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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A BRACE OF PERSONAL BESTSDownpours, bright sunshine and strong winds that threatened to fell every tree in sight. I’m talking about the weather I encountered on my first barbel session of July. And all that within the first hour as well. Is it little surprise that the weather is a constant topic of conversation for those that live within the British Isles?
As soon as I saw it I knew it was a PB As the evening wore on, both the rain and the wind receded, and the rest of the session was rather pleasant, weather wise. But I had to wait until dark before the first bite. It was a chub. Not a big one and I was truly amazed how it had managed to get such a large boilie into its mouth. Almost immediately after casting out I had another chub. But this one was much larger. In fact, as soon as I slipped the net under it I new I was looking at a new personal best. I’ve only been chub fishing seriously for the last couple of winters. Fishing the Trent tributaries, the Mease and the Sow, where, in all honesty a four-pound fish is a good one. I had already decided that this season was the one in which I would extend my personal best chub. And to that effect, from September onwards I intend to fish rivers that have the potential to put a good fish on the bank. So, it was certainly a welcome surprise to beat a target so early on.
Chub and more chub, but no barbel The rest of the session produced a further seven fish, all chub. And every one fell to my home-made boilie as well. I probably had twice as many runs as fish landed. I’ve never felt confident about fishing the hair rig for chub, much preferring to hook the bait direct. As a lot of the fish attempting to take the boily were probably quite small I got the impression they were picking up the bait without engaging with the hook itself. The ones I did land were decent enough fish, but it was barbel I was really after. I did connect with Mr Whiskers though, later in the session. Unfortunately, for me, the second barbel in a row hooked on the Severn took me into a snag. Just like its predecessor it left me wondering what I’d lost, as both fish were what could be termed very good fish. I’ve said it before, and no doubt I’ll say it again many more times – it’s a thin line between success and failure. Still, driving home I had the new personal best chub to console me, as I mentally planned my next trip back to the river. But I was back, and this time it was serious! And my next trip indeed did come round. It was one of those rare free Sunday evenings that I have from time to time. And so taking full advantage of the situation I again set off on the M5 bound for south Worcestershire. I’m sure come next March, I’ll be as much part of the furniture of the motorway system as those cones that seem to adorn every couple of miles or so! When I arrived at my chosen peg, there were a couple of anglers fishing on the far bank. Out of courtesy to them I decided to do away with the bait dropper and catapult the bait instead. However, this proved a futile exercise so I was forced to set up the bait dropper. But, bear in mind the lower Severn is quite wide and there was plenty of distance between us, so I didn’t disturb their fishing really. As I was fishing up to a third of the way across and they were down the side there was no potential conflict involved as I proceeded to ‘splosh’ away.
After I put the bait out and prior to fishing itself I witnessed the two extremes of attitude that can be experienced when encountering boat owners. Two young lads came downstream in a dingy type boat. When they saw anglers they cut off their engine and drifted down the centre of the river so as not to cause disturbance. I said thank you to them, by the way. This sort of attitude needs to be applauded. Five minutes later another two lads came downstream. When they came to the area where the anglers were they revved up their engine to what I imagine was full power. They then proceeded to do circles in the area, causing wash to batter the banks. After doing this for a minute or two they then proceeded to race upstream, making noises that wouldn’t have gone amiss on an Apache war party. Idiots! The beginning of a barbel bonanza By the time I had cast out the river was returned to its peaceful condition. Although it was 6pm it was still quite warm and it was only as the sun set that I started to get taps as the eels made their presence known. At 10.15 pm I was into the first fish of the session, a barbel that had taken the bait on the left-hand rod. As the last two fish I had hooked on the river had been lost it was with great relief that I slipped the net under this one. And at 9-3-8, it was very welcome indeed.
A pattern was now developing, left-hand rod barbel, right-hand rod chub and so on. This was continued when, surprise, surprise, the next fish, at 1am was a 2lb-plus chub that took a fancy to the bait on the right-hand rod! At 1.50am true to form, the sequence continued, with the rod on the left coming to life as another barbus barbus decided to take the bait. Striking, I could tell this was a good one. Even though I got it to the net several times, on each occasion it decided it didn’t want to play the game and proceeded to power back into the deeps of the river. A PB that made my day The first time I saw the fish was when it finally yielded and surrendered itself to the landing net. Gazing down, I could see that a good fish was about to make my day. An easy double, I set it at a good twelve, in my usual conservative approach to fish weights. However, when the readout settled at 13lb 11oz I wasn’t surprised in any way.
Barbel campaign results table Lower Severn Sessions: 6
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Next Thursday it’s back to my current tench campaign in Shropshire. I would love to say that the title of next week’s article is ‘All at 6’s and 7’s’. But it isn’t! So, join me next week when I tell you how I’ve been ‘ALL AT 4’S AND 5’S’. Still, you can only catch what’s in there can’t you? The Reverend Stewart R Bloor Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday! |
Welcome!Log into your account
