Pilgrim’s Progress

He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops.

TALES FROM THE SEVERN, THE SOW AND THE DOVE

It was another one of those hot, sunny days and with the river being low I didn’t bother travelling to the Severn until late in the afternoon. After baiting up, it was the usual situation of sitting back and waiting. A few decent fish started to crash around the river so I was quite hopeful. One big barbel literally cleared the surface of the water; it was like watching a dolphin show!

My little blue book contains my deepest secrets – well, those to do with fishing anyway!

Just as all this activity is going on a boat came through the swim. Nothing unusual in that, after all it is the lower Severn and boats have as much right to be on there as me. But this boat, or rather its owner, appeared to be a few knots short of a nautical mile. Right in my swim he decided to drop anchor. I couldn’t believe it!

I was the only angler on the whole stretch, and the lower Severn is a big, wide river, and he goes and does that. I must be getting aggressive in my old age, because I told him ‘I’m fishing there’. Fortunately, it didn’t come to any more than that, because he upped anchor and went off downstream.

Anyway, after he went, the swim went dead! But an hour or so later I had a chub. This must have been the start of the feeding spell for them because the next few hours saw a steady stream of chub bites. However, it was to be right at the end of the session, just before midnight, when I actually caught the next one, a fish of 4-12-0. No barbel on this session (that’s four barbel blanks in nine visits) but the chub so far have totalled twenty-one in number!

The secrets of my little blue book

You’ve heard of the little red book, maybe even the little black one? Well, it’s about time I told you about my little blue one. I’m one of those anglers that likes to keep a diary. I record all sorts of information in mine, air and water temperature, wind direction and so on. And as I take my diary with me I write it as the session develops. So I’m able to record quite an extensive record of what happens during each trip. In fact, if I weren’t an angler I’d probably be a train spotter or something like that!

A chub of exactly 4 lb from the Sow

The summer Sow

I’ve been a regular on the River Sow in the last couple of years, but only in the winter when fishing for chub. However, as it’s a Trent tributary, I’ve been wondering what the barbel potential is like. And certainly, there are enough reports around of fish being caught, so one sunny afternoon I decided to pay the river a visit on a scouting session.

Although I listen solely to the CD player when driving (except when there is a football match on!) I have a facility that once set over-rides whatever is on with any traffic news that is being broadcast at that moment. And was I grateful for that on the journey. The news informed me that the M6 was closed on the north- bound carriage-way between junctions 11 and 12 because of an accident, and that traffic had already backed up to junction 8. As I was joining at 10 and exiting at 13, I quickly did an about turn and took the A449 route instead!

No barbel, but this bream pushing 5 lb is better than a blank any day

But of course, I wasn’t going to go to a river without taking my rods and so I decided to have an evening chubbing. Almost immediately after casting out I caught a bream of just under 4 lb. Amazing isn’t it? Fish for barbel on the lower Severn, and end up with chub after chub. Now I’m fishing for them, I catch a bream! But just as dark descended I did catch my target species, with a fish of exactly 4 lb falling for the bread that I had cast between streamer weed.

May as well go for a dip

I’ve already mentioned that the banks were deep in vegetation, so much so that it was difficult to determine where the land ended and the water began. Okay, you know what’s coming! Just as midnight approached and I decided to call it a day, I ended up in the river, submerged to my waist. As it’s a very quiet area, once I had sploshed back to the car I stripped down to my boxer shorts and drove home, hoping that tonight of all nights I wouldn’t be stopped by the police.

My wife, Debby, had already informed me that she wouldn’t be up when I got home as she was taking an early night. However, just as I’m about to put the key in the door, it opens without me touching it. She had decided to stop up after all! So, imagine the scene. I’m standing there in front of my wife with just my underwear on. Well, guess what her first words were when she saw me? “Fallen in the river again, have you?” And that was that. No explaining to do, nothing! What a woman! I have a gem there, if I say so myself.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the Sow barbel and so on my next trip I knew I had to have a crack at them. Again I caught a chub and a bream, pushing 4lb and 5lb respectively. But no sign of any barbel whatsoever. So here I am, three sessions into an article on barbel fishing and not even so much as a line bite to write about. It is time to visit the Dove, methinks, and see if I can put a fish on the bank.

Fried on the Dove

And that’s exactly where I headed on the hottest day of the year to date. The walk to the river nearly killed me, I actually felt faint. The thermometer hit over 30 in my bag, and had to be exposed to the atmosphere for several minutes before it fell to 25. With the water temperature also in the 20’s I wasn’t that confident. At the start of the session I would gladly have settled for just one fish.

Do I look cool in my new shades? Anyway, the barbel was 8.7

I noticed something funny whilst sitting there watching the rods, prior to my fish. I put my isotope on the rod tip at the start of the session and this attracted the attention of a passing dragonfly. For fifteen minutes he sat on top of the isotope, trying to mate with it. In the end he gave up and flew off in search of something more co-operative.

As the evening drew on and night fell I was quite hopeful that I’d add to my tally of fish, but it wasn’t to be. As the sky started to light up with an approaching thunderstorm on its way I knew it was time to quit while I was still ahead – and dry, not to mention alive! With my track record of disasters, it was on the cards that I could end up fried!

Lower Severn barbel results table

Lower Severn Sessions: 10

River Dove barbel results table

Dove Sessions: 2

The Reverend Stewart R Bloor
Sedgley International Christian Ministries
PO Box 1216, Dudley. DY3 1GW.
Telephone : 01384 – 828033
Web site : www.sicm.org
e-mail : missionscentre@sicm.org

Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday!