An August Morning on the Upper Trent

Big barbel from the upper Trent

IT WAS 5.30 before I left home; how quickly the weeks had gone since the season started. Only a few weeks previous I was leaving home at 3.30 and arriving on the riverbank at sunrise. The long, hot late June and July days were over and although still very warm, torrential downpours earlier in the week should have briefly swollen the once very low river.

The beautiful upper Trent

I arrived at the car park at exactly 6am, just as Fisherman’s Blue’s was starting on the radio, a programme I rarely get the chance to listen to as I’m normally fishing by then.

I wasn’t surprised there were no other cars as I’d rarely seen another angler all season. As I opened the car door I could smell more rain in the air, it should have been almost light by now and beyond the dark clouds overhead I could see the first rays of a silvery dawn. The rain shouldn’t last long I thought as I slipped on my fishing boots just as the first few drops started to fall. Within two minutes it was bucketing down. I sat in the car and had a smoke, listening to the radio and waited for the rain to stop. I had to chuckle when some guy called to say he had won a bet that John from Enderby would call before 6.15. It appears that John is a regular contributor to Fisherman’s Blues.

The rain stopped after ten minutes and I got out of the car and readied myself for the short walk to the river. It was a very warm humid morning and I was glad that I only had a short walk ahead of me. I wondered how high the water level would be, as on my last visit it was seriously low and I had vowed not to venture out until we’d had significant rainfall.

I went through the hand gate and approached the river, the gravel bed upstream was no longer visible and rafts of streamer weed were clinging to the partly submerged trees. A sign that the water had been higher in the week and had dropped significantly. This was confirmed as I walked downstream to my chosen swim noting that where the river had receded, deposits of weed and rubbish lined the banks. I estimated that it was around two feet above normal summer level and had been as high as four feet above NSL. With just a tinge of colour I reckoned the barbel would feed today.

My chosen swim was the same swim which had produced my first Trent double, an absolute beauty of exactly 12lbs caught on the opening weekend two season’s ago. The same season I had a five fish haul from the same place, a catch which included two fish over 11lb and one just short of 10lb. I had rarely fished it since, as word had spread and it got a bit of a hammering. I wondered if I would match that feat this morning.

Nice mid river snag, a swim that anglers dream about

The swim is a barbel anglers dream with a snag in the middle of the river at the end of a shallow gravel run. The water on the nearside is quite shallow with very little flow, gradually dropping to about four feet deep in the middle of the river where the current picks up considerably. Today the gravel bottom was not visible and a nice crease had formed where the water starts to deepen. This I reasoned was where the barbel would be lying, picking off any offerings being swept downstream by the current without using a great deal of energy.

My set-up was simple, a free running medium sized open-end feeder with enough lead added just to hold bottom. This was threaded onto 12lb Maxima with a snag-free safety clip, the short 9″ hooklength was again Maxima but 10lb bs and this was joined to the main line with a swivel. A size 8 barbless Owner hook tied with a knotless knot completed the rig. Bait was my favourite elips pellets super glued one either side of the hair.

The groundbait mix, which only needed a little water adding, was Meaty Marine method mix, with crushed Elips, ground hemp and finally some brown crumb added for stiffness. This is crammed into the feeder so it takes around 20 minutes or so to empty, and sometimes it can take as long as 40 minutes. I’m not one for putting loads of bait into a swim, but rather looking to tempt them into feeding. In my opinion, and it’s only my opinion, fishing this way may not produce a quantity of fish but often produces better specimens.

Just before 7 o’clock I made my first cast of the morning and the feeder landed exactly where I wanted it to, right on the edge of the crease. After placing the rod in the rest I sat back to take in the surroundings and poured myself a coffee.

Conditions were absolutely perfect; a river carrying a couple of feet of water and a warm overcast morning, I was half expecting a take immediately but all I was getting were the taps and plucks of what I suspected were small chub and dace.

After twenty minutes I reeled in and topped up the half empty feeder and recast to the same spot. The bird life was quite active now, the sand martins were swooping and gliding high in the sky and I watched as a kingfisher landed on the mid river snag before diving below the surface to grab a minnow. My mind started drifting to how the river had changed over the years. I first fished the upper Trent some 35 years ago and with the power stations discharging warm water into the river year round sport was guaranteed. Indeed it was not unusual to catch roach and gudgeon heavily laden with spawn in the depths of winter. Once the power stations stopped things changed and although still not as prolific the Upper Trent is still a fabulous river, completely natural and most of it unspoilt by man. Much of it has rarely seeing an angler.

I was aroused from thoughts by my rod dipping alarmingly towards the river and as I struck into the fish the clutch on the old Mitchell started screaming. I let her run about 10 to 15 yards downstream then started gently coaxing her back towards me. It was a good fish and within five minutes she was safely in the net. Not quite a double but a good fish of 9-12, a nice start to the day.

I recast and less than twenty minutes later the rod slammed over again and I was into my second of the day, not such a powerful run this time but it still felt a very good fish. I saw how big she was when she rolled on the surface some five minutes later. She looked like a double and she was, tipping the scales at 11-4.

So far so good. The first hour and a half had produced two fish, one a double and one almost a double. Another half hour passed before the rod went again and this time after a powerful surge downstream I was left with slack line as the hook pulled out. Amid lot’s of cursing and swearing I changed the hook and recast and within five minutes I was in again, this time a scale perfect six pounder was the culprit.

I re-cast, sat back, lit a cigarette and poured myself a coffee. It was a very warm morning and still very overcast and a slight breeze was now rippling the water. I don’t know how long had passed before the rod went again but a heavy fish shot off downstream, with the clutch on the Mitchell set a little tighter I gradually got her under control before coaxing her back towards the net. Just as I was about to slip the net under her she decided the snag in mid river was her route to freedom and made a spirited dash for it. Realizing this fish was the biggest of the day so far I re-gained control and finally slipped the net under a fish of 11-14. My best of the season and the third biggest I had ever caught.

One of the smaller ones of the upper Trent barbel Paul caught that morning

I was over the moon, four caught, one lost and it was still not 10 o’clock. I had another three hours ahead of me and set my sights on doing something I’d never yet done, catching three doubles in one session.

Sadly it was not to be, although I had three more, a couple of sevens and a low eight and lost another to a hook pull, the third double eluded me. I still left the river a happy man as it is my biggest haul since I started barbel fishing seriously some six or seven years ago.

This was an exceptional day and I put it down to the following factors: conditions with the water dropping after flood, weather not bright but dull, overcast and warm, and finally being in the right place at the right time. I spoke to another local barbel angler the following week who had fished further upstream and he blanked in a swim we have both taken good fish from.

On average since I started targeting the Upper Trent three years ago almost one in three fish has been a double. I’ve not had great quantity’s of fish, in fact I’ve only had 28 fish in total, nine of these though have been doubles. I only get out about 14/15 times a season, mainly early morning or late evening sessions and I’ve had my share of blanks.

There is so much water to go at and so many new areas to explore that I think some special fish could be on the cards. It’s also a very beautiful river, full of character and is a special place for me with lot’s of memory’s.