Trent Debut for Smudge

This report is of my first time fishing the Trent on the 15th and 16th October 2005 at the A1 Pits Stretch.

I was originally going to go sea fishing with a good friend of my mothers, but due to technical problems (His washer AND boiler breaking down at the same time!) that trip was cancelled. So, my cousin, Paul Mallinson, invited me to come and fish the Trent.

Primed and ready on the Trent launch pad

Little did we know that we were going to get stuck behind both a lorry and a tractor on the way to the river (the queue was so long we couldn’t see) on the A15, so just before we reached RAF Scampton we took our own diversion and I dived for the road map! Anyway we finally got on the right track and reached the Trent, but the wrong stretch. So we asked a fellow angler and so we finally arrived at the destination.

After walking down to peg 13 and back again, meeting a few different people, such as Chris Pearson and ‘Dog Biscuit’ we settled on pegs 12 and 13, which we kind of blended together due to the fact it was big enough for the car and two bivvies and reasonably flat. We got set up and cast out. I was hoping for my first barbel as I sat in wait.

Due to it being the first time I’ve ever fished the Trent I wasn’t used to the little bleeps you keep getting off the bite alarms and I was on the edge of my seat every time we got one. Sadly we had no luck through the day but met a few good people then later sat down for the best curry I’ve ever had, kindly made by Chris Pearson.

We finished off the chat and said good-bye to everyone’s friend, Stella 😉 and set off back to our rods. We cast out and sat in wait, I was still waiting for my first barbel. I decided to get my head down for the night and the next thing I knew it was about 6:15am on Sunday and I could hear a constant beeping.

Smudge’s first Trent barbel. The first of many we hope

I scrambled about, got my boots on and ran to my rod. Paul had already picked the rod up to prevent it from reaching the bridge and I took it off him. I was amazed by the fight they give and managed to get its head up and into the bank. Paul quickly scooped it up with the landing net and while he unhooked it I scrambled back up to my tent to get my camera. After about five different shots we managed to get one where I looked at least half awake. We released the barbel and after a rough guess from Paul we both agreed it was about 3/4lb.

We cast the rods back out and I got my jacket and put the kettle on. I stayed up for the rest of the morning. We didn’t get anything else so we packed up around 10am and went home.

A good weekend for me, I fished with the FM people for the first time, I fished the Trent for the first time, I caught my first barbel and I had my first ever curry on the bank.

Thanks to everyone who I met over the weekend who made it so enjoyable for me.