Monster perch and other bits.

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

                                        Spawned out 3lb-15oz Specimen

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

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

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

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

                                                        5lb-4oz of monster perch.

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

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

                                                      A good brace of stillwater perch

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

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

A review of February part 2

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

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

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

                                                     First of the brace at 12lb-5oz.

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

                                                    Second of the brace at 13lb-4oz.

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

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

A review of February - Part 1.

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

                                                From a time when I did go in freezing conditions.

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

                                              A smaller feeder than used but still a chub setup.

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

                                                  Opening swim on the Avon

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

                                                              6lb-6oz Avon Chub

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

                                                 The second 6lb of the trip.

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

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

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

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

                                                  My first barbel of 2015.

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

Adventure to Suriname 2015

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

                                                    A hummingbird photo after trying for many trips.

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

                                                     Loading the platform at low tide

                                                               Home from home on the river.

                                                         Sorting gear out as we move off.

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

                                                      The push is on and we move upstream.

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                       Magic times.

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

                                                     Storm can be seen approaching.

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

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

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

                                                                   Tributary River.

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

                                                            200lb+  laulau pb.

                                                   165lb laulau.

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

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

                                                    Ready to weigh Joe's big fish.

                                                               208lb laulau.

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

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

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.