Digital Diary – Upper Trent PB

The level was up just a couple of inches on the last time we’d been on the river, and there was just a tinge of colour; nothing to get excited about but enough to give us hope. The only thing that was really against us was the temperature; the east wind was making it a thick overcoat colder than it would have been with the wind coming from a different direction.

We decided to fish from the same spot, with Dave casting a little upstream and me casting a little downstream, with both of us sheltering from that cruel easterly under one large Brotel.

The older you get the more the comfort factor heads to the top of your list of priorities, and I’m old enough for it to be nudging the number one spot. So it was a case of bugger the sitting holding the rod and opt for a rod rest and a primed baitrunner facility, while we watched from behind the comfort of the canvas.

On arrival we had tossed in a few handfuls of pellets and we fished swimfeeders filled with soaked pellets. Small PVA bags were hung on the hooks when we swung the tackle into the margin swims. A BFW boilie was the chosen hookbait for both of us, the main line being 12lb Krystonite and the 10lb hooklength a new fluoro that we’re testing for Kryston. Incidentally, the results so far suggest that it’ll be a winner, it lies exceptionally straight and limp and has so far proved to be reliable.

The whole of the afternoon went without a single knock and the wind didn’t get any warmer. About 90 minutes into darkness it did drop a little and we ventured from under the Brotel to stretch our legs. Standing behind the rods, we looked at our watches and I said, “let’s give it 20 minutes and then we’ll call it…….” And that was as far as I got, for my rod lurched over, the baitrunner kicked in, and something took off at breakneck speed for the middle of the river.

Graham’s best upper Trent barbel to date at 11lb 10oz (click for bigger picture)

It took me about five minutes to land it. The fish, obviously a decent barbel, just wouldn’t give up, bending the Harrison Chimera rod right down to the corks. As it slid into the net that Dave held ready we both muttered, “double.”

And so it was at 11lb 10oz, my best upper Trent fish to date. And what a fish! Immaculate condition, perfect shape, big fins and built like a school bully. I think I was more pleased with the condition of the fish as I was the weight. The mouth had my hook in it and no sign whatsoever that it had ever been caught before.

We fished on in the hope that we would be blessed with another one, but it wasn’t to be.