The rain for the previous few days had scuppered my plans for a bit of end of season trout fishing. Although they hadn't gone up much, the rivers I have access to were well coloured. But, rising rivers mean barbel feeding. This presented another set of problems, where to fish. Some spots were ruled out due to road closures for the cycling. Others were ruled out due to the water level. Too high to fish from the bottom of the bank, but too low to fish from the top. There's no half way due to the steepness of the banks. In the end I opted for the Derwent. Unfortunately the river dropped about a foot while I was there.. Probably due to the sluices been opened. as there still appeared to be a bit of water still to come down.
The plan of attack was simple. Pellet and mesh bag in the barbel swim. Lob worm dropped in various interesting spots elsewhere. The barbel swim was very quiet. Apart from a few rattles I had just the one bite, which after a hectic couple of minutes threw the hook. Not sure what it was though.
The worm, though, did sterling work picking out dace around the 4-6oz mark, roach to just over a pound and some small chub. Which would have been a lot more fun taken on appropriate tackle rather than a barbel outfit. Surprisingly, despite the kit used, the bites were all very positive and I don't think I'd of caught any more with a lighter set up.
One surprising aspect of the day was the number of Martins still about. They appeared to be heading down stream in quite large flocks. As usual though, the Derwent babel were elusive.
A change of plans meant I could get out fishing today, but where to go. A look at Gauge Map showed The Dales rivers rising upstream and from the times it should get to any of he spots I have access to by around eleven o'clock or so. With it being a bright day I decided on The Wharfe as I'd never had a problem in the past with catching on bright days. In fact the last trip here had produced a couple of fish during on of the hottest days of the year.
When I arrived the river hadn't started to rise so I took the opportunity to get plenty of pellets and hemp in the swims. The upstream swim I was going to fish luncheon meat of hemp so catapulted about a pint of hemp in around the crease. Downstream I was fishing a 12mm halibut pellet and feeding 4,6, and 8mm pellets. Initially I only needed 30-40g leads to hold bottom. As the river started to rise around mid-day I had to increase the weight until, around one, when it ha risen nearly a foot I was on 60g downstream and 100g upstream. These weights were also needed as the flood brought debris down with it.
Around half one I got the first bite, on the downstream rod. Initially it used the current on the far side and felt very heavy. eventually I managed to swing it into the slower near side, where, it the started to career about in the shallow water and wasn't easy to control. Eventually I had it in the net. As I unhooked it the other rod lurched over and the baitfeeder started to scream. By the time I'd got the first fish back in the net and into the river for a rest the other fish had got well downstream. As I lifted the rod the line appeared to be snagged in the rod rest. It had, in fact, cut in the plastic head. after a bit of faffing I got it loose and started to pump the fish back upstream. This one stayed in the faster current and couldn't be persuaded to move into the slower current. It stayed deep and continued upstream when I got it level to me. I managed to get it into the slower current where it seemed to give up until I got it near the net. Each time I got it's head over the net it turned away and manoeuvring a net with another barbel in is not easy. Third time lucky and it was in the net. The first was 7lb 5oz and the second 8lb 3oz. Not a bad haul, which also included a couple of minnows found in the bottom of the net.
Korum nets maybe nice and light, but they don't take kindly to having to haul a couple of angry barbel up the bank. It ended up misshapen. To be fair the landing net head has done well in the time I've had it and has been somewhat abused. Inspecting the rod rest head showed what appeared to be a fault in the moulding which the line had cut into, trapping it. The line, however, showed now signs of damage.
The next bite came to the pellet rod about an hour later. A 6lb 8oz barbel that, apart from it's initial rush, put up very little struggle and was quickly into the net. That was it for the day.
Not bad considering how bright it was. Even better considering the four anglers on the far bank didn't catch while I was there. The mangled landing net and faulty rod rest must have been my bad luck for the day.
Looking at Gaugemap on Thursday morning The Ure had risen and fallen on Wednesday and was rising again. A rising river is good for barbel fishing, allegedly. By the time I got there the rise had stopped, but still worth a try. With the water a rather dark colour and the froth from the weir drifting down it looked like a flat pint of Guinness.
Even before I'd set up the swan family put in an appearance. Thankfully there wasn't much weed drifting down, but there were some quite large lumps of foam.
The first rod, armed with a 12mm pellet was cast over to the far bank after I'd dropped in several handfuls of smaller pellets. On the inside line I was going to fish Spam over hemp. As I was tossing the hemp in the pellet rod looped over and I was into a hard fighting barbel of 5lb 11oz which made several determined efforts to get into the tree roots under my feet. These Ure barbel do fight above their weight. Just after I returned it the gentleman in the next swim had an 11lb+ pike, a nice looking fish it was too. While talking to his friend I had another bite on the pellet rod. When I lifted into it things felt a bit strange. After very little movement either way what ever it was started to move, but I could feel that horrible grating sensation that signifies the line is rubbing against something. As I tried to change the angle the line parted. The hook length was badly frayed when I retrieved the rig. That was to be the last bite on the pellet rig.
In the meantime the chub, or whatever, decide to prat about with my Spam. Although I had several unmissable bites I didn't contact with anything. Further upstream a huge 6lb+ chub had been taken. The evening was completely devoid of action with a couple of late arrivals not getting even a rattle even though the river looked great.
