A Bit Less Balsam

With reports that the Nidd had cooled down a bit and contained extra water due to the recent thunderstorms I decided to pop down to see if I could catch a barbel on float. I don't often use a 15' rod on this little river, but with a gusty downstream wind I thought it may give more control. A 3.5g loafer was all that was needed in the shallow swim. A size 12 hook to 6.6lb hook length finished the rig off. After a few trots down to get the correct depth and see if there was any snags I flung out a goodly helping of hemp and a few red maggots, I left the swim alone for awhile and took the machete to a large stand of Himalayan Balsam. Some of it was over six foot tall, but it was very satisfying to see it crash to the ground.

After few trots down with a bait on it soon became apparent that there was a lot of small fish in the swim as I kept get chewed maggots. I dropped to a 18 on a 4.6lb hook length to see what they were. Straight away I was into gudgeon. Half a dozen later and I hit something bigger. At first it came towards me easily, which suggested it was a barbel. This was confirmed as it shot back down stream and the hook length gave. The hook length looked like it had been cut by scissors so it may have been a pike.

Back to the 6.6lb hook length and a size 14 hook. A couple more gudgeon came in before hitting something heavy. Again it came towards me fairly easily before shooting down stream. Again the hook length parted in virtually the same spot, and again it was a clean cut. I had a wander along the top of the bank with the polarising lenses, but because of the the coloured water could see anything. I carried on with the same rig and stated to pick up a few chublets. One or two had mouths full of maggots which I'd started to feed quite heavily as the barbel had moved in.

I put a lot more hemp and maggots in, but closer to me in the hope the barbel would move up and I'd have time to stop them getting to whatever was cutting the line. I partook of a cuppa and sarnie while the hemp did it's magic. First cast after the break and I was in. Whatever it was shot straight towards the "cut-off point". I just stuck my thumb behind the handle on the 'pin and hoped. Again I parted with the fish, but this time retrieved a couple of scales. Looks like I'd foul-hooked one. After a few more gudgeon and a couple of chublets I was again into something bigger. This time it made no rapid runs and stuck doggedly to the middle of the river. Apart from one half-hearted attempt at getting into the tree roots opposite it stubbornly came upstream. When it got opposite me I thought it had snagged as it went nowhere. Then suddenly it gave up and came to the net. A barbel around the 4-5lb mark. As the water was still not cold I left it in the water as much as I could and with the minimum of handling.

A few more chublets were caught before it started to spot with rain. With mission accomplished I packed up and headed home. I'd love to know what was cutting the line. I've never had that problem before in this swim. Normally it's the tree roots opposite you have to worry about. Which is why I tended to play the fish downstream in the hope they would be too tired to make a dash for the roots once I got them up to me.

 

I'm now half way to my target of catching a barbel on float from the Derwent, Nidd, Ouse,  Swale, Ure and Wharfe. I suspect the Ouse will be the hardest as I've never landed one on float from there. I've hooked them, but on roach gear and never really stood a chance.

The Hidden Swim

Thursday morning I had a few little tasks to perform. These seemed to conspire against me and took longer than they should, so it was late afternoon before I got the tackle together. In the rush to get up the road before the traffic built up I forgot to put the hemp and sweetcorn in the bait bucket. I'd decided to return to the same stretch I'd been fishing as a few barbel had come out during a match at the weekend and I'd found a swim last week that looked nice. I'd first seen this swim in winter. It looked like you would be able to run a float down the inside by the over hanging willows. When I came back here two weeks ago I had looked for it, but was looking to far upstream. Last week I found it as somebody had trampled the vegetation down that lead to it, hiding behind the now leafy willows. Sadly somebody was fishing in it. He'd had some nice roach and a couple of barbel on ledgered pellets. When I got down to it this time it was clear the floods had remodelled it somewhat and cut he bank back, but you could see down the tree line OK.

