Variety is the spice of life.

As with most weeks it has been a mixed bag, both in target species and results.  On the Saturday following the Barbel Challenge I went back after the eels, a quick and easy overnight session that resulted in a total blank, maybe next time.  I had arranged to travel down to the Kennet region to stay with John Found for a three day trip so early Tuesday I arrived on the Kennet and we met up to give the barbel a hammering.  Not to be and even though we were prepared with casters and hemp just one 7lb fish fell to John, very disappointing and as with so many of these occasions without explanation.

The following day we were due to go down to Johnson’s Lake on the Marsh Farm complex, crucians are the target here and at this time of year a 3lb plus fish is the target weight.  We float fished from about 4pm through to 11:30pm but struggled just two crucians falling to John’s paste one smaller in size but the other at least 2lb plus.  One of the problems was the large number of one inch fry that stopped the normal fine tactics we know work.  We caught roach, rudd and tench in reasonable numbers but the crucian bites were probably amongst the dips and waggles that were occurring all the time, it needed a suicidal fish to show its interest.  With two days gone and virtually nothing to show for it we approached Thursday wondering what it would bring.

 

                                                                    These were the target

Choosing two different swims to those used on the Tuesday, we began the bait and wait tactics that were the order of the day.  I’ll run through mine but John would be duplicating the same with very little difference.  My swim was typical of the Kennet in that much of the river sections are left almost undisturbed and there are lots of features to fish to.  This one had a large bush going out into the river just downstream and on my bank, the opposite side had smaller bushes running along the bank these giving about two or three feet of cover over the river perfect for the fish to feel safe in.  There was a slight gap in the line that allowed me to bait drop across against the bank and lay a trap for fish moving up and down through the swim.   A pint of caster mixed with hemp went out and the swim was left to mature for an hour or two.

Unlike John I do use two rods and I had decided to fish a pellet alongside the near bank bush so having chucked half a dozen pellets in I cast out and could wait for fish to turn up.  Sometimes there is a fish already in the swim and this was such a time, after just a few minutes the rod top went round and I land a hard fighting 5lb barbel, nice start.   After perhaps an hour I baited up again with a similar amount as the first time, the hemp is the attractor and the casters will hopefully keep the fish in the area once they arrive.  If you cast out too early there is every chance you will catch but the fish you catch was one of the first to find the bait and now you need another to take the chance.  By leaving the area time to mature that first fish comes into the swim and then leaves, later he returns with a mate and leaves again.  Now other fish are picking up the signal that there is food about and apparently with danger so they tag along as well, on clear rivers I’ve seen this happen and when you cannot see in then your need the hope that it is happening just the same, sometimes it is not, but when it works you can bag up.  Today was to be such a day and when I topped up the swim again about thirty minutes later I cast out the baited rig.

 

                                                              The caster rig

 

This is a running leger and 15lb braid going to a size 10 Pallatrax hook, one artificial caster is threaded onto the hair and then three or more live casters are glued to that, nice and simple, but deadly.

                                                 Superglue shows but the fish don't mind

 

I did not wait too long before the first barbel made an appearance, often they take within moments of that first cast but maybe there are not quite as many fish here as on the Trent or some other rivers.  These fish are fit and healthy and the fight does remind me why I love to fish for barbel.  This one went 8lb-7oz and it was followed through the day by others of 5lb, 6lb and of 8lb-12oz and the cherry on the cake a 10lb-2oz fish that would not keep still for its photo.  All the time I would just give the occasional top up and break in order to give the fish chance to return but once they know the feed is there they are reluctant to give up completely, I’ve even seen barbel continue feeding while I’m playing one already hooked from next to them.

 

                                                      Pristine 8lb-7oz Kennet barbel

 

Meanwhile John had been keeping up with my catch rate; in fact his best fish until near the end was the same as my first one at 8lb-7oz.  Then he beat my running total with a 10lb-8oz fish, his tenth of the session with a bonus? bream.  The walk back to the car at dusk was certainly more pleasing this evening than those previous two, but then if you don’t fail how would you know you have succeeded?

 

                                            Lively 10lb-2oz hence too much fingers showing.

