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.

Pilgrim’s Progress – read it everyThursday!

Take Me To The River

Those who read Pilgrim’s Progress regularly (and remember thecontents!) will know that my river season didn’t exactly get off to aflying start. In fact, three visits to the Teme and one to the Severnin opening week, in pursuit of big barbel, actually produced a smallchub and an eel. Still, I’m often a slow developer as far as anglinggoes and I wasn’t too despondent. I would liken my angling campaignsto that of a long distance runner rather than the sprinter. I maylack the initial burst, but usually come good in the end, through acombination of sheer determination, commitment and effort.

A number of lake and gravel pit trips then intervened and I wasnot back on the flowing version until early in July. A visit to theRiver Mease was a confidence booster with some chub caught to 3 lb.Certainly nice fish, particularly as they came from the upper reachesof the river in Leicestershire. They were rather on the thin side,but come autumn as they begin to pack on the weight, they’ll benudging the 4 lb mark. The stretch of the Mease that I fished is ineffect no more than a small stream, and I do not exaggerate the pointif I say that one can literally step across to the other side inplaces.

But I do like those sort of venues, which are definitely suited tothe roving angler. Travelling light, rucksack on back and rod and netin hand, I always get a real thrill from exploring eachchubby-looking swim. The anticipation of the rod tip bending over, tothen strike into a decent chub, is one that constantly spurs me on.In fact, call me crazy, but as I roved along the meadows on thatbeautiful summer’s day, I was actually looking forward to thosecrisp, cold winter nights that mean one thing, and one thing only -chub.

First trip to the Dove

I have recently taken out a new club card that has opened up somedecent barbel fishing on the River Dove. If you’re a regular readerof Graham Marsden’s Digital Diary on FISHINGmagic, you will realisethat we’re currently fishing the same stretch. My first trip to theDove, the last week of July, resulted in my first barbel of the newseason. (I told you I was a late developer).

As a matter of fact I thought I had connected with a real biggie,as it went off uncontrollably downstream. The words ‘express train’come to mind when describing the fight the fish gave. Grateful thatthere were no bankside bushes or other obstacles, I had no option butto follow it downstream, pursued by Graham with his camera, and DaveColclough carrying my landing net. The fish weighed in at 6-8-0. Butlike Prince Naseem, it certainly packed a punch far more powerfulthan its actual size suggested. Later that night I caught a beam ofexactly 4 lb. On strong barbel gear, it was, however, simply a caseof hauling it in.

I bagged a brace

The next trip resulted in a blank, but the final outing of Julysaw a brace of barbel make the unhooking mat stage. Weighing in at8-5-8 and 7-9-0, I was now well and truly off the mark. The fish werecertainly battling away as if their very lives depended on not beingcaught. In my limited experience of the Dove (this is my secondseason) I place the barbel in the river on a comparable level to theTeme fish. It’s hardly surprising as the two rivers are very similar.Small, intimate and full of hard fighting fish that are never farfrom a snag.

Targeting big fish means the inevitable blank from time to timeand it was a trip or two later before I again connected with moreDove barbel. By now it was the second week in August and I was on theriver for a two night session. I much prefer, whenever possible, tofish longer periods rather than shorter ones. It increases thechances of connecting with a fish feeding spell and indeed in thesedays of high petrol costs, a three day session on a distance venue ischeaper than three separate trips.

Then a treble

Pitching my Brotel right at the river’s edge, I felt confidentthat I would soon be amongst the fish. That very night I had threebarbel, all caught in a forty five minute spell. Weighing in at8-11-8, 7-12-8 and 5-3-0, again I was well pleased with the trio ofWhiskers that meant a good start to the session. The next fish cameat lunchtime the next day. Caught in bright sunshine, it wasn’treally a surprise as my first three barbel from the Dove this seasonall came out during the day when the sun was very bright and theriver low and clear. And then as darkness fell, nothing. That’sfishing.

Anyway, back to the session in question. The lunchtime fish, whichwas 8-11-8, I quickly recognised as the fish of the same weightcaught the day before. It had very distinctive anal and dorsal fins.It also put up an incredible fight. So much so, that combining itspugilistic qualities with its unique fin structure, I decided to givethe fish a name – Finny Jones. Looking through my photographs, I wasalso pleasantly surprised to discover it was the same fish thatGraham had caught two weeks earlier at 8-11-0.

A strike in the night

The session ended with another barbel. This one registered at6-8-0 and again put up a fight that suggested it was much bigger. Ialso lost an even bigger fish as the session came to an end. Drivingback home down the A38, I was already planning my next trip ‘upNorth’ to tackle the Dove barbel. I know Graham Marsden has longenthused about the Dove and its inhabitants. I think it must becontagious, because the couple of nights following this trip I dreamtI was pitched on the river bank. Waking a few times I fumbled aroundin the darkness of the Bloor bedroom looking for a rod to strike.Fortunately, on this occasion, my wife Debby did not stir, so shehasn’t called for the men in white coats just yet.

Bringing this weeks Pilgrim’s Progress up to date, I againintended to spend a couple of nights ‘Broteled up’ by the river thatis occupying a lot of my thoughts at the present time. The riverlooked good and I was expecting a barbel bonanza. It certainly lookedthat way, as the first 12 hours produced 5 fish. Barbel of 8-2-0,7-15-0, 7-14-0 and 6-4-0 together with a chub that weighed in at3-5-8, all combined together to make me a happy man.

And a stormy end to the session

However, without any warning whatsoever, the heavens opened andan almighty storm battered the river for at least an hour. It seemedas if the whole Dove catchment area must have suffered this storm, asthe river rose rapidly. Even a 3 oz lead was not sufficient to holdthe nearside. Weed became a major problem, plus the numerous logs andbranches floating downstream, that resulted in lost tackle. Knowingwhen I am beaten, I packed up and headed home. Certainly I feltdisappointed, but at least I had caught four nice barbel, so itwasn’t the end of the world.

Looking forward to the campaign ahead

So, after a slow start, I’ve now had 12 barbel in three weeks.Bearing in mind that I go for quality rather than quantity, my Doveaverage at the moment is 7lb 7oz, so I’m pleased with that. A lot ofthe fish that I have caught are long and sleek, and will certainlypack on weight as autumn approaches. The four fish that I have caughtso far on this campaign that have been over 8 pound will be good’nines’ by the end of the river season next year. As my thoughts wereforward looking when fishing the Mease, likewise with the Dove I’manticipating a good campaign ahead.

Next week, it’s THAT time again.Time to get out my crash helmet and lie low for a week. Yes, ‘Thetongue in cheek’ series rears it’s ugly head again. Next Thursday,join me as we look at ‘The Tongue In Cheek Guide To SpecimenHunting‘. See you next week.

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