no-one in particular
Well-known member
Better check the pictures first to make sure it is not in Canada-
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
Kevin Perkins
Well-known member
There are pylons.....and a nearby cafe sells waffles with maple syrup...
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@Clive
Well-known member
I went off to the tidal Charente for a few days fishing while my wife's sisters were here. I wanted to discover if there were any barbel that far downstream, a French version of the tidal Trent. On previous visits I had been humbled by the sheer strength of the currents during flood conditions and virtual blanks in as much as catching lots of tiny bream. This year I hoped for better.
I parked the camping-car about 6 yards from the water's edge, under the shade of a large oak tree and in a zone where you can night fish. The tide was ebbing and I fished with maggots on a waggler set shallow. The first four casts resulted in a bream, rudd, roach and dace. Fishing deeper brought bream on maggot and roach on sweetcorn. By refining the rig and method I managed to avoid the bream and catch some nice roach. In fact the whole break was a roach fest. Even when changing to feeder the roach were first to the baits.
I fished until it got too dark to see the float by which time the flood tide was picking up. It would have been nice to have had the keepnet out, but it wasn't possible due to the slimy margins.
Next morning I had a walk, coffee and took some photos.
Back to fishing again in the afternoon, this time on the main river channel, not the relief channel.
It was another roach fest on sweetcorn.
As you can see the swim is a bit tight and when I cast out for the last cast the feeder almost wiped out a bittern that was flying down the river just a few yards from the tree line. I saw it again later when I walked down to the pub for an evening meal.
So, no tidal barbel other than two small, 3" ones that I saw in the margins. Once I got there and saw the slimy mud on the river bed I didn't bother putting the big feeder rod out.
Next morning I drove up to a place that is just on the edge of the distance I would drive to for a day session. Fishing a 30g feeder with maggots and corn I got pestered by bleak on the former and had more roach on the latter. I tried soft pellets without a touch. The bright blue sky and full sun wasn't helping.
I packed up in time to get home before we all set off for a fish and chip supper on the banks of the Vienne.
I parked the camping-car about 6 yards from the water's edge, under the shade of a large oak tree and in a zone where you can night fish. The tide was ebbing and I fished with maggots on a waggler set shallow. The first four casts resulted in a bream, rudd, roach and dace. Fishing deeper brought bream on maggot and roach on sweetcorn. By refining the rig and method I managed to avoid the bream and catch some nice roach. In fact the whole break was a roach fest. Even when changing to feeder the roach were first to the baits.
I fished until it got too dark to see the float by which time the flood tide was picking up. It would have been nice to have had the keepnet out, but it wasn't possible due to the slimy margins.
Next morning I had a walk, coffee and took some photos.
Back to fishing again in the afternoon, this time on the main river channel, not the relief channel.
It was another roach fest on sweetcorn.
As you can see the swim is a bit tight and when I cast out for the last cast the feeder almost wiped out a bittern that was flying down the river just a few yards from the tree line. I saw it again later when I walked down to the pub for an evening meal.
So, no tidal barbel other than two small, 3" ones that I saw in the margins. Once I got there and saw the slimy mud on the river bed I didn't bother putting the big feeder rod out.
Next morning I drove up to a place that is just on the edge of the distance I would drive to for a day session. Fishing a 30g feeder with maggots and corn I got pestered by bleak on the former and had more roach on the latter. I tried soft pellets without a touch. The bright blue sky and full sun wasn't helping.
I packed up in time to get home before we all set off for a fish and chip supper on the banks of the Vienne.
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Islandbear
Well-known member
Well I forgot to post last bankside trip yday...hard work but gave me a chance to use and get used to the new to me speedia centrepin. Put on seely 12ft Blue Arrow match rod.
First in was a nice 1 1/4lb Crucian, lovely Rudd and half a dozen small pain in arse Perch lol.
First in was a nice 1 1/4lb Crucian, lovely Rudd and half a dozen small pain in arse Perch lol.