 

Back home and with all the rain being forecast on Friday night/Saturday I thought the river might respond so on the Saturday afternoon I made my way up onto the River Derwent with the intention to fish into dark.  Lots of people did have significant downpours but I didn’t and the river was still low and steady.  Today I would use boilies and had chosen to fish Source under my own bank and Crave on the far bank alongside a line of overhanging trees.  It was a nice night, mild and fairly still only being disturbed by the passing trains that run between Derby and Nottingham.  Trouble was I was also only disturbed by a single chub of 4lb-14oz and a snotty bream about 6lb that I did not weigh.  Always better than a blank since for just those few moments when the bite initially occurred it might have been a barbel and the heart rate jumps up in eager anticipation only to fall back again with the lack of powerful resistance that is the signature of a big barbel.

                                                            Bait to use for the Derwent

 

                                                           Near 5lb Derwent chub.

 

Until next time I wish you tight lines and lots of sport hopefully I’ll have the same.

Another year to remember - month by month look at the year.

Well that is another year coming to an end, but what a year.  This blog has come of age with the followers now at 100 and the total pageviews at over 66,000, it makes it all worth while to keep up the effort of the diary.

I am considering publishing a book which would be a record of this blog from its inception and your thoughts on the idea would be appreciated.  Initial figures suggest perhaps £10 for B&W and £25 for colour.

Recent weeks have proven very hard to get any consistant sport and most trips have in fact been a total blank, fortunately the year has a whole has been quite satisfactory so lets have a look at the highlights.


The 2012 year has been an exciting year with both highs and lows that I have shared with you through this blog.   Although I’ve only caught one new personal best of a species, I have increased the number of rivers where a double figure barbel has been caught as well as improving other river bests.  Improving a personal best is only one measure of success, and I was very pleased with getting my target fish in chub, and tench along with the barbel already mentioned.  The crowning feature of the year was almost the last when my crucian claim was accepted as an equal British record at 4lb-9oz.  No BRFC certificate yet, but I am advised that it will arrive early in January and once framed it will find a place on the wall.  So let us look at some of the highlights of my year, month by month.

January.

The month had started much as the previous year had ended floods with very cold snaps to interrupt consistent sport.  I had been fishing the River Anker for a couple of seasons, not often, but enough to have hoped for better results in that I had not caught a single barbel up to date.  This visit towards the end of the month put that right in the form of another different river double and a river record at the time of capture going 15lb-4oz.

                                                                   15lb-4oz Anker pb.

 February.

We sometimes have mild months at this time of year, but this was not one of them.  I struggled to catch fish at all, a few perch and an odd smaller chub was the reward for a fair bit of effort.  Then I decided to go south to the Hampshire Avon for a few days and I got my reward in the form of a 7lb 2oz monster chub along with other fish made smaller by comparison.

                                                        Magnificent Avon Chub

Although not a monster by today’s standards I was pleased to land a 20lb-12oz Common Carp from a canal on a match rod using gear suited to the silver bream I was trying to catch – the rod broke but I did land the fish.

                                                                Canal specimen

March.

Not a particularly successful month by my own standards, a chub of 6lb-1oz caught along with a 2lb-7oz perch off the Avon and a 3lb-7oz perch caught from a local commercial being the better fish landed.

                                                               Best of the season at 3lb-7oz 

April.

Always a chancy month and this one saw the start of the tench fishing produce fish to 6lb-3oz for me, and a 46lb-9oz catfish caught by Curtis from Orchid Lakes.

                                                          With a little help to hold it.

May.

This month saw me get a brace of catfish at 41lb and 34lb-4oz, but the highlight by a long way was a 10lb-5oz tench from a new water, this being the third different venue where I’ve taken a double figure specimen.

                                                                      A real gem. 

June.

A good month for me with a 12lb-4oz barbel off the Dove and a brace of tench off a local water at 9lb and 9lb-4oz amongst a 15 fish catch, the first time the venue had done such a brace.  This was topped off by a brace of roach from Lochnaw at 2lb-13oz each.

                                                                  12lb-4oz Dove double.

                                                        Best of the tench brace  9lb-4oz.

                                                          First of the brace of 2lb-13oz roach. 

