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.

2014 A review of the year.

 January.

As with last year I had a number of trips abroad organised and the first of them was a trip to Surinam in South America.  This would be my first venture to that country although I’ve been next door so to say in Guyana; this fishing would be very similar being a wild river running through quite dense jungle.  Although we would be wild camping on the bank we see very little in the way of animals etc., you hear them, but the trees are too heavy to see very far and we are too noisy trying to get close.

The main target was a catfish known as a Lau Lau by the locals and the river we fished gave an excellent chance of catching them.  That was indeed the result and numerous 100lb fish were taken with my 175lb being the largest of the trip although 200lb fish had been caught on previous trips.  The fight off the Lau Lau has to be experienced to be believed, a 50lb class boat rod bent 90 degrees for 20 or 30 minutes and you’re almost ready to pass the rod to someone else, but you don’t.

                                                             175lb Lau Lau

February.

This month gave me a very good result off the local Warwickshire Avon, conditions for barbel held near perfect for some weeks and I managed a string of good doubles with fish of 11lb-6oz 11lb-7oz and an 11lb-13oz fish that I caught a second time from a swim well downstream of its original capture. 

                                                                 11lb-6oz

                                                                      11lb-7oz

                                                             Caught twice at 11lb-13oz

Even better than this was the capture of an 6lb-5oz chub from the upper Avon, a comparatively rare event when even 5lb fish a noted as very good.

                                                            6lb-5oz Avon chub

March.

The overseas bug came on again and this month I travelled back to Guyana.  Although the countries and rivers are next door to each other the fishing is totally different.  This difference is in the range of fish in Guyana, it is very wide in scope with three or more different species where a 200lb plus fish are possible and dozens of smaller species are also available.  This adventure is at the extreme end of wild fishing, that being indicated by the fact that when we finished the fishing holiday at the furthest upstream we ventured, it took four days to get back to the hotel in the capital, Georgetown.  The holiday was a big success with all anglers catching their share of fish, my personal bests for the trip was a redtail catfish of 59lb and the largest of the jau captured at 106lb.  Piranha can be a big problem here and you can see bite marks out of the jau’s fins where the piranha attacked the fish whilst it was being played, often the damage to the fish you’re trying to land is far worse and they can be lost as the main line is bitten through as they attack.

                                                          59lb Redtail

                                                         106lb Jau.

April.

I missed out on the crucians this year, taking fish to short of 3lb on the one trip I managed before they spawned.  Good size fish can be caught post spawning but I felt that I would leave it and try for a big eel.  I did catch, though the very big fish eluded me and the best in this month was a brace one night of 4lb-2oz and 4lb-5oz, pleasing but below my target.

                                                       2lb-3oz, 4lb-2oz and 4lb-5oz.

May.

Off to Spain this month for the roach fishing.   Wells Catfish are the main target here with the large carp a close second, but I along with my companions are happy to fish for the big roach that live in both the Ebro and the Segre.  Fishing with Catmaster Tours at Mequinenza we can travel about trying different areas of both rivers and over the previous trips we have built up a list of spots that produce consistently.  This trip was no different and amongst a lot of 1lb plus fish, I took ten over the 2lb mark to a best of 2lb-10oz.  We have not had a 3lb fish yet but Pete Reading came close with a magnificent 2lb-15oz specimen.

                                                         2lb-10oz Spanish roach

                                                               Pete with a 2lb-15oz specimen

                                                                       

June.

As always I try to fish on the 16^th opening day and most times it is a disappointment, this time I caught four barbel with two over 9lb to make it a good start to the season.  Other barbel would follow, but that starting day is still worth a mention here.

I also had a few days after sturgeon a fish that fights as hard as any in our waters and a favourite of mine.  The best I took out a number of 40lb plus captures was a giant of 44lb, well pleased with that although the bigger fish in the lake still evade me until another day.

                                                            44lb sturgeon.

July.

A few barbel and eels but overall a fairly quite month with the most notable specimen being a 4lb-8oz eel.

                                                                   4lb-8oz eel.

August.

Yet again I had agreed to do the northern leg of the barbel challenge arranged by Gerry Gleeson and accomanied by Paul Floyd.  Last year was a very limited success for me with just one double off the six rivers I fished, this year was different.  Starting on the Dove I feared the worse when I blanked while the other lads caught barbel including the hoped for double to Paul.  We move every 24 hours so the next day saw us on the Derwent and this time I was smiling by the following dawn with two doubles of 11lb-12oz and 13lb-5oz, time to move again. 