Kevin aka Aethelbald
Well-known member
Started this season determined to catch big chub and barbel and completely changed the way I fish in order to do so. Had several 5lb+ chub over the last two weeks and caught my first barbel today... a small one, but I was grateful for that, as it still put up enough of a fight to give me a taste for playing and landing one confidently. River Avon, Pershore area.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Its a long walk for me, must be about 1/2 mile and uphill on the way home, however been wanting to go back since I caught a nice tench a couple of months ago by this bridge. Also I spotted a nice swim near some lily pads last time which is where I started. no tench just one nice roach. Moved to the bridge swim and again no tench, just one roach. Sweetcorn was getting the most bites, more than bread and both the roach caught on it. Seemed a lot of effort for me for two roach but the walk and countryside is nice.
One Tern , a Reed warbler and some large bird I couldn't identify in the distance. Can be Hobbies, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and the usual reed buntings and warblers but not much today..
Not sure I will go back, the weather has to be nice, no wind or rain and the field can be a quagmire I have to walk through, which is why I have waited so long to go back but, we will see. As no fish pics some pics of the countryside-its certainly no commercial and it is hard fishing. The day will come when I cannot make it so making the most.
One Tern , a Reed warbler and some large bird I couldn't identify in the distance. Can be Hobbies, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and the usual reed buntings and warblers but not much today..
Not sure I will go back, the weather has to be nice, no wind or rain and the field can be a quagmire I have to walk through, which is why I have waited so long to go back but, we will see. As no fish pics some pics of the countryside-its certainly no commercial and it is hard fishing. The day will come when I cannot make it so making the most.
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barbelboi
Well-known member
I haven't posted on this thread for some time as rarely fish the close season as 90% of my fishing now takes place on the rivers within walking distance of home. It's all been much the same, roach, chub, dace more roach and the odd river carp. Barbel are a rarity unless I choose to drive so I leave them for when we visit my son and his tribe on the banks of the River Aire in west Yorkshire. On our last visit from the 29th June we managed 17 barbel and quite a few chub over three day sessions on a seven day stay.
Another cool showery day with extra water in the river. I was after barbel in a swim with a powerful flow pushing through and a narrow deep eddy where the fish hug the bank. On one side of the crease your float - an 8g job in this case - hurtles off into the distance; on the other it dawdles along the bank or circles the little pool. The flows change all the time. I started with a float and had a decent barbel after a few minutes
But I couldn't get a second bite and a fresh pulse of water came through making my float behave erratically. I took the float off and just dropped the olivette in - a risky business as the swim is a bit snaggy, but with the bait no longer being towed around by the top currents acting on the float, it stayed steadier and a few better fish came along. This was the best of them
After that, I missed a couple of bites touch legering. You don't often miss a bite from a barbel, so I was a bit puzzled until
And that was followed by another two. You go years without catching an eel, then, like buses, three come along at once.
But I couldn't get a second bite and a fresh pulse of water came through making my float behave erratically. I took the float off and just dropped the olivette in - a risky business as the swim is a bit snaggy, but with the bait no longer being towed around by the top currents acting on the float, it stayed steadier and a few better fish came along. This was the best of them
After that, I missed a couple of bites touch legering. You don't often miss a bite from a barbel, so I was a bit puzzled until
And that was followed by another two. You go years without catching an eel, then, like buses, three come along at once.
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
I went out late afternoon on a quest for a river Eden barbel. I fished a stretch of water near Penshurst Place in Kent. When I arrived I could hear loud music coming from the grounds of Penshurst Place, they must have had some kind of music festival. A DJ was playing 70’s, 80’s and 90’s music and some rock and roll. It wasn’t bad to be honest and continued to when I left around 9 pm. It was more entertaining than the fishing, that’s for sure. I had gone far lighter that usual and planned to do some roving but the farmer had released his cows into the field and some had calves. I decided to fish the fenced off part of the bank and put a good few droppers of free offerings close in. I have had success on the same swim previously but this time only had a chub of about 3lb to show for my efforts. It is a hard river and this section in particular. But there are some good fish here just not in numbers. I will perceiver but try other venues in between. It’s one of the few stretches my club owns that you can night fish and I may give that a go.
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Kevin aka Aethelbald
Well-known member
How do you present the bait when trotting for barbel, Kevin? Do you let it bounce along the bottom, or just off bottom? And what hook bait(s) do you use?
I've been fishing a spot on the Avon where I caught my first barbel (this week) and some big chub, by ledgering boilies, but I'd like to try trotting a float down it. It's pretty fast, being close to a hydro/weir.
.
Hi Kevin. Barbel will sometimes come and take feed on the drop, and now and then I catch them as the hookbait is falling. But generally it seems best to run a bait along the bottom and I'd tend to put the bulk shot or olivette a foot or so above the hook and set the float so the weight is skimming the bottom. Barbel, I've found, can be a bit lazier than the text books suggest, and whilst they like to be near fast water, they're often not it, but in the slightly slacker water adjacent to it. Do give the float a try. Don't be shy of weight - I often use floats of 6,8 or even 10g - and the float will often catch them at times - day time, sunshine etc - when anglers legering or feedering are getting very little, and plenty of hemp and small hookbaits beat baits like big pellets and boilies. A bait dropper is a good idea to get hemp down. Today, as the bottom is snaggy and I've lost too many expensive bait droppers, I fed hemp and chopped meat in ping pong ball size balls of heavy groundbait - I rarely see anyone feed groundbait except in feeders, but it works well.
Kevin aka Aethelbald
Well-known member
Kevin, the comment about laziness is interesting because when I got the barbel above, the bite was more like a chub bite, rather than the rod bender I was led to expect. Exciting stuff - feel like my fishing has turned a corner over the last few weeks.
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@Clive
Well-known member
I tried a new swim on the Vienne that I had found while walking the dog. It is only 15 minutes from home and I don't know how I have overlooked it. The area is reached by driving about a mile along an overgrown farm track and then a very short walk. That leads to around 100 metres of sandy river bank just downstream of a weir. I put Lucky Ducky on the spod rod and in three casts I had sussed that it 2m at the upper end mid river, dropping to 2.1m at the lower end and shelving up to just over a metre two rod lengths out. The bottom was hard and even so it passed that test.
Five or six bait droppers of mixed cereals, maggots and pellets were cast out just my side of the surface bubbles. Then I put half a prawn on the heavy rod and cast that out around 30 to 35 yards to the baited area. That was followed by a bunch of maggots on the lighter rod cast upstream, but along the baited area. I got a bite straight away on the maggots, a carassin of about a pound and a half. That was followed by small bream and bleak. When I got a 2" bleak on a 12 hook baited with 2 casters and 3 maggots I realised that this tactic wasn't going to work. I hadn't any sweetcorn and they wouldn't take fake baits. Also, the swim was in full sun which made it uncomfortable. So I packed up and will return another day armed with sweetcorn.
I drove to a town about 10 miles downstream and found a shady swim in woodland. I only set the heavy rod up as the swim was too tight for double rods. First cast with garlic sausage bait got a solid take. The 100 year old pike / salmon rod went way beyond its test curve and line was pouring off the 110 year old reel despite full braking being deployed. As usual the fish ran downstream about 30 yards before the rod tip, which was underwater to prevent tangling branches, swished straight and the fish was gone. 12lb fluoro' broken at the loop knot. Other than a few half hearted tugs at prawn baits that was me done.
Five or six bait droppers of mixed cereals, maggots and pellets were cast out just my side of the surface bubbles. Then I put half a prawn on the heavy rod and cast that out around 30 to 35 yards to the baited area. That was followed by a bunch of maggots on the lighter rod cast upstream, but along the baited area. I got a bite straight away on the maggots, a carassin of about a pound and a half. That was followed by small bream and bleak. When I got a 2" bleak on a 12 hook baited with 2 casters and 3 maggots I realised that this tactic wasn't going to work. I hadn't any sweetcorn and they wouldn't take fake baits. Also, the swim was in full sun which made it uncomfortable. So I packed up and will return another day armed with sweetcorn.