 July.

Lots of barbel from different rivers with yet another different river double, this being the River Soar and an 11lb-1oz specimen.  Although I had caught barbel from both the Ribble and Goyt they fell short of that double figure target ensuring I still had plenty to go at.

                                                                    11lb-1oz Soar double

August.
This month started with a bang when a trip north to do a barbel talk gave me the chance to fish the River Swale and I was rewarded with yet another different river double at 12lb-2oz, bringing the total rivers to 23. 

                                                                       Swale monster. 

September.

A return trip to Lochnaw saw me improve the previous brace from the last trip by one ounce with a pair of roach at 2lb-14oz.  Lots of barbel for me though nothing spectacular, but Curtis upped his personal best to 10lb-15oz from the River Severn, his first ever double.

                                                                       He looks pleased.

                                               The second of the 2lb-14oz brace.

October.
Again lots of barbel off different rivers topped off by three 11lb fish, two off the Kennet and one from the Severn all within a four day spell.  Very pleased with the barbel but a new English pb put extra dimples in the cheeks when I landed a very hard fighting sturgeon of 75lb-5oz.

                                                                   It was this long!

November.

My third trip to the north for roach finally paid off with a Lochnaw 3lb specimen taken along with a 2lb-14oz backup fish.  I did not know it at the time but that was to be the last of the better fishing for this year as the weather went haywire and floods and frost made fishing difficult. 

                                                                      3lb At last.

December.

As mentioned at the start of this piece my 4lb-9oz crucian caught in 2004 has been accepted as an equal British record.  This came about as a result of a correction of an anomaly where the current 4lb-9dram fish could not have been weighed on the scales being used.  That 9 dram only came about through the Weights & Measures Dept. checking scales in the metric system and needed a conversion back to imperial.  Whatever the reason I’m delighted to have my name added to a rather exclusive club having twice previously come fourth in the bream list, once from Queenford with a 15lb-14oz fish and then again with my 17lb-15oz Broadwater specimen.  Happy days, even though they fell short of a record.

                                                         A British record at 4lb-9oz.

 

Looking at the blog for last December I can see that this was a repeat in that there were very few fish with a lot of hard effort, but yet again the year as a whole has been kind, hopefully your results have met with your hopes as well.

Perch, pike, trout and big roach - a good week.

Well as you will know it’s been a wet and windy week, I tried pike, perch and roach fishing with varied success, but at least it has been fairly mild for November.  Going by the different weather forecast pundits we are going to have an ice age winter or a repeat of Noah’s Ark, this being the case I’ll expect a fine, mild and dry winter since they never seem to get it right even for the next day.

On Tuesday I went pike fish and although I never set the angler press lines buzzing I did get three jacks on various deadbaits, mackerel and sardine; probably that’s because that is what I had on the hooks.  I think we often put too much emphasis on the bait, where-as the fish just find food and take it whatever it is.

On Thursday I travelled south into the Kennet Valley with plans to fish with John Found for a couple of days and then one day on my own since John had plans to attend a book launch for Pete Springate’s new tome.

                                                Perch fishing on the canal section.

With no need for an early start I met John at the car park on the Kennet and Avon Canal at 11:00am ready for the day’s sport after the big perch known to swim in the area.  For those not familiar with this region but thinking they might like to try it out, then the Reading and District book give dozens of miles of both river and canal fishing along with numerous lakes.  The name says it all in that the river and canal flow side by side over the distance between Newbury and Reading.  Often they have separate waterways, but just as often they join and run as one until the next weir and they go their separate ways again.

John had identified a couple of swims where perch were caught and I dropped into one of these for the afternoon.  Although this section of canal can often have quite a flow on it, there seemed little movement today as there were no boats on the move.  The swim itself was a section where the far bank had overhanging brambles which gave shelter to the fish keeping the boats away from the bank.  Fishing with a pole would be the ideal since that would allow you to go into quite tight spots and place the bait right against the bank but casting had its obvious problem of the slightest misjudgement going into the brambles and possible breakage.