                                                            13lb-5oz  Derwent

                                                           11lb-12oz  Derwent

This spell was on the nearby Trent and yet again I got a brace of doubles in a catch of seven barbel, these went 10lb and 10lb-14oz.

                                                             10lb Trent

                                                            10lb-14oz Trent

The following move saw us on the Soar and I fished a swim that was new to me though it proved a good choice when I landed eight barbel.  One of the early fish in the spell looked good but when Paul gave his comment it was at 9lb-10oz.  Later in the session my grin returned with yet another double at 10lb-11oz.

                                                                  10lb-11oz  Soar.

Now we moved across towards the Nene near Peterbough a river I had been targeting for a new river double, so far without success.  Now riding my luck I put a fish of 10lb-14oz on the scales and the local bailiff Mark Smith was delighted to take the photos for me.  He was even more delighted when Paul took the largest known fish on the stretch at 14lb for a new pb for himself.

                                                          10lb-14oz Nene pb

With five rivers down it had been agreed we would split up, Paul and Jerry going onto the southern leg while I went onto the Warwickshire Avon to try for the double off that river.  With the way things had been going for me it was almost a foregone conclusion and sure enough amongst other barbel on the session I took an immaculate 10lb-6oz specimen to end my contribution. 

                                                             10lb-6oz Wark Avon.

I had fished six rivers with a brace of doubles off two of them and a single double off another three rivers.  Add to this that the Nene double was my 24^th different river double and you can see why I was a happy lad. 

September.

I continued to catch barbel through this month and a couple of highlight were the capture of four doubles with a best of 12lb-8oz off the Trent.  This does seem to be the inform river and it will be interesting to see the results from it over the coming months. 

Coming up to yet another trip abroad I took the chance on a 200 mile round trip to the Goyt since conditions were perfect and even though it was only for the day I just felt the need to go.  That feeling proved true when I slipped my net under the 25^th river double, this one going 12lb-6oz.  Saying I was pleased just does not do the feeling justice.

                                                                     12lb-6oz Goyt pb.

                                                          12lb-8oz best of four doubles.

October.

In a year where I travelled abroad far more than usual it will come as no surprise that yet again I was overseas, this time to Canada.  As mentioned, I love sturgeon fishing so it stands to reason I would have to try the Frazer River for the monsters that live there.  I did fall ill with some bug for three days but never the less the guides looked after us and we had 21 sturgeon between us.  My best was one inch short of the five foot mark which gave an estimated weight of 110lb, each fish gave a tremendous fight and I’ll definitely be back there next year.

                                                                      110lb Sturgeon

November.

Now I was off to Spain but this time it was a two pronged attack.  Catfish and roach were the target and since it seemed the cats had been mostly caught at night it fitted in with our plans quite nicely.  One of the reasons for my trip to the Goyt just two days before the Spain trip was the severe drop in temperatures that had been forecast, sure enough just one day after we arrived there was a ten degree fall in temps and it did us no favours.  Unfortunately there were four groups of anglers for this week and only three baited swims, it worked out that we missed out on fishing the baited areas and foreseeably the cats would not move too much resulting in an almost total failure for our group to catch.  John was first on the rods and at the end of the fourth night he took his chance and landed a 214lb cat, the largest of the week.

                                                               John's 214lb cat

The roach played a little better and even though our time was limited to between 9am and 4pm we did catch a good number of fish.  I managed five over 2lb with a best of 2lb-12oz so it did save what would have been an inglorious blank week.

                                                          Best of the trip at 2lb-12oz.

                                                        Caught on the last day 2lb-9oz.

That was at the beginning of the month and was followed by three days on the bank of Chew Valley Res, unfortunately for one small jack pike.  Then the weather picked up and I decided on a trip to try for yet another new river double, this time the River Mole.  I had already been down for a single day where a local lad was good enough to show me how to access the water on the club ticket I was to use.  Unfortunately many clubs produce maps for their waters that almost defy your ability to find the water and then the access, this was such a case so a big thank you goes to that lad.  The trip was for two days, I’ll sleep in the van overnight and with the M25 to negotiate I either leave home very early or after 9am to avoid being in the traffic jam at peak times.  I decided on the 9am start and arrived about midday without too much traffic hassle.   The river, when I finally settled into my chosen swim looked perfect and I could not believe that at the very worse I would at least catch barbel off this new river, at the best one of them would be a double.  The write up of this trip comes immediately before this update to the blog so sufficient to say that over the two days I caught two doubles of 10lb-9oz and 10lb-14oz, river 26 completed!