I drove to a town about 10 miles downstream and found a shady swim in woodland. I only set the heavy rod up as the swim was too tight for double rods. First cast with garlic sausage bait got a solid take. The 100 year old pike / salmon rod went way beyond its test curve and line was pouring off the 110 year old reel despite full braking being deployed. As usual the fish ran downstream about 30 yards before the rod tip, which was underwater to prevent tangling branches, swished straight and the fish was gone. 12lb fluoro' broken at the loop knot. Other than a few half hearted tugs at prawn baits that was me done.
Alan Whitty
Well-known member
I went yesterday to the small river, mainly to meet up with a long time mate(Mark) who had a prostrate op around 3 weeks ago and pass him some uncooked hemp, upon arrival at 4.25am(yuk) I waited a couple of minutes for Mark to arrive, then chanked until the 5am entry time, he opted for the flyer(flat track bully Hugh), I wanted to try the top end, upon walking up there I found the three decent swims up there to be totally overgrown and only fishable on the lead, so back down and sat in a peg that I don't enjoy fishing much because there is a big slack in front of you and 5yds of very fast swirly water over, out went the float, and first trot a modest barbel on, sadly it and its following two mates disappeared up a narrow neck upstream and cut me off in what I suppose was a branch, I went on to catch more than a few barbel, 8 or 9 small berties, a roach and a few chub...
Islandbear
Well-known member
Early doors that had a definite autumnal look and feel about it.
First swim couldnt get past the lil silvers so moved. Yes, they followed lol, but managed a couple of Tench, a Carp and a pair of bream. Good to get practice in with the centrepin and always good to sit bankside.
First swim couldnt get past the lil silvers so moved. Yes, they followed lol, but managed a couple of Tench, a Carp and a pair of bream. Good to get practice in with the centrepin and always good to sit bankside.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
It's been a few weeks since I last fished. July and August are usually too hot and dry, the barbel rarely feed well in the low summer flow leaving just the bream to take my baits. But yesterday I took a drive along my local stretch of river and found a good flow and slightly coloured water, Hmmm!
So I actually woke early this morning, my anglers instincts had been stirred and I quickly dressed. Just one rod packed and some bits, I had an idea a carp might lie close to a spot I could park close to the river.
Arriving at the swim it looked perfect, except the river was 3` lower than when I last fished it in February. Fortunately my Gardner XL landing net handle would reach, but landing a good fish would be "interesting"......not helped by a small boat chained to a tree at the only accessible spot. Oh, the joys of river fishing!
First cast and after 10 minutes a "three foot twitch" led to a nice fight and a 4.5lb barbel. Good start!
That fish took a good 10 minutes to revive in the net, summer water temperatures do not suit barbel.
So eventually I cast out my 18mm boilie and PVA bag of bits and settled down for the wait. About 30 minutes past and the sun was rising, it would become a hot day but I would have shade until lunch. I was starting to think I may have missed my dawn fish but then my rod tip started twitching. I fed the taking fish a bit of line but it was persistently tugging. I have seen this before and decided a fish had hooked itself but not really felt the hook and panicked, so I tightened down. That woke the fish up, obviously a decent carp!
Interesting fight, I had to keep it in the "pool" in front of me and stop it going downstream around the end of the island. It was a mixture of bullying only when I had to and leading it the rest of the time. Probably about 20 minutes of this and the fish never absolutely panicked, then I had to lead the tiring carp to swim upstream of the chained boat.
It tried several time to go under the boat but eventually it was in the net. I was relieved it was not bigger as it was a vertical lift of about 6` and I had to reduce the length of the net handle as I brought it up. Tree branches above and behind had me stuck with the handle at full length, more joys of river fishing!
It went 26lbs with the net head, afterwards the net was weighed at 1.3lbs wet.
So an interesting procedure to lower the carp back to the river, it recovered much more quickly than the barbel. I think I took longer than the carp!
I fished on and had another barbel about 5lbs. Then a horn sounded and there was a river cruiser rapidly approaching my line, time to pack up.
