsterdam in the early hours of the 2^nd January to catch the onward flight with Suriname Airways to Paramaribo in Suriname.  Joe’s experience gained over dozens of such trips is worth its weight in gold soothing out any problems with ease.   By the time we get on the platform that will be home all provisions, both those supplied and what we purchased as extras are on board and we set off up-river.

                                                     Loading the platform at low tide

                                                               Home from home on the river.

                                                         Sorting gear out as we move off.

The platform is a brilliant idea being built on the top of a large number of oil barrels and it proves to be total stable in any flow or weather conditions.  The river is tidal and the only way this base can be moved is to travel with the tide and hence timing is everything.  The usual fishing boat we would have used previously is now used to push the platform and the GPS shows a very pleasing speed of between 5 and 6 mph.  We travelled for about 5hrs to the first major tributary junction, a known good fish hold area and we anchored up.  This in itself was quite a surprise in that on a fast, powerful flow we could anchor in the middle of the river all be it with probably the best part of 100 yards of rope between the anchor and the platform.  Most of the spots we fished over were at least 15 metre and many went down to 20 metre plus.  The laulau seem to prefer these depths and an added extra was that the piranha do not general go that deep.

                                                      The push is on and we move upstream.

Our guide for the trip was Winnel and we also had the services of Papa George who would be responsible for obtaining out bait, very important in that no bait – no fishing!  With a generator and freezer on board we had purchased twenty bait fish from a fish market on the way to the river.  These gave us a start and also allowed time for Papa to get his nets working; although this low down the river we knew it could be difficult to catch baitfish.

Tackle for these fish needs to be pretty powerful and 50lb Class boat rods are combined with multipliers loaded with 150lb to 200lb braid main line.  Hook lengths are 100K Kraken braid with a single 10:0 hook at the top, and a size 2:0 or 3:0 4x extra strong treble at the bottom.  The clutch is set such that you cannot pull the line off with your bare hand, the laulau take off as if you had not set it and on my first take I got quite a blister on my thumb when I placed it on the reel when I struck, the line burns as it rips off!

                                                    My first fish of the trip - 150lb estimate Laulau.

We actually put the first baits out at 5.30pm and Joe had four dropped runs before my first confident take at 10.30pm whilst it was pouring with rain, following a great fight this produced a fish estimated at 150lb.  This river system gives very little or no chance to take fish to the bank and with me at 70yr old, Joe at 67 and Papa at 64yr old it only left the 36yr old Winnel who was anywhere near fit enough to lift these weights in difficult settings.  The result of this was that most fish were estimated in weight, although those that were weighed showed the estimates to be quite accurate.  The same problem also limited the photo chances although we got enough to satisfy our vanity.

Although not exactly even in time in that the upstream tide is about an hour less than the downstream run, the tide turned every 6hrs and each turn requires the anchor rope to be retrieved and then slowly let out again once the platform had swung round on the flow.  Left to itself this could take ninety minutes or so going through a slack period, but often Winnel would use the boat to pull and push the platform into place reducing the time to ten minutes.  We stayed in this junction area for 48hrs with a move of 500yds between the days fishing, the results were spectacular.  I took further fish of 130lb, 140lb, 150lb, 150lb and a final 60lb fish.  Joe took his share with fish of 60lb, 90lb, 120lb, 120, 135lb and 150lb.  With the fighting power of these fish it goes without saying that this was spectacular sport and exactly what we hoped for.

                                                                       Magic times.

We are fishing during a period known locally as the little rain season, that only means that it does not rain all day, every day.  From bright sunshine to very heavy rainfall could be just a matter of 5 minutes and it occurred on a regular basis, it must always be remembered we are fishing in a rain forest and it lives up to the description.

                                                     Storm can be seen approaching.

Over the following days we both caught fish on a regular basis and eventually we reached a tributary that to the best of Joe’s knowledge had not been fished with rod and line and it was one of his targets for the trip to catch a 100lb plus laulau from this river to add to a growing list where he had already achieved that aim.  He had already caught his other target fish on the junction, that being a golden laulau of 58lb.  With probably hundreds of laulau to the groups that had accompanied Joe over the years to South American rivers, this was only the second gold that had been caught so obviously a major catch for him.

                                              Joe with his first golden cat, a different species to the laulau.

Although we were going into a tributary it was still a major river the size of the Thames well below Reading and we could only hope the fish we were after would be present.  We travelled three hours along the new river and came upon a large bend with depths going to 17M, good enough for a start and we anchored up.  Nothing happened through the daylight hours but the darkness gave me two chances, the first of these was lost to a tree snag along the side.  I had tried my best to beat the fish but this was probably the most powerful fish I have ever hooked and at no time was I in control.  Probably if I had hooked him on the main river I might have landed him since that river was so much larger but that’s fishing and I pulled for a break from the snag that gave him sanctuary.  Two hours later and I was again fighting a very powerful fish but this time I could stop him running once the boat was over his position nearly 60ft below the boat, Winnel will keep the fish away from the banks providing you can stop him running.   This is what the fishing is all about, the rod bent to 90 degree and my hand holding both the spool and the line coming off the front of the spool in an attempt to stop him taking line.  Providing I can keep above him there is less chance of him snagging and very slowly he came up through the water levels.  Winnel said he was big so we carefully took him back to the platform and with some difficulty got him weighed at 190lb.  The photo is not brilliant, but it does show the size of the fish and it will be a welcome record of my new personal best.

                                                                   Tributary River.

Continuing upstream we took a few small laulau and eventually got to the point that Joe had identified as to where I would leave him. I would be flying home on the 21^st Jan but three other anglers were travelling out to join Joe and they would reverse the route we had taken and eventually fly out on the 7^th Feb.   Joe was still waiting for his 100lb target fish and it seemed fate was not on his side as I landed fish of 178lb**, 165lb, and 120lb finally my last fish at 155lb.  In this area there was a spot where we could stand in the water on a hard bottom and hence we could weigh the fish so all of these were true weights.  Again it gave the chance to confirm estimates and it proved they were realistic and close enough for in the wild.

                                                            200lb+  laulau pb.

                                                   165lb laulau.

                                               **  Now thought to have been miss weighed - 190lb +.

It was looking bad for Joe but with his usual ease he finally got one of 100lb plus, in actual fact it was over double that and the biggest so far at 208lb his third different river with a laulau over the magic 200lb mark.

                                                    Ready to weigh Joe's big fish.

                                                               208lb laulau.

That was me finished, 23 fish with 14 over the 100lb mark for a total weight of 2460lb, well beyond my wildest hopes for the trip and I look forward to next January and a return yet again.

For those that might be interested in this adventure here are a few of the details.  The basic cost for the trip is 1400 Euro for the first week and 100 euro per day above that.  The flights and hotel will add about a further 1000 euro.  Basic food is supplied but we always top up at the supermarket with tin meats and mixed veg, bacon and sausage, and the like, perhaps less than 100 euro per pair of anglers per week extra.  The tackle used for Spanish cats would suffice and the hooks and braid are available here.  Suriname is at the top end of South America and temperatures can easily be checked out on the web.  Further details can be obtained from Joe when he gets back, just ring the shop.  Joe is back out there in June and at this time he is looking for a second angler to join him, this spot might have been filled by the time he gets back.