                                                                              10lb-9oz

                                                         26th river double 10lb-14oz.

December.

December seemed to fall off a little and while I caught fish there were none of particular note.  I have highlighted some of the more noted fish and of course there are many I’ve left out.  With 21 doubles off seven different rivers I’m well pleased with the season.  Add to this there were three new river doubles among those numbers and I can increase that to very pleased.

A big advantage of my style of fishing is that there are always new horizons and targets to be met, next year will be no different and I’m already set with trips to Surinam, Canada and Spain, add in UK and there is no shortage of places and species to set my eyes on.  I hope your year has been as enjoyable as mine and I wish you all the very best for the next year.

The Barbel Challenge Part 2.

Having completed the double of barbel doubles on the Trent we are on a roll, two out of three rivers with the challenge target completed, more than I expected and I know it cannot last.  The next target river is a Trent tributary, the River Soar, small and plenty of character with a number of very good barbel waiting to be caught.  With the Trent falling we were hopeful the Soar would be in perfect trim and yet again we could fill our boots in ideal conditions.

The swim location on this venue involves quite a walk and in the now blazing sun I was totally snookered by the time we got up to the area to be fished.  Having done quite well so far I left the two lads to take first choice of swim and then located myself in one of the remaining choices.  The three swims had done us proud last year, but I quickly realised that my choice was no good.  The overhanging branches had grown well down towards the river and now once darkness fell it would be a mine field of snags on each cast; I had to move further down the river.  Although I am a member of this club and have fished here several times this would be a new area for me since I had always stayed towards the weir run, now I was well out of its influence.

                                              The foam from the weir shows here still.

With the tackle set up and hemp dropping done at the upstream end of the run on the far bank I could relax and I expected to wait for dark since all the fish so far had been taken at night or very early dawn.  That’s when I found out the swim was full of chub, mostly small but two or three would have been about 4lb or more.  Then I added a bream of about 6lb and finally a daylight barbel of 6lb-10oz.  As dusk fell I took another two barbel of 6lb-11oz and 6lb-15oz then about 11:00pm I thought I had the double, but it proved to be slightly under at 9lb10oz, pleasing and at least the barbel were feeding.

                                                         Not quite the double at 9lb-10oz.

Following that I had a short wait but then another 6lb type barbel was quickly followed by the hoped for double with a fish of 10lb-11oz.  I phoned Paul to take photos and he came along with Jerry, some of their comments about jam and luck and things like that could take up quite some time, but it did hold some merit since lady luck was definitely on my shoulder.  It was now just coming up to midnight and by the dawn I had caught 8 barbel with the last one going a pleasing 7lb-7oz.

                                                               

                                                              10lb-11oz  R Soar

Meanwhile Paul had lost two fish, one with a cut off and the other broke him when his main line snagged on a grommet on his alarm and the fish broke his line before he could clear the snag, that’s bad luck again.  Jerry had tried hard but his result was a disappointing small barbel, last year this venue had given him a 10lb plus fish along with a 12lb-10oz specimen, lady luck was not with him at the moment.

Yet again we hit the road, this time towards Peterborough and the River Nene on one of its many backwaters.  Thanks go to Peterborough and District AA for allowing us to fish their water during the challenge.  I have a book but neither Paul nor Jerry travel to this area and hence needed the permission.  The river is still up and slightly coloured from the heavy rain we had Sunday night and I’m sure this was having a very positive effect on the barbel fishing.  Mark Smith the local bailiff had been in touch and with the river very low and clear the fishing had been very patchy.  Now we were hopeful and when we met up about midday he told us that a lad had already caught a double of 11lb plus, one less for us to catch, but a positive sign.  I set up in a swim while the lads went to a local tackle shop with Mark for a few bits.  Whilst there they were given a nice contribution towards the fund on behalf of the club, a big thanks for that as well.

Meanwhile I had caught a nice chub of 4lb-8oz and just as the lads returned I hooked into a barbel.  I was fishing close to trees and not being sure of the snag situation I hung on to the fish giving him no line but for no apparent reason the main 12lb line snapped.  Very unusual that and it definitely should not have happened, somewhere along the way I had got damage on the line that allowed him to escape, annoying to say the least.