Home by lunchtime and beating the sun and heat. perfect morning session!
So I actually woke early this morning, my anglers instincts had been stirred and I quickly dressed. Just one rod packed and some bits, I had an idea a carp might lie close to a spot I could park close to the river.
Arriving at the swim it looked perfect, except the river was 3` lower than when I last fished it in February. Fortunately my Gardner XL landing net handle would reach, but landing a good fish would be "interesting"......not helped by a small boat chained to a tree at the only accessible spot. Oh, the joys of river fishing!
First cast and after 10 minutes a "three foot twitch" led to a nice fight and a 4.5lb barbel. Good start!
That fish took a good 10 minutes to revive in the net, summer water temperatures do not suit barbel.
So eventually I cast out my 18mm boilie and PVA bag of bits and settled down for the wait. About 30 minutes past and the sun was rising, it would become a hot day but I would have shade until lunch. I was starting to think I may have missed my dawn fish but then my rod tip started twitching. I fed the taking fish a bit of line but it was persistently tugging. I have seen this before and decided a fish had hooked itself but not really felt the hook and panicked, so I tightened down. That woke the fish up, obviously a decent carp!
Interesting fight, I had to keep it in the "pool" in front of me and stop it going downstream around the end of the island. It was a mixture of bullying only when I had to and leading it the rest of the time. Probably about 20 minutes of this and the fish never absolutely panicked, then I had to lead the tiring carp to swim upstream of the chained boat.
It tried several time to go under the boat but eventually it was in the net. I was relieved it was not bigger as it was a vertical lift of about 6` and I had to reduce the length of the net handle as I brought it up. Tree branches above and behind had me stuck with the handle at full length, more joys of river fishing!
It went 26lbs with the net head, afterwards the net was weighed at 1.3lbs wet.
So an interesting procedure to lower the carp back to the river, it recovered much more quickly than the barbel. I think I took longer than the carp!
I fished on and had another barbel about 5lbs. Then a horn sounded and there was a river cruiser rapidly approaching my line, time to pack up.
Home by lunchtime and beating the sun and heat. perfect morning session!
Having fished less this year than I can ever remember due to other commitments when the chance arose to have a couple of days I jumped at it and set off after a Barbel. I had my specimen head on so intentionally tried to avoid the places I knew I could bag up and set my stall out for a better fish.
As is usual when I have a bit more time on my hands I spent a fair proportion of it just driving round looking at various spots. I had not fished the river for a while and it looked a little out of sorts however I finally settled on a stretch that I knew quite well but decided to fish a slower deeper area I had not fished before. I put out a decent amount of hemp and pellets and then made myself comfortable with the intention to sit it out and wait for the fish to come to me. An hour or two in and I had a thumping take that I somehow contrived to miss. Swinging the bait back out I only had to wait a few minutes before it thumped round again and I landed a Barbel of around 6lb.
Someone liked the bait..
Given it was now already past 5pm and with all the bait I put out and the fish apparently coming on the feed it didn’t make much sense what I did next....I decided to up sticks and drive 40mins to a totally new stretch I have never fished before !!! Its hard to explain but I just felt that I was in the wrong spot and if I wanted the chance of a better fish I needed to move. Call it angling intuition or just stupidity I have no idea ! ..Throwing all the gear in the car I raced off to the new area. With evening starting to set in I had a quick plumb around and found a nice gravel run in about 10 foot of water & droppered out some more hemp and pellets and flicked out a couple of baits. With the sun starting to drop the rod tore off and I hooked a fish that held deep but with sustained pressure I eventually got it in the net - which shattered as I attempted to hoist the fish up the steep overgrown bank !…I have lost count of the number of net heads and handles I have now gone through.
The fish was a well proportioned chunky fish that felt heavier than I expected so I decided to weigh it & was pleasantly surprised when it tipped the scales at 9lb 3oz. I know fish of that size are hardly worth a mention in the UK but in France that’s a very good fish.
9lb 3oz ..small fry for the UK but a nice fish for France..