                                                                   The perch's home

I chose a slight hollow where the brambles formed an arc and at least I had a few feet to play with although I still hit the brambles on one occasion and was lucky to get the tackle back intact.  The tackle was an open-ended feeder, fished paternoster style with the size 8 hook on 4lb fluorocarbon line attached so the hook hung just above the feeder when I was ready to cast it out.  With the rod held vertically in front of me and a pendulum style swing away from my body directly at the chosen spot for the tackle to land was the way to hit the swim with regular consistency.  Casting with the rod held to either side and then a swing towards the swim will end up in disaster, a split second error in releasing the line from the spool sends the bait to either side of the intended spot and the waiting brambles just say ‘thank you very much’ and on most occasions they keep your free gift to them.

My hookbait was a lobworm and within the feeder was a mix of casters, chopped up dendrobaenas, and prawns all held in a light method mix.  A dozen casts at the beginning of the session soon had a bit of feed laid down to attract the perch if they were in the area.  I waited about an hour for the first bite on my quivertip and hooked a nice fish only to have it come off the hook about half way back to my side of the canal.  Disappointing but at least there were fish feeding.  Over the next few hours I took two others of 2lb-4oz and 2lb-7oz as well as missing a couple of bites, but that will often happen with lobworms as bait.  An interesting start to my break but what would tomorrow bring?

                                                             A nice Kennet & Avon canal perch.

For the Friday it was arranged that we would visit Dave Steuart’s section of the River Test again in the hope of a big river roach.  With all the current rain in the area we knew the chances would not be good, but Dave had suggested that legering might produce the goods with the odd swim still available for float fishing in the slack water.   As expected it was hard going, I got a grayling from  a comparative slack water on the far side of the rive while John managed a roach of about  1lb from the bottom weir pool.  A few brown trout fell to both of us but they do tend to be a bit stupid so no surprise there.  We had left the best chance to last and although I got a couple of small roach, it was John who took first prize with a 2lb-4oz specimen roach that makes these trips so worthwhile.  A short walk away was slack water that allowed the fish to rest and photos to be taken before returning them to fight another day.

 

                                               The River Test runs through the garden.

                         John with the 1st prize of 2lb-4oz.

           One of the big browns we caught.

The Saturday proved to be a total washout, rain from the start to the finish, and my thought of a return trip to tempt a bigger perch from the section of canal failed miserably with total blank.  That’s what fishing is about in my eyes, the chance of a monster fish, but it needs work and effort to succeed and those good days have to be treasured to make up for the blanks.

Kennet doubles and Test roach.

Last week was quite busy in that following the fishing on the River Severn on Sunday and Tuesday that had produced double figure barbel on both days, I had a trip south planned from Wednesday through to Sunday evening.  The basis for the trip was that I would help John Found with a Barbel Society fish in week-end on the Kennet, and at the same time have a trip on the River Test on the Thursday.  With an early start needed for that Test day I decided I would go down on the afternoon of the Wednesday hence the long session.  I normally only fish maybe four days a week but this would be a comparative marathon that would hopefully produce some interesting fish.

Mid-morning on the Wednesday I set out on the 100 mile journey down to the River Kennet and upon arrival I found the river to be in perfect condition for my barbel attack.  I had made a stop at Lanes tackle shop in Coventry and I picked up bait that I hoped would see my through four days on the Kennet and another day on the test.   Ten pints of casters and a gallon of red maggots – expensive but you only live once and I was sure that this would give me a better chance of success than either boilies or pellets as the main bait to be used.  As always when barbel are the target I had also boiled up a gallon of hemp and this would form the main attraction with the casters keeping the fish occupied once they arrived in the swim.  The maggots were mostly for the Test, where trotting through with maggot is always the approach to be used with great effect.