The general idea had been we would rove round for most of the day but settle into our main choice of swim for the dusk session.  I made a move into a swim on a slight bend and put the two rods out, one under the nearside bank and the other over the far side alongside the cabbages that were showing just under the surface.  Both banks had a good stand of bulrush beds which are always a good indicator of a gravel bottom and the suggestion that barbel might be in the area.  After what seemed to be a very short time my nearside rod sprang into action with a screaming run and yet again I was playing an obviously good fish.  Playing a big barbel does remind you why we fish for them, power and speed with just the occasional flash of bronze as the turn near the surface; this is certainly why I love them.  This time the tackle held and I landed a big fish that was to weigh in at 10lb-14oz, lady luck was giving me full measure for this trip.  Having made the fish safe to recover I moved out onto the path that runs behind all the swims and there was Paul right on queue moving from one swim to another.  I knew he had been right at the far downstream end a little earlier so yet again just that touch of luck for him to be here when I needed him.  That fish was my first double off the River Nene and it took my different river doubles total to 24, an extra bonus for me.

                                                                    

                                                                     10lb-6oz  Nene pb

Having done 6 doubles off 4 rivers just missing out on the Dove, I had decided that I would not stay on too long and well before dusk I bid the lads good luck and headed home.  I would be on the Warwickshire Avon the next day as planned, but a night in bed would be nice.  It was pleasing to see the lads results in that Paul caught the largest fish on that length of river at 14lb witnessed and photographed by Mark, while Jerry finally caught three barbel up to a useful big 8lb fish but better was to come for him.

Next day saw me on my local river the Warwickshire Avon and although you can never be sure I was hopeful of at least catching barbel.  The swim I intended to fish allowed two totally different methods to be used at the same time, although all my fish so far had fallen to Source boilie I was going to fish one of my rods on casters fished over a bed of hemp.  As soon as I arrived I loaded a pint of caster into a pint of hemp and proceeded to bait drop the mix into the swim.  I did not intend to fish this line until three or four hours had passed though I would be bait dropping at regular intervals.  This is of course the classic ‘bait and wait’ method and I’ve caught numerous barbel on the technic.   In the meanwhile I would fish both the rods on Source out in the middle to far river and we’ll see how the two methods compare.

                                                                 Caster rig for barbel.

I did have to wait a little while but you never know if the swim has been fished the previous day still at last I got the screaming run and when I struck the fish had already reached a bed of streamer weed and he was well stuck.   I pulled, moved position although I could not get past the downstream bush, I gave it free line and eventually I just put the rod back on the rest with the bait runner on.  Nothing seemed to be working so I resorted to the last tactic of lifting the rod in a series of sharp jerks hoping to break through the steams of weed that were holding him.  All the time the rod is held as high as possible and fortune smiled as the fish came clear and I could play him in the normal fashion.  Just out of interest I did weigh him and he went 5lb-15oz, if I had lost him I’m sure he would have been larger.  Again quite a long gap before the next bite and it was on the caster bait producing yet another 6lb type of barbel, I’ve had a good number of those on this challenge.  When I hit the next bite, again on caster, I knew it was a better fish and it trundled round the swim refusing to come to the surface.  Eventually of course I did get him into the net and turned round to find a fellow angler who had stood watching the battle.  The fish was weighed at 10lb-6oz, pleasing for me as it completed another river, and pleasing for the other angler who had only just joined the chub and that was the first barbel he had seen.  

                                                     Warwickshire Avon  10lb-6oz.

The challenge has been just that, success and failure in equal measure and my challenge ended shortly after that with my last capture on the boilie with the fish going 9lb-4oz.

Meanwhile Paul had got the real cherry off the River Lea at the King’s Weir Fishery when he caught yet another pb of 15lb-2oz.  The lads will carry on and I’ll keep watch with interest but that’s me done for this year.

The Barbel Society Barbel Challenge.

When Jerry Gleeson asked if I was up for round two of the Barbel Society Challenge in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund I of course answered ‘yes.’  Then he said ‘well I changed it a bit, we’ll go for 2 doubles of each river but over 10 days this time.’   The man’s an idiot and I told him so, no chance but we’ll give it a go!

                                                               The three musketees

I had agreed to do the northern leg of the challenge along with Jerry Gleeson and Paul Floyd, There should have been a fourth angler, Mark Dutton, but unexpected events meant he could not do more than the first 24 hours with us and it was the intention that occasional guests would come along as a fourth angler and do a stint of 24 hrs or so at each venue.  The third angler on the southern leg who would be my replacement would be Dave Chambers; this would complete the anglers that did the same event last year.