 

With only pellets, and some Peperami, to fish with my options were a bit limited. I set up a 4BB avon to fish alongside the willows, but there seemed to be no flow along side them. As I pondered what to do a bailiff found me, he'd seen me disappear into the swim. Having checked my credentials he confirmed the barbel caught in the match, but added that this peg had be left out because of a big snag in the middle of it. The chap last week hadn't mentioned one. As we were talking a few leaves flowed down and showed the current was turned away from the over hanging willows leaving a slack on the inside. I had a chuck round with a lead, and apart from a little bit of weed couldn't find anything. I set up The feeder rod to fish the slack by the willows and a float rod with a 4g avon to fish down the middle.

 

I put a bit of Peperami on the feeder rod and alternated between Peperami and pellets on the float rod which was fished about 6" over depth. It took a little while to get bites. These were from roach around the 8oz mark. Occasionally perch would follow the spinning pellet in, but never went for it. Apart from the odd twig I never did find the snag. I ended up with about a dozen roach all from just after the weed bed where I'd calculated the loose fed pellets would hit bottom. The feeder rod didn't do a thing even when dropped out in the middle while I had a cuppa.

 

I think this swim will be reshaped again come the next flood as the bank was crumbling away while I was fishing. It's just several layers of sand an leaf litter which isn't the most stable of things. Apparently last year it was an island when the river came up, but the bigger floods had filled the back of it in. I had thought of fishing into dark, but a bit of bank behind me collapse as I moved appeared to be a hint that this was not a good idea. 

 

I like to have a target for the year and I've diced this year's is to catch a barbel on float from the Derwent, Nidd, Ouse, Swale, Ure and Wharfe. I've managed the Derwent and Wharfe. The Nidd should be too hard as I've caught most of  float fished barbel from there. The only one I've never caught a float fished barbel from is the Ouse. I have lost a few in the past, but never landed one.

Same Swim As Last Week

Wednesday evening I was looking at the river gauges to see what the rivers were doing after the recent rain. Some were on the way up, some already up. Most would probably be falling by Thursday afternoon. I asked the computer to select me a venue. It kindly picked the same venue as last week, one I'd selected myself. I could have asked for another one, but decided why not. The river would be about a foot up and falling, so a spot of trotting would be possible. Arriving at the parking spot OI wasn't surprised to see a few cars there. I suspected the barbel anglers may turn up. It wasn't my intention to fish the same swim as last week, but it did look good and I couldn't be bothered to wander about in the heat of the afternoon. The river wasn't as coloured as I expected it to be either.

In the past I've done quite well trotting sweetcorn for roach. Not only does it tend to pick out the bigger fish, it also keeps the bleak form being a nuisance.If the water is clear fishing it over hemp worked well, but in coloured water a dark groundbait seemed to work better. It was the later tactic I decided on. I had my 14' rod with me this time and the 'pin had new line on it so life should be a bit easier. I used a slightly heavier float this time. 4BB instead of 3BB, with the shot strung out over the bottom half to get the bait down quicker. I put half a dozen golf balls of my special blend of whatever odds 'n sods of groundbait I had leftover in. It took nearly and hour for the first bite which turned out to be a roach around the 6oz mark. Over the next two hours I managed 27 roach in the 6-10oz bracket before the swim died. I'd been adding another ball every 15mins or so, whether this was two much I don't know. I suspect it may have been as some of the groundbait I'd mixed in had quite a lot of feed in it. I had brought some worms with me as well, but they didn't attract any bites either.

A change to straight lead with either sweetcorn of worm didn't seem to make a difference until the tip whacked round barbel style. At first I thought I was into a chub, but once I'd tightened the clutch up a bream surfaced. A reasonably tidy fish around the 4lb mark. The bream from the Ouse can be a bit tatty. This proved to be the last fish of the evening. It's one of the strange things about the Ouse that you can catch a single bream. I don't know if they're loners or there is a shoal but it's on a mission to somewhere.

