Nearly Cut Off By Flood Water

 When I arrived at the river it was up and slowly rising. By the time I'd found a swim it started to rise a lot faster. The swim I found had a slack on the far side and a large eddy on the near side. Initially 3oz was enough to hold on the far side, but very quickly 4oz then 5oz weren't enough especially given the amount of debris coming down. With the eddy slowly disappearing I dropped a 14mm pellet down the bank on the corner of the eddy. The 8mm pellet went down the bank under the rod tip to the left. Over the next three hours the river rose around four foot.

The rods were regularly dragged over by debris during this time. Much to my surprise I found a small gudgeon had attempt to swallow an 8mm pellet and managed to get itself hooked. I had seen some knocks on that rod but I assumed it was the twigs drifting around that were hitting the line. A while later while talking to a chap by the name of Ian, a reader of the blog, he pointed out that the other rod had lurched over. I had my back to it. After a brief but hectic fight a nice barbel was landed. We estimated around 7-8lb. It weighed in at 7lb 2oz.

Ian wander upstream to try a slack up there. I carried on for a while before noticing one of the banksticks was surrounded by water. The branch in the first couple of pictures was now drifting around in what was left of the eddy. I thought that if the river continued to rise it wouldn't be long before it was well and truly over the bank and into the meadow. Time to pack up. As I was packing up I discovered that the bottom of the rod holdall had a hole in it and the umbrella pole was poking through. Given it was nearly twenty years old the holdall hadn't done bad. Ian haddn't caught anything as I passed. When i got to the stile it was surrounded by a foot or so of water. I let Ian know and we both managed to get over it before we could be marooned, ended up filling our wellies.

 

Not a bad day considering. Nice and warm with the odd kite and buzzard drifting about. I'm sure the bag is repairable.

Barbel Session And A Half

 Friday, after a spot of River Fly Monitoring, I headed to the a river for a short session after barbel. With the river up and coloured conditions looked just right, but he lack of cars was a bit of a surprise. A wander about found three others fishing none of whom had had anything. I settled into a swim that normally produced when the rivers was a metre up. Standard pellet feeder and ledger tactics were used. One rod dropped in upstream next to what would normally be the bankside vegetation. The other downstream on the edge of a slack. Apart from a large branch and a lot of leaves there was no action at all.

 Sunday I went up to a stretch of river that years ago I wouldn't have considered deliberately fishing for barbel. Have have always been there but not in any numbers. They would occasional turn up for anglers fishing for other species but would often be lost. The barbel seem to have spread down the river to the point where they are worth fishing for along most of it's length. The unusual tactics were employed. Feeder and ledger with pellets. A14mm on one rod and 8mm on the other.

The weather was quite breezy by the time I got sorted. The sun was nice but kept being blotted out by the clouds. A woolly and fleece was required most of the time but a bit warm when the sun appeared for any length of time. The river was about a foot up and carrying colour. The feeder was dropped into a spot I knew to be around nine foot deep in these conditions. It was three quarters  filled with 4mm and 2mm pellets. the smaller pellets would drift out of the feeder while the larger ones would slowly dissolve leaving a scent trail. I'd found a tub of paste with a production date of 2018 at the back of the cupboard. I squeezed this onto the ledger which was tossed out into the middle. initially. After regularly having it dragged about by a build up of leaves or snagged twigs I cast it in upstream on the same line as the feeder rod.

The day wore on with very little happening. I replenished the feeder and paste at regular intervals.Tossed an assortment of pellets along the line the two baits were on. A kingfisher shot past every now and then. In the distance. Three buzzards performed aerobatics. The most entertaining, though, was a kestrel attempting to hunt but being harassed by a couple of crows. Late in the afternoon, as the temperature dropped, the downstream rod looped over and the baitrunner sounded. I wasn't sure what I'd connected with. At first I thought it may be a chub. then one of the larger feisty bream. But a small barbel surfaced. Once it saw the net it woke up a bit and took a couple of attempts to get it in. Only small but very welcome. While I rested it in the net after unhooking it I tossed the rod back out. Sorting the unhooking mat out and preparing for a picture the rod went over again. This one felt like a barbel. I was surprised, though, to find a similar sized fish on the hook when i got it to the surface. My attempt to land it with the other in the net didn't quite work as planned as the first fish made a dash for freedom the moment I sunk the net, so no brace shot.

That little flurry of action was it for the day. Mission had been accomplished though. Unlike the first the second barbel was rather reluctant to leave the net. I ha to leave a bit earlier than I'd of liked but I didn't fancy navigating the muddy pot-holed track in the dark. Even in day light I'd managed to clunk the bottom of the car.