Well I start at the beginning and relate the Wednesday action; yes there was some which is not always guaranteed on this venue.  Arriving early afternoon I made my way to the river leaving behind my normal boilies and pellets having invested too much cash in the caster to ignore them.  I dropped my tackle off as soon as I reached the river, it seems to get heavier by the day but that is probably just age catching up.  Then I walked most of the length looking at swims and how the venue had changed since I was last here the previous season.  The floods had left their mark in washed out banks and fallen trees lying in the river, it looked quite inviting and certainly good for barbel.  The river appeared to be at what I would call normal winter lever, a little extra water and colour, but not excessive.  I chose a swim with a nice flow under my feet and with the tips passed on by John I knew there would be six foot or more of depth in that position, spot on for bait dropping accurately.  I know I have mentioned this many times but it does stand repeating, accurate bait dropping catches more fish, if you cannot do it then practice until you can since it will pay rewards later.  I mixed two pints of casters into the hemp at about 50/50 and then put about twelve droppers of the mix into the swim perhaps 4ft from the near bank, now I could set the tackle up at my leisure since I was already into the fishing mode and the bait could work its magic.

The day was quite pleasant and it was very nice to be out on the bank with that chance of a big barbel just waiting to be caught.  I am sure you know that feeling and once ready I bait dropped another five droppers before casting a bait into the swim.  Tackle was as I normally use, this being the Drennan 1.75lb test barbel rods with 12lb main line and the usual combo hooklink going to a size 12 Pallatrax hook.  The hair carried three natural casters super glued in torpedo fashion onto the hair, if small fish proved too much hassle I could change to artificial but in the event it was not required.  That was it, and now I cast out ready to wait for the three foot twitch that is so exciting to see, any size fish could be responsible.

I had hoped for a quick response but it was not to be and as I approached the 7.15pm kicking off time I was ready for a blank.  Extra mix had been put into the swim at regular intervals, perhaps in the order of every 45mins or perhaps the hour, but so far nothing had even twitched the tip an inch let alone three foot.  Then at 6.50pm the rod slammed round and I was into a powerful fish that gave the impression of being far larger than it eventually proved to be.  When the scales went to a very pleasing 11lb-2oz I was well happy with the first double off the river this season and I still had three more days to go on the venue.

                                                     11lb-2oz.  It was still light but flash makes it dark.

 

Day two had an early start and John and I made our way down to the River Test via a very nice full English breakfast.  Once there we passed an hour talking with our host the now famous author and big fish angler Dave Steuart who has the most wonderful front garden you can imagine.  Again the river looked in fine trim though perhaps a little more of the weed had survived than I would have liked.  This of course limited some of the usual swims making trotting extremely difficult, but there were still plenty of other sections that would respond to the tactic.  The day was fine, warm and dry giving both John and I the chance to catch lots of fish, grayling to 1lb-8oz and roach to 1lb-4oz, not the 2lb of either species that are present in the stretch but I did see the big roach.  There are a number of big brown trout in the section since Dave has always insisted on the browns being returned quickly to the water.   To help these fish and for his own pleasure he has made a couple of sections of the bank out of bounds for fishing, it almost goes without saying that this was where I could see half a dozen roach that were the best part of big two’s or possibly even three’s.  With those browns present it was a fair certainty that we would lose the occasion monster on the tackle we employed for the roach, but never the less we did land fish to over 6lb having had a terrific scrap off them.

                                                         Lots of these.

                                                       Some of these.

            Along with a few of these.

                                                   Dave feeds the trout in one of the banned sections.

 

Day three and I was back on the Kennet again this time on my own since John had other business to attend to.  No problem and there were several other anglers that came on during the day some just for the late afternoon having finished work a little early.  This time I chose a swim a little bit further down the river, a nice smooth glide going past a snaggy section on the opposite bank.  I decided to fish two rods, a maggot feeder fished across to the snags and the caster/hemp down along the nearside bank.  It seemed a long time from my early start until the 5:30pm time when at last I got the first bite of the day to the maggots, again one hell of a fight and yet again the scales showed 11lb-2oz.  A nearby couple of anglers came along for the weighing and to help with photos though I was fairly thoughtful it was the same fish as I had caught on Wednesday.  In actual fact a later look at the photos showed they were definitely different fish, not that important but still a nice touch.

                                             The second double at 11lb-2oz. 

There was the Barbel Society fish in over the next two days but as I left the fishery on Friday evening the rain was just coming in and overnight it chucked it down.  Floodwater is not a problem for barbel but this was absolutely full of rubbish and many swim were impossible to fish.  Five minutes was a long time to keep your tackle in the water before it was swept away with crap on the line and the result was disastrous, two small barbel did get caught but that was the total for the two days.  I retired on Sunday evening happy with the two doubles, but sorry for the missed chances that rain gave me and all the fellow anglers that did not catch.  We did console ourselves with the thought that this is the nature of fishing and we do it because we enjoy it – but!

