The Wrong Pellets

 With a couple of hours, or so, to spare I grabbed a couple of rods and a bait bucket and headed down to the local gravel pit for a dangle in the cool of the morning. I opted for the corner swim. Mainly because I could park right up to it and fish out of the back of the car. Another angler was in the next swim along and taking the odd skimmer. I opened up the bait bucket to toss a few Source pellets next to the lily bed. Unfortunately I'd picked up the bucket with Halibut pellets and the like in. I've never done well with halibut down here, but I was stuck with them so out they went. A light waggler rig was set up and a 6mm soft hooker went on for bait. Much to my surprise I had a good lift bite after a couple of minutes and a nice little skimmer was flapping about in the end.

There then followed about twenty minutes of the float bobbing about but no contact. No amount of adjusting the depth or shotting made things any better. Things then sort of settled for a while and half a dozen little skimmers were contacted with and landed. As the sun burnt through the clouds the bites started too tail off. The bites were also back to the bobbing about type which never really results in anything. The other angler had taken to hurling a feeder out to a far weed bed for the odd larger skimmer. I had a feeder rod with me but didn't really see any point in setting up as I had very little time left.

Two and a half hours for seven skimmers isn't really brilliant but a combination of bright sunshine killing it and a bait that doesn't really work it wasn't a bad result.

Avoiding the Barbel Again

 A change of venue for this weeks barbeling adventures. Admittedly the reports hadn't been great, but I'd heard the few that were coming out were taking small 6-8mm pellets. With this in mind put the lighter top on one rod and set it up with a smallish feeder and hook for fishing the small pellets. still with a 10lb hook length though. The second rod was fished using the usual big feeder tactics and two 22mm pellets. If everybody else had been fishing small pellets the barbel may not be as wary with a big bait. The lighter setup went in down stream under the overhanging willow and the big bait out in front into a hole just over halfway across. I swapped the rigs around every half hour or so for the next three hour. Before I got a bite. A little gudgeon on the small bait under the trees. This was quickly followed by a minnow on a 6mm pellet. How it managed to rattle the tip I don't know. The next cast had the tip whack over the moment the feeder hit bottom. Not the barbel I was expecting but a little jack that must have taken the pellet on the drop.

There then followed a series of rattles to the tip from the bait under the tree before I contacted with an odd looking roach. The tail end looked like it was from a roach half the size of the head end. Another quickly followed. This one had a monster tail belong to a roach twice the size. A more sensibly proportioned one was the next out. This was followed a little while later by a little chublet.

Just after the chublet a few fish scattered signalling the presence of a predator and things went quiet. I swapped the baits around for a while before returning the small bait to under the tree. I then had a visit from a pair of swans one of which decided to wander up the bank and stare at me. I assume it was hoping for food. One thing you often don't realise as you rarely see them is the the size of their feet. They're huge. Another thing mentioned to me by a passer-by was that there seems to be a lot of pairs of swans but very few seem to have cygnets. Thinking about it I'd seen this on another river as well. By now it was stating to get noticeably cooler. As I put my fleece on the rod tip started to bounce around and in came a rather chunky dace. This was followed a by another slightly smaller one. I didn't see a bite from the final fish of the evening, a roach. It was there when I stated to wind in to pack up.

No barbel but I did have a few fish to keep me occupied. I may pop down again with a lighter feeder rod. There again I'd probably end up been smashed up by barbel on a light setup.

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.

That's All Folks

 Last day of the coarse fishing season on rivers and they're all in flood. The Ouse was still rising rather quickly and after yesterday I didn't really fancy it. So the Derwent it was. I'd spent a short time yesterday evening sorting the barbel gear out and rooted around in the bait bin and fridge for some bait. I had halibut pellets and paste, garlic spam, luncheon meat, and cheese paste. I'd also gathered up a collect of 90g plus leads and similar weight feeders.

Arriving at the empty parking spot it looked like I'd have the whole section to my self. Not that I needed it as Looking at the water level I knew where I'd be fishing. There are a couple of swims I've found work in flood conditions and one of them didn't require a decent down a slippy bank. The only problem was the very cold wind blowing into my right lug 'ole. This was soon rectified by using the brolly as a windbreak. The swim had two nice creases. One upstream and the other down. In the upstream crease I plonked a 90g feeder three quarters full of halibut pellets and an 12mm one as bait. Down stream I started with a 100g lead and a gobstopper size halibut pellet. I bit of halibut putty was placed in the lead as well. My intention, if I wasn't catching, was to cycle through the hook baits on the downstream rod.

Just before lunch a couple of mink came bouncing along the far bank before vanishing into the woods. The buzzards could also be heard behind the trees. By mid-afternoon I'd cycled through the baits and was back on the big pellet and had changed to a big 120g feeder three-quarters full of smaller pellets soaked in halibut juice. On cue the rain arrived, not too heavy but cold and unpleasant none the less. After half an hour the rain had stopped but the temperature was dropping noticeably. I'd resigned my self to a third blank in a row and decided it was time to go. I brought the upstream rod in first and having sorted that out and taken the brolly down the sun came out. There was no heat in it though. As I walked up to the down stream rod the tip bent slowly over. Thinking it was more debris on the line I just started winding in. Half way back the debris moved out into the main current. 'Twas a fish. A bit more pressure and came back into the slack. As usual with barbel the moment I showed it the net it made another attempt at freedom but a bit of bullying soon had it in the net. A chubby beats of 7lb 3oz. A reasonable way to end the season I thought. I could see no point in continuing, I'd caught what I was after so mission accomplished.

I'm quite pleased with the result, it seems a reasonable way to finish. What really surprised me though, apart from the mink, was that no other anglers has shown up. Previous years when I've fished the last day here there's a few turn up mid-afternoon to tea time. Eleven days until the trout season on the rivers. So it's fluff chucking and stillwater fishing for three months.