 

I don't know if these are stocked fish. They didn't look like the stockies as they are normally a bit tubby while these were quite lean.

Whiskered Fish

The river was a few inches higher today than Monday, but a lot more coloured and tanking through at a fair rate of knots. Sat Higher up the bank than last time I dropped the feeder in close to the bank. The tip soon rattled and a little gudgeon had attached itself to the hook.

 

Over the next hour I amassed eleven of the them before something different turned up. A stone loach. It's a long long long time since I've caught one of these. I don't know how they get one maggot in their mouth never mind the three I had on the hook. They have tiny little mouths. Sadly my joy was soon tempered by the arrival of the bait stealing minnows.

Time for a cuppa. Just as I'd finished pour the water the rod tip went over. The butt lifted off the ground. The cuppa though remained intact. Grabbing the rod it was obvious a barbel had snuck in the swim and grabbed the triple maggots. It's first reaction was to head upstream slowly and relentlessly past me. some five yards up it came to a halt and wasn't too keen on turning round. I suspect it had it's head in a weed bed. Eventually it turned and slowly came back towards me. Another slow trundle upstream followed. It didn't make it to the weed bed this time.Keeping the rod high I persuaded it back towards me and up to the surface. As it came to the net I readied myself for that lunge they do when they see the net. It didn't happen and slid neatly into the net. (lb 9oz of rather anaemic looking barbel.

 After I'd finished my cuppa I put the rod back out and was soon into a dace. My expectations of more didn't materialise and the minnows returned. Nothing else but minnows were caught. The black clouds were now heading my way. Time to pack up. With great timing I'd got everything into the car when the deluge started. The barbel was a great surprise. This is the furthest downstream on this section I've caught a barbel by some miles.

Big Fish Wrecks Landing Net

The river was at a rather indifferent height when I got down there, but still carrying a bit of colour. I wandered up and down for a while pondering which swim to start in. I was the only one on the stretch, which was a bit unusual, so had far too many swims to choose from. I eventually settled for one with a nice over hanging tree down stream of me and plenty of bankside vegetation upstream.

An 8mm pellet went upstream and a 14mm pellet downstream. The feeders were half filled with 6mm pellets and topped up with 3mm. The 3mm wash out of the feeder and the 6mm stay in giving a scent trail. That's the theory anyway. I recast every half hour or so to remove any debris and top up the swim. A couple of cuppas and a sandwich later the upstream rod whacked over and a two foot branch was hauled to the surface before falling off. The rod had only been recast a minute or so when it lurched over again. This time it was definitely something fish like on the end.  Clearly a smallish barbel careering about all over the place I was surprised at it's size when it surfaced. It felt like a three pounder but looked and felt more like six when landed. It also had an odd looking scar on it's nose.

 

No sooner had I released the barbel when the downstream rod started to rattle. This felt more like a chub. I was even more convinced when it went straight into a snag. I then became a little puzzled when the snag slowly moved downstream. Steady slow cranking had the snag moving towards the surface. The snag turned out to be a double figure pike with the chub held across it's back. My attempts at filming the incident weren't very successful as I had no real idea where my phone was pointing. eventually the pike let go and the chub shot into the bankside vegetation followed by the pike which grabbed it again before letting go. I quickly had the rather battered chub in the net. A fish of nearly 4lb I can see why the pike didn't want to let go of such a large meal.

I let the somewhat battered chub rest in the landing net while I recast and made another cuppa. The landing net then suddenly shot away. The pike was back. It had obviously come back for the chub and got it's teeth snagged in the net. As I hauled it back it started to spin and mangle the net frame. The net then snagged on something down the bank. The pike let go and I managed to free the net. The chub had managed to get away during this farce.

As I attempted to bend the frame back to something like it's original shape I managed to snap the alloy frame. Anybody with any sense would have brought the rods in at this point as landing anything of size would be damn near impossible. I, however, decided to finish my cuppa. Having finished started wind in the downstream rod only to find something on the end. A bream of a couple of pounds quickly surfaced hooked the pectoral fin. Thankfully it rolled off the barbless hook. Which saved an faffing about.Don't know what I'd have done if it had been a barbel or chub properly hooked.

 

For a long time I'd had a smaller landing net head lying about in the boot of the car that would have allowed me to continue fishing, but I'd had one of those inspired moments when I thought I ought to declutter and remove them mess in the car. Tidiness isn't all it's cracked up to to be.

A Sort Of Barbel Free Barbel Session

 According to the gauges the river was still rising and should be about a yard up, so it looked like it may be a good time for another spot of barbel fishing. When I got to the river there was only a couple of cars there which was a bit of a surprise and the river wasn't quite as high as I'd expected. I also saw my first egret on this stretch. I've seen the further down, but not up here. As I got my kit out the car a couple more anglers turned up. Prospects looked good.