                                                     At least it was a pretty blank day for me. 

Lake Roach and River barbel - a great mix of fishing styles

Going towards the south of the country is always exciting, although there are good fishing areas around the midlands and north of the country, the southern lads have it made for specimen fishing.  I have three days planned in the company of John Found, two on the river Kennet, and one going to the roach pit in the search for a 2lb plus specimen.   For November the weather could not have been better and pulling into the car park on the Kennet venue just after dawn the temperature was around 11C, the other side of the coin was that the river was still extremely low as the odd bit off rain had had no effect at all.

                                                    River Kennet - big barbel live here.

Today both John and I were to try a maggot approach and I had a good supply of both maggot and hemp to meet any eventuality, the amount being used depends a great deal on the response of the fish.  Once the swim had been decided I bait dropped ten droppers of maggot and six of hemp; then I went for a walk.  Generally when using maggot or caster as the main line of attack it is not to catch just one fish, rather the approach is to encourage the fish to get pre-occupied, and thereby allowing you to take a number of fish from the swim without disturbing the others present.

                                                         Just add water and fish for a perfect mix

The plan was perfect, but at the end of the day we retired from the river with just a small 4lb barbel falling to John’s attempt, I blanked!  It is not the first time I’ve seen the effort and time spent on the method fail, but then it will not be the last.  There seemed to be no reason for the lack of response as definitely there were fish in both swims, but that is what makes fishing unpredictable.

It was now Wednesday and the forecast was for an even warmer day and possibly a sight of the sun making an appearance.  The lake we were to fish has done roach to near, or even over 3lb, but my best is one of 2lb-4oz caught in the Spring, but not sure what to expect at this time of the year.  I suppose the roach will be at their normal good condition weights without spawn, so take 4oz-6oz off the spring weights where spawn is a factor and it would be a fair guess.

                                                    Equal best of the day at 1lb-13oz

Although I would prefer to float fish for these silver gems we had found that the short hook link on a helicopter style rig was deadly and hence that was the method we would use.   I was first away with a fish of 1lb-10oz; a pleasing start and I commented to John that I would be quite happy if that stayed the best for the day.  Following a few smaller bits another big fish came and at 1lb-13oz it was getting close to that 2lb target we both had in mind.  Now I noticed John’s rod bent over in a nice battle curve, and following an exciting scrap he netted a fish that was to prove to be exactly 2lb on the digital scales.

                                                 Heart stopping moments when a big fish is seen.

  There are few fish that can match the look of a large pristine roach and we both mentioned it would be nice to meet up with that fish in the Spring.  I ended the day with four weighed roach, their weights being 1lb-8oz, 1lb-10oz and two at 1lb-13oz, but John took the honours with that 2lb specimen.

                                                        The best of the day at 2lb exactly.

Throughout the day a kingfisher played hide and seek just along the bank from my fishing position using a small willow as his cover.  I tried to get into a better position for the photo, but the slightest move away from of the small willow between us had him flying to a safer position. 

                                                                      Hide and seek.

Thursday we were back on the Kennet not to be beaten.  Weather was still tremendous for early November but would the barbel play today, time would tell.  We were using casters this time and John soon had a fish of 7lb or so in the net to give us hope that they were feeding.  Quite quickly after that he added another barbel of 9lb-15oz-8drm, the digitals flashed between the two numbers to indicate the 8drm figure but they just would not settle on the 10lb mark.

                                                John with the first of his big 9's

  Then with another fish of 6lb or so, he was beginning to leave me behind but then I got a barbel also in the 6lb range so at least I would not blank.  All the time I was gently introducing a mix of hemp and caster hoping the barbel would find it irresistible.  I went through a spell of perhaps 30 minutes where the rod top would slowly pull round then spring back again, a sure sign of barbel in the swim; it was only a matter of time.  Then at last I got the bite and following a very good scrap I landed what was clearly a big fish.  This time the scales hovered between 10lb and 10lb-1oz so I clearly had my hoped for Kennet double.  John went on to get yet another fish just short of the 10lb mark, it could have been a twin of the first barbel just short of that 10lb mark, but a careful check showed no hook marks so clearly a different fish to either of the other two.