The rest of the trip was conducted in less than ideal blazing hot bright sun so I took the opportunity to look around a few more areas and went home happy with the fish and the new stretch found. It was nice to get the rods out again.
As is usual when I have a bit more time on my hands I spent a fair proportion of it just driving round looking at various spots. I had not fished the river for a while and it looked a little out of sorts however I finally settled on a stretch that I knew quite well but decided to fish a slower deeper area I had not fished before. I put out a decent amount of hemp and pellets and then made myself comfortable with the intention to sit it out and wait for the fish to come to me. An hour or two in and I had a thumping take that I somehow contrived to miss. Swinging the bait back out I only had to wait a few minutes before it thumped round again and I landed a Barbel of around 6lb.
Someone liked the bait..
Given it was now already past 5pm and with all the bait I put out and the fish apparently coming on the feed it didn’t make much sense what I did next....I decided to up sticks and drive 40mins to a totally new stretch I have never fished before !!! Its hard to explain but I just felt that I was in the wrong spot and if I wanted the chance of a better fish I needed to move. Call it angling intuition or just stupidity I have no idea ! ..Throwing all the gear in the car I raced off to the new area. With evening starting to set in I had a quick plumb around and found a nice gravel run in about 10 foot of water & droppered out some more hemp and pellets and flicked out a couple of baits. With the sun starting to drop the rod tore off and I hooked a fish that held deep but with sustained pressure I eventually got it in the net - which shattered as I attempted to hoist the fish up the steep overgrown bank !…I have lost count of the number of net heads and handles I have now gone through.
The fish was a well proportioned chunky fish that felt heavier than I expected so I decided to weigh it & was pleasantly surprised when it tipped the scales at 9lb 3oz. I know fish of that size are hardly worth a mention in the UK but in France that’s a very good fish.
9lb 3oz ..small fry for the UK but a nice fish for France..
The rest of the trip was conducted in less than ideal blazing hot bright sun so I took the opportunity to look around a few more areas and went home happy with the fish and the new stretch found. It was nice to get the rods out again.
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had a short trotting session on the river nidd at knaresborough today.fished from 9am till 2pm.took my new abu 507 mk 11 for a test drive and trotted maggots in between the picnic area and the bridge.ended up with 5 grayling 4 dace and 3 brown trout plus countless minnows.biggest fish was a grayling around the 1.5lb mark. perfect conditions and the reel was superb.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
Lovely barbel Philip!
Between us we have got through some net heads! I still have my earliest folding Korum net, that was badly buckled so I bought a new one that only lasted one outing before the new design of frame hinge broke.
I found another folding net from a different brand name and took a chance it might have the older style of hinge. No, it was the new weak style of hinge and actually broke the first time I opened it!
Both those frames have now been fixed to alloy spreader blocks and have stainless screws holding the ends where the hinge used to be. Fixed frames but I have lifted a few carp vertically with them now of 19lbs, 24lbs and 28lbs. The frames have twisted a little but the assemblies have held together.
I still have the original folding net which has a crude double hinge that allows some flex. No doubt it will break eventually but it's handy as a spare.
Perhaps it is asking a lot to make these folding nets stronger, but those new style hinges are a poor design and the plastic is really weak!
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It was actually the handle not the net head that shattered this time Steve. It was a Drennan twist lock...the net was extended so I tried to carefully grab the net head to lift but didnt quite make it and it broke.
Agree about the Korum net heads...I was using a repaired older model on this trip as it was already in the car. ....the newer versions are absolute garbage and I had the hinge go on me as well in no time at all. In the tackle mountain I actually have a large Gardener spoon net head that looks well made ....however its not folding. Time will tell if its up to the task. I'll keep you posted ;-)
Agree about the Korum net heads...I was using a repaired older model on this trip as it was already in the car. ....the newer versions are absolute garbage and I had the hinge go on me as well in no time at all. In the tackle mountain I actually have a large Gardener spoon net head that looks well made ....however its not folding. Time will tell if its up to the task. I'll keep you posted ;-)