 

I headed downstream and plonked myself in a swim. Halibut feeder upstream and meat downstream. The upstream rod just beyond the weeds and the downstream rod in the slightly slower water midstream. The faster section being on the far bank. This was to change as the river slowly rose and the distinction slowly disappeared. A 3oz feeder held upstream, but 4oz was needed downstream. After an hour or so the upstream rod tip sprang back and I was in. Initially the fish was reasonably cooperative before it decided to head downstream. Something didn't feel right though, as if I wasn't in direct contact with the fish. The line was pointing at 45 degrees to the water but the fish had taken a lot more line and was a lot further downstream. It had clearly got under a snag. One reason I'd chosen this swim was that it was normally snag free. After a few minutes of too and fro everything went solid. I fed out some slack line and waited a good ten minutes, but it was coming out. I went for the direct pull and the line snapped with the greatest of ease. The last ten yards of the 15lb reel line was seriously chafed so of it came. I re-rigged. By now the 3oz feeder wouldn't hold bottom so I put a 4oz feeder in instead which held nicely. I'd forgotten to put the super heavy stuff in the tackle box so if things got worse it would have to be a double lead job.

Twenty minutes later the downstream rod lurched over. At first I thought it was more weed or debris on the line, but it set off downstream far far too fast for debris. Eventually i stopped the fish in it's tracks and it just hung in the current before swinging into the nearside and into some tree roots. Again I gave it so slack to no avail. I tried poking the landing net in and around the roots as this sometimes  frightens the fish out. I then went for the big heave and the 12lb hook length parted. That was to be it for me. I had expect more bites later on as this is normal ion this swim. A couple in quick(ish) succession and then nothing for a while.

The river rose around six inches while I was there. An angler I was talking to at the parking spot had taken four and lost three downstream of me. Another who'd never caught downstream of the bridge managed two, one of which was a double. Oh well. As I pondered weather to pack up as rain was expected imminently a flash of lightening and a roll of thunder made my mind up for me. I wasn't quite quick enough though. Halfway back to the car the heavens opened. By the time I got to the car it had eased off, before tipping it down again as I drove away. No fish and soggy tackle. Not a great day.

Barbel Fishing?

 Despite the recent lift in the river the reports I'd heard hadn't shown any increase in barbel coming out. In fact there hadn't been an increase in anything coming out. Talking to a couple of anglers as I wandered along the bank things hadn't been great. The river was now only a few inches up and clearing. I did start to think I should be on the other bank as I looked for a swim until I spotted one that had been a problem from the other bank. From this bank I could swing the bait under a branch to a overhanging tree. From the far bank it involved going down stream. Casting across and moving back upstream as the bank was too high to land fish opposite the overhanging tree. It also meant using a very heavy feeder as it was easy to dislodge a light feeder when moving back upstream.

 

The rigs were my usual. A blockend feeder filled with 6mm and 4mm pellets. The 4mm would drift out and the 6mm would stay in the feeder breaking up and leaving a scent trail, in theory. A 22mm pellet was on the down stream rod to the overhanging tree. On the upstream rig a 12mm pellet was used. This was dropped about six foot from the bank at the edge of the weeds. Apart from a bit of a rattle on the upstream rod nothing much happened for the first three hours.

In a rather predictable manner the down stream rod lurched over just as I was pouring boiling water into the mug for a cuppa. I have know idea what it was as it was gone by the time I'd put everything safely down. Swinging the rig back in I miss timed it a bit and wrapped the whole lot around the branch. Nothing to do but pull for a break. While I was re-rigging the upstream rod started to bounce about. This time I did connect with something that put a decent bend in the rod. A chub of 4lb 7oz. Strangely, for a chub, it had made no attempt to dive into the weeds on the inside.

I'd just got both rods back out when the downstream rod slowly bent over. I thought it was another chub initially but it soon gave up and a bream around the 2lb mark came to the surface. Just as I got it in the net the upstream rod bounced about again. This was definitely a barbel as it tore of upstream only for the hook to pull.

After a mad twenty minutes I now had time for my rather lukewarm cuppa. I had a couple more rattles on the upstream rod. One while I was watching a mouse darting about the undergrowth before it ventured out for a short while. The bream had been a bit of a surprise as I've caught very few from this river and never more than one at any time. I fished on until dark but everything went quiet. No fish topping, nothing.

 Like everybody else I wonder where the barbel have got to. It could be like the old days when the barbel rarely showed until August. We shall see as persistence pays on here.

