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.

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

A good start to the new season.

I’ve had an interesting start to the new season, a few fish without any monsters but steady sport.  Add a couple of diversions and I can safely say it is not too bad a start compared to many I’ve had in the past.

In times gone past the 16^th June was a very special day and plans long in the making were finally going to be put into action.  Now with many still water venues available it has taken on a lower excitement profile, but lots of venues have been closed through the close season and of course we now have rivers available again as well as the many lakes that have opened.  This all comes down to it still being a special day and I, along with many others take care to celebrate the start of a new season with a trip to the river. 

All too often this has been disappointing with little or nothing being caught, but it is always great to be on the bank and often be the one to make the swim fishable again having taken down all the new growth that invariably blocks your way to the river.  This year was one of my better starts and a trip to the Warwickshire Avon proved to be a good choice.

                                                         The banks are well overgrown

I have in the past often gone in with maggot and casters though the results can be very hit and miss making the additional cost hardly worthwhile.  This can be a frustrating time of the year since depending on the weather the fish can be at any of three stages, pre-spawning and moody, spawning and it is hardly sporting to fish for them or post spawning and although well down on weight they feed with abandon.  This can also give an additional problem in that the fish may well not be in their usual haunts having travelled to spawning areas and not yet returned, these factors are the most likely cause of many of my previous blank opening days though as already mentioned this would not be one of them.

Following various reports on Facebook it was clear that many of the rivers had already seen the barbel spawning but others were still up in the air, I travelled in hope that the Avon was one of those already done and dusted.  Tackle and tactics would be the well tried and trusted mixed small pellets and hemp in a feeder with pellet as hookbait.  For those new to reading this blog I’ll expand that a bit and hopefully the regulars will either refresh their memory or just skip the next bit.

My rods are 12ft Drennan 1.75 Barbel Specialist with Shimano 6000 RE baitrunner reels loaded with 12lb Syncro XT line.  I have often use a combi hook link but at the moment I am using just 12” to 15” of 15lb braid going to a size 8 Drennan Continental Carp hook tied with a knotless knot to give about a 1” hair.  I then superglue two 10mm Elips pellets with a good 10mm gap between the hook and the nearest edge of the pellets, this can avoid hooking too many chub that often disturbs the swim and the barbel.  This is then fished with a cage feeder loaded with a mixture of pellets of different size and type, I don’t think it matters what the mix is you just need variation in this attractor feed.  Put your pellets in a container and then add cooked hemp having drained the liquid off through your fingers.  This is done at about 50/50 and the hemp will still carry enough liquid to dampen the pellet down to a point it will hold in the feeder without going to a mushy mix.

I did not get onto the river at first light, too early for me nowadays but by 6:30am I was in place on the bank.  Fishing with two rods, one out in the main stream and one on the inside edge against a bulrush bed, but both on the setup described.  Often I will have two different baits on the two rods but I thought that at the start of the season the pellet was the most likely to be effective.  It was not too long before this proved true but the bream that came to the net was not really my intended target, never the less at least it would not be a blank.

                                                                  9lb-3oz opening day barbel

                                                     9lb-8oz best of the four on the day.

I had not bait dropped on this occasion but regular casting kept a steady stream of feed going into the two swims and over the course of the day the tactic proved its worth.  I ended the day with four barbel including two 9lb+ fish that would be doubles a bit later on, three bream of 4lb to 5lb and a single 11lb+ carp that gave a great scrap ripping up rushes all over the place.  This was one trip home that had a smile on my face, but what would be coming over the next few weeks.

                                                     Opening day common of 11lb-2oz.

There are tall leylandii trees at the bottom of my garden and unfortunately they keep growing.  I had them professionally lopped down to about 20ft but they soon exceed that height again and although I’ve trimmed them over the years I did miss last year and now the home owner on the other side has been round to ask that they are dealt with.  No time like the present so through the next three days I was up the trees taking out the tops while in the evening I was off after eels on a local water that opened up on the 16^th, no joy for the eels but at least the trees are looking better.  Over the following week I tried two more nights on the local water for eels and one night on the venue that has given me a 6lb 4oz, 5lb10oz and six other eels over 4lb over the last year, a good result that, but this time they were not playing and yet another blank goes into the diary.

                                                        Gap left with just one tree done

                                                      Job done with six trees lopped down.

Once the trees had been finished I decided on a trip after sturgeon, regular readers will know I think these are very good sport fish and it does seem a shame the EA spend so much of their limited budget trying to remove them when so many other things challenge our sport.  Legering a chunk of meat down the side of the lake has always proven a successful method and yet again it gave the desired results in the form of a 44lb Siberian and a small diamond back specimen.

Then a second trip to the Avon produced a couple of medium size barbel and yet another bream, while a trip to the Trent gave up just a single bream though at least it was little larger at 7lb-2oz.  Now it was time to look at a new section of the Nene that I had obtained a ticket for.  As I made my way down the A14 I felt the van just loose power and although I could still drive it was at little more than a slow crawl up to the next layby and then stop.  I called out the AA and the service was brilliant, just 20 minutes to arrive and although he could not fix it he soon had me travelling back to Coventry as a passenger with the van towed behind.  I’m still waiting to find out what is wrong and how long it will take to fix but meanwhile Mervyn arrange a trip to the River Anker last evening where similar tactics to those used on the Avon produced a 8lb-6oz barbel and three chub to 5lb-3oz.

                                                   An immaculate 5lb-3oz Anker chub.

                                                      A pleasing River Anker barbel.

        

That’s it for the first two weeks of a new season, highs and lows in equal measure but a good mix of fish and other than the van problem I’ll take those results anytime.  I wish you all the very best for your own quest for the fish of your choice and until next time tight lines.

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.