The six rivers I would complete would be the Dove, Derbyshire Derwent, Soar, Trent, Nene and Warwickshire Avon.   Then the Jerry and Paul would go south and complete the challenge on the Lea, Lodden, St. Pat’s Stream, Thames, Colne, Kennet and Hants Avon.  In order to complete the 14 rivers in ten days some of the rivers would only have one, or maybe two anglers on it for the session, such was the case with me on the Warwickshire Avon which I fished alone.  The reason for this change is fairly obvious, it is a killer doing 14 continuous days along with hundreds of miles travelling between venues, Paul and Jerry did it last year, but would not do it again.

It started with a meet in the café at Tutbury where Mark, Jerry, Paul and myself had a full English breakfast to start the day off on a good foot.  Following that we set off to the chosen section of the river and we soon had tackle in place in each of our swims.  The river was low and clear, but with the session lasting until mid-morning Saturday there was plenty of chance that the fish would feed at some stage of the session.

                                                  River Dove in its glory.

We each used our own methods and tactics in the attack on the Dove barbel and on their day we know that each of us can catch barbel.  Early results came in the form of chub and it was well into dark before Mark caught the first of this year’s barbel.  At 9lb 6oz it was below our target, but welcome never the less.  The night was quiet after that and a near full moon looked down on our efforts until well into the night when I got word that the first double had hit the net.  Paul was the fortunate angler and his successful swim from last year had produced the goods again in the form of a 12lb 2oz specimen barbel.  First bit of the challenge done, but could we get the second double we hoped for.  Jerry hooked and lost two barbel, Paul landed two more nice fish that fell short of the mark and that was the final result as I failed to hit a barbel at all.

Once dawn comes I try a get a little sleep rather than the dozing done overnight, I have a recliner chair I brought for last year’s effort and although not as comfortable as a bed chair it does the job to allow a few hours sleep before the next move.  That move was to the River Derwent where two clubs had been good enough to offer their waters for the 24 hr session, Derby County AC and The Earl of Harrington AC.  Having walked both lengths we discussed swim options and decided to try the Harrington side having completed the Derby side last year with good doubles caught.  The forecast for the next 24 hrs was quite wet, so by mid-afternoon we were all in place with a good shelter over our heads.

                                                              12lb-2oz Dove Barbel

                                                          Atmospheric scene

At this point I should explain my approach to the swim which would be similar to that I used at each venue.  As always, my rods are the 12ft 1.7.5lb test Drennan Specialist Barbel, Shimano 5000 RE bait runner reals loaded with 12lb breaking strain main line.  The hook link is 15lb Stren braid with a size 8 Drennan Continental hook in place.   This rig would be used with open-ended swimfeeders loaded with mixed size pellets and hemp, whilst the hook bait would either Elips pellet or Dynamite Source boilies.  I bait dropped a pint of hemp into the swim and all was ready.

                                                                  Bait in use.

With the boilie cast to the baited area and the pellet cast some 10yds downstream of that baited area I could sit back and wait while recasting every 30 minutes or so.  Nothing occurred through the rest of the afternoon but the rain started as forecasted and I was glad of the shelter with sides rather than just the umbrella I would normally use.  About 10.15pm I got a powerful run and the strike was good.  I was fishing a section with quite fast water and this fish took full advantage of that to help it resist my efforts, but eventually he had to come and I gave a cheer as he went into the net.  A nearby angler had come along and he helped me get up the wet steep banks with the fish and then to weigh him.  My usual guess had been 12lb + and indeed he proved to be a new river best for me at 13lb-5oz.  I returned to rest in the water while I phoned Paul and he came up for photos etc., another river double done but could we get the second here?

                                                            13lb-5oz  Derwent Barbel.

                                                           11lb-12oz  Derwent Barbel

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We all settled back into our respective swims and the rain continued to tip it down but that was forgotten when about 1:00am the same boilie rod went again with the fish giving another battle royal before being netted.  This fish weighed in at 11lb-12oz to give a brilliant brace and our first pair of doubles off a single river.  Paul was to loose what he thought was a very good fish when it swung into the roots of an overhanging tree downstream of his swim becoming totally snagged, just bad luck and something you can do very little about.  After that little kip after dawn it got to the time to move, it was still raining very heavily but with it forecasted all day we had to pack up.  For this river we had been joined by Jon Preen who is a local angler and he fished through to around midnight before going home.  He had extended an invite to his house for breakfast and a shower, with both the lads soaked through to the skin it was a welcome chance to change into dry clothing.