                                                  A 10lb Kennet beauty.

I fished into dark and started packing up at 6:30pm just to avoid the traffic on the 100-mile trip home.  No indications in that extra time but I did get a clear run home following three different, but exciting days.  With slight variations I will be repeating the break next week, I'll let you know the result.

Kennet days for barbel.

Pete Reading waits for the rod to buckle.

John Found had reserved a couple of days on the Upper Benyons section of the River Kennet on behalf of the Barbel Society, this being arranged through the society being an affiliated member of the Reading & District Angling Association.  For those not familiar with this length of river, it is a medium size river section that twists and turns through scenic countryside whilst offering the barbel angler the chance of a barbel going well into the 15lb plus range of doubles.

                                                   An interested observer of my angling attempts.

As a good friend of both Pete Reading and myself, he had asked us both if we could attend to help with any potential questions and bits of advice that might be needed, we of course agreed and arranged to meet John on the Saturday morning in the car park at 6:30am.  Both days were open to all anglers, whether Barbel Society members or not, and those who had booked their place duly began to turn up well in time for the proposed 7:30am start.  John introduced himself and went through a few points that might help those not familier with the area, perhaps the best being that on this section of river  “If it looks like it should have barbel present, then it probably has.”   Night fishing had been agreed for those that wished to go through into dark and a couple of the lads suggested they might well take advantage of that opportunity.  Now, with all the various points covered, the anglers set out to choose swims.

I went off and set my tackle down in a likely looking spot, and with other anglers about felt it was safe to leave it there while I went to check if anyone wanted a bit of help.  I came across an elderly chap who having recently retired had taken up fishing over the last couple of years.  By his own admission he did not get out too often and any advice would have been most gratefully received, no sooner said than done.  John had already suggested a swim for him to drop in and I started by explaining why this choice looked good to my eye.  Going upstream, and downstream of the swim, the river was probably almost twice as wide as the ten yard section we were standing by.  Those familiar with my writings will already know that this constriction of the river is one of the points I look for on a new section.  All the water upstream of the swim has to come past that spot at the same time, in order to do this one of two things must happen, the flow rate will increase, or the depth of the swim will get deeper, possibly both at the same time.  The river was slightly coloured from the heavy rain a couple of days previous so it was difficult to see the streamer weed, and I made the point that when you bait drop, if the dropper does not open then it is quite possible it landed on weed, just try a slightly different line.  Once the clear line is found where the dropper is opening consitantly, keep the feed tight with hemp being a very good choice of attractor, barbel love it.  He had brought a dropper with him, but it was rather on the large size, good if you intend to fish under your own bank but you are probably better off using one of perhaps 3 inch diameter, this is more easily controlled on the cast and makes less disturbance on its entry into the water.  I went on to explain my thinking about hook lengths and bait size and type, and left a happy angler, slightly better prepared for the day ahead.

When I finally got back to my tackle the lad fishing just down from my swim had already caught a fine example of barbel with a weight of 11lb-14oz.  Taken in the first five minutes of his days fishing it showed the potential for the day and I sat down confident of at least catching something over my two days on the river.  That first day I used pellet and open-ended feeders and following a chub that fell off on the way in, probably not even hooked with the long hair in use, I landed a nice size barbel that showed signs of being retained in unfavourable conditions.  If when you release the barbel it shows the red belly that this fish had then you did it wrong, consider how you kept the fish, and look for a better way of retaining it for the short spell that might be needed for photos and weighing to be completed.

                                                                   Nicely proportioned Kennet barbel.

The two days went very well, with a number of barbel being caught and lost including another double of 10lb-10oz.  These types of event are more than just fishing days, they allow a social side that can sometimes lead to a friendship that lasts for years, if you have not tried one then watch out for the chance to be involved and give it a try, you have nothing to loose and much to gain.

                                                     They are not all big, but they all count and fight well.