Wavy Weeds And Lost Lambs

 I decided to give the trout a rest and head down to the river for a spot of barbel fishing. There were far more cars than expected on the verges, but most of the anglers seemed to be gathered close to the entrance so there would be plenty of space further down. From what I could gather there didn't seem to have been much barbel action but I was fishing into the evening so wasn't too worried.

After a bit of casting around in my chosen swim checking for snags I chucked in about half a pint of 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets to the downstream swim. This was to be fished with a 22mm pellet and a swimfeeder loaded with the smaller pellets. The upstream rod was the same but with a 12mm pellet. After only twenty minutes the downstream rod buckled over and I was in to what felt like a smallish fish that was quickly brought under control. A fish around the 5lb mark with a recently damaged dorsal fin.

I wasn't sure if a fish this early was a good sign or not. I continued to chuck more pellets in at intervals. Apart from a minnow that got stuck in a feeder that was it for the session. I did have a couple of rattles on the upstream rod but I suspect they were liners.

At one point a couple of lambs sated to bleat persistently and their mother would occasionally reply. Whether the the lambs expected their mother to come to them or what I don't know but eventually the did reunite.

I didn't stay until dark as the evening turned rather chilly and I'd left my fleece in the car. Apart from one all the cars parked up where different to the ones that were there when i arrived. I did see one chap make the long walk from the bottom of the stretch to retrieve a couple of fleeces from a car. I caught my target species so can't complain but I did expect there to be more action.

Opening Day Of The 2023 River Season

 The main worry for the start of the season was the temperatures and lack of rain. The levels weren't the lowest I've seen and I had it on good authority the the water temperature had been hovering around 14 ℃, so things weren't too bad. While I didn't get down to the river until mid-afternoon some had been down there ready for 00:00 hours. Personally I don't find early mornings on rivers to be that productive. As usual for the first week or so of the season I was just going to be trotting maggots over hemp for whatever comes along.

By the time I'd got to the swim, kicking up clouds of grass pollen on the way my hay fever had kicked in. I tossed out some hemp and maggots over a largish area and boiled up the kettle for a cuppa waiting for my nose to stop streaming. It's not easy tackle up in that condition. Once things had settled I setup the, now, 13' 6" float rod with centrepin. 0.14mm mainline and a 0.10mm hook length with a B560 size 16 hook. A 4 №4 alloy stemmed stick float shotted shirt button style with № 6 shot. A quick plumb and a few runs through with no bait on to get the depth and we were underway.

 

The first fish of the season was a dace taken on the third trot through to double maggot. I soon got into a rhythm. A few grains of hemp downstream, some maggots in front of me, cast. While the dace were of a reasonable size there was clearly some smaller fish in the swim as chewed maggots often came back. These turned out to be bleak when I managed to hit the bites. Things went quite steadily with fish coming in a regular intervals. Dace in the main with the odd chublet, roach, and bleak. With a simple counter app on the phone I'd had 48 fish in two and half hours. Then the pike showed up. I'd managed to get one fish out of the water before it snaffled it, but the next was grabbed some way down the swim and I got bitten off. I took this as a hint to have a cuppa and sandwich. I did keep the feed going in while I had my repast.

Re-rigged and back in action the dace were still present. After a couple of fish I latched onto something a tad heavier which slowly trundled towards the semi-submerged dead tree. With out doubt a barbel and the 0.10mm hooklength was not going to stop it getting there. I upped the hooklength to 0.12mm and continued on. A few more dace and the odd bleak followed, but a lot more chewed maggots also occurred. Strangely single maggot hardly got any bites.

Everything went quiet for a while which I suspected may be a pike in the swim. Next fish up, though, was another barbel. This one was kind enough to stay out of the snags. Initially it came towards me quite easily before making a 20 yard dash downstream. Slowly I cranked it back before it did the same thing again.I managed to crank it back then it just sat in the current just upstream of me. It then circled round a few times. each time I got it closer to the net. When it finally got close enough I made a bit of a hash of getting it in the net, but it let me have a second go. A fish around the 5½-6lb. I wanted to unhook it in the water but couldn't reach it as the mud next to the bank was thick and deep as I'd found out earlier. A bit of a rest, on to the mat, unhooked, and photographed took very little time. A further rest in the net, which it didn't seem to need and all was OK.

 A couple more roach followed but things ha gone very quiet. Around 20:30 I hooked another barbel that shot straight into the overhanging trees opposite and smashed me up. I pondered getting the heavy trotting gear out but decided to call it day. It had been pleasant enough with some 74 fish and the barbel. I'd enjoyed my bit of stick and 'pin fishing for whatever. The barbel being a bonus. A bit more water obviously won't go amiss and we're being threatened with thunderstorms on Sunday, and some light rain/drizzle through next week. Hopefully this will come to pass.