Things didn't go totally to plan on a slowly falling river, but a decent catch was had. I was surprised no perch chowed up to worm. Normally a worm would attract one in no time.

Having spent so much time fault finding the camera problems you'd think I'd make sure it was switched on. Having got it set up using the phone to get things framed. I forgot to set it to record. It wasn't until I checked it while having a cuppa when the roach stopped biting that I realised  what I'd done. Not only had I missed all the roach, but also  a red kite gliding up and down the far bank along with two kingfishers chasing each other back and forth across the river.

More Maggot Drowning

Thursday morning I decided against letting the computer select a venue for me. Instead I decided on the Ouse, as it's the one local river I'd not yet fished. Besides, I'd heard more than a few reports of some good bags coming to float fished maggots. With a pint and a half of reds purchased I  set off for my preferred late afternoon into evening session. This not only misses the heat of the afternoon, but the traffic as well. It doesn't, though, miss those overnight roadworks that magically spring up. On arriving at the parking spot my choice of swim was simple enough. I just headed across the meadow towards a couple of large trees. On arriving at the river I was between two swims and picked the upstream one.

 

My original intention was to fish two lines. One down the edge and one in the middle. A plumb about over the drop of showed about nine foot of water. This would be fishable with the twelve foot rod I'd brought by mistake. The line on the reel also left a lot to be desired. I'd replaced the line on another reel and attached it to a fourteen foot rod, but failed to attach it to the quiver. The other problem with the twelve footer was it had a rather stiff tip which tends to bounce small fish off. A 3BB alloy stemmed stick float was shotted up shirt button style and a size 16 hook terminated the setup. Six bleak in as many casts and had me thinking I'd be fishing the middle line for the day. A couple of 6-8 oz roach had me continuing with the inside line.

Throughout the session the bleak would come and go from the swim allowing me to catch, dace, chublets, roach and perch. A dozen maggots every cast or so seemed to keep the fish coming. While not a fish a chuck, a steady flow of fish meant I never set up the fifteen footer for the fishing down the middle. Through out the session there was plenty of signs of predator activity with fish scattering all over the place. Every now and then a splash on the far bank gave away the dive of a Kingfisher.

 

The fishing was reminiscent of the works matches I used to fish where a pint or so of maggots could get you a decent weight and maybe a section win. For some people this was the only time they fished and winning wasn't in their minds just a cheap day out on the bank.

Maggots Means Minnows

The computer decided my last session of my holidays would be on a section of the Derwent. Really I should have asked for another choice as maggots on this section tend to attract the minnows. As usual I arrived late afternoon. I had a pint of red maggots, a few mixed colours and three quarters of a pint of hemp left. The swim I selected was just over ten foot deep. I rigged up with a 3g bolo float, a 3.3lb hook length with a size 16 hook. After a couple of trots down and the first minnow of the session I also had the first of several twigs. These made a change from the magically appearing immovable snag. This was followed by a gudgeon before the minnows turned up in force.

Eventually the hemp did it's magic and I stared to catch small dace and roach with some regularity. The minnows kept appearing, but not as often as I thought they would. For a while a shoal of bleak moved in and managed to intercept the bait on the drop. I did think of moving to a heavier float in the hope of bypassing them, but they moved on when a predator moved in. I never saw what it was but did see the bleak scattering several times.I was soon back in to the gudgeon along with roach and the occasional dace. Whatever the predator was seemed to have frightened the minnows away as well. After a bit of a flurry of fish the minnows returned. I piled in several handfuls of hemp. and fished in the margin while I had a belated sandwich and cuppa. The margin just produced minnows.

The main line down the centre started to produce more roach, dace and gudgeon. Nothing of any size, but in a match you'd build up a decent weight. Things went quiet for a while before hitting something a bit heavier. At first I thought it was another twig but then it veered across the river straight for a nasty snag. I suspected it was a decent chub as a couple of lads upstream of me had had a few