That afternoon, dry, clean and well fed we made our way to the Trent as the next port of call on our odyssey.  As expected the river was rising and the only question would be ‘how high’ would it come.  It is a well-documented fact that barbel feed better in a rising flood, closely follow by a falling river after a flood, we were to take advantage of this over the next few days in spades.  For this river I changed my 2oz feeders for one of Fisky’s 6oz heavy duty jobs and along with this change I decided to fish both rods on the Source boilie.  Fortunately the rubbish coming down on the flow remained within reason and casting every 15 minutes seemed to keep the tackle sound.  The Trent is a very snaggy river and if the rubbish on the line builds to a point where it moves the feeder then look out for trouble.  The advantage of this recasting was that it did build up the feed in the swim and by the time dusk fell I was very confident of catching.

I had taken a chub in the afternoon spell, but the first barbel came just after 10:00pm and it weighed in at exactly 10lb, I phoned Paul and reweighed the fish for him to confirm that weight.  Have you noticed how you feel guilty when a fish weighs exactly the target weight, 2lb roach, 10lb bream etc. but some must always do so.  Fortunately the rain had stopped and throughout the night at regular intervals I caught a number of barbel mostly between 6lb and 7lb though one very fat specimen did go 10lb-14oz to give me a second brace of doubles.  My total for the night was 7 barbel and that really was pleasing and the flood stopped perhaps 2” below my swim before starting to fall again, unfortunately the other two lads did not get a bite for some unknown reason.  Four rivers down and at least one double off each, this is as good as we could hope but would it continue, I’ll let you know in part two.

                                                                        10lb Trent Barbel

                                                            10lb-14oz Trent Barbel

The 14 river challenge.

The idea was for three anglers to fish on 14 different rivers for 24hrs each in the attempt to get a double figure barbel off each of them.

 

As I've already mentioned on these pages I had joined this challenge with the intent of completed the four rivers in the area of Nottingham-Derby, namely the Dove, Derwent, Trent and Soar.  Before it had begun I gave a forecast of doubles off six of the rivers this being a good result to my mind.  I'm pleased to say that this has been annihilated and with just six rivers completed to date there has been a double off all of them, with a total of ten doubles being recorded.

                                                             Dove 11lb-3oz

The Ribble and Goyt had already been done when I joined Jerry Gleeson and Paul Floyd since Paul had taken one off each river in the 10lb range, so now we went on to the Dove where he completed a hat trick with a fish of 11lb-3oz.  Only one other barbel was caught with Jerry taking a fish of 8lb-12oz.  I just got chubbed out with no sign of the barbel coming my way.

                                                             Derwent 11lb-4oz

Now we moved on to the Derwent using the Derby County angling Club section kindly arranged through Alan Booth, he also came down while we were there passing valuable information to the other two lads.  The section lived up to our hopes and two doubles were caught but they again fell to the other lads.  At 11lb-4oz and 11lb-7oz they pleased the lads who took one each and added a smaller barbel each to the total catch on the list.

                                                                Derwent 11lb-7oz

 

On to the Trent and we were highly delighted when Jerry caught a 12lb-8oz barbel and he later added another double of 11lb plus to the growing tally.  This time I did manage to add to the double list with an 11lb-1oz fish whilst Paul had two fish in single figures also getting smashed by a probable carp.

                                                                      Trent 11lb-1oz

                                                                  Trent 12lb-8oz

 

Last section for me was a move to the Soar arranged through the LEVAS committee who again have our thanks for the 24hr permits for the other two lads [ they will be getting a full permit each now for themselves]. 

As had been the case on each river there was no action until dark but then Jerry was back in action again taking a quick fire brace of doubles at 10lb-3oz and 12lb-10oz, quite amazing to get two doubles brace with 12lb fish in each off two rivers with a genuine 24 hr period.  I took a 8lb-12oz barbel with a double figure carp, bream of about 6lb and chub of perhaps 3lb for a nice mixed bag all these fish falling to the ever reliable Source boilie.  Unfortunately Paul's run came to an end with a blank but with his results so far he could not be too disappointed.

                                                              Soar  12lb-10oz

 

The lads moved onto the River Severn to continue the effort while I retired home to catch up on my kip.  A tremendous effort by the lads and it goes to show that there are still fish there to catch on numerous rivers.  Various tackle and rigs combined with a number of different baits, all caught on their day and I’m sure we will see yet more doubles before they finish.

 

Thanks go to the various sponsors, The Hookbait Co, Dynamite, G-Force and Print Biz to name some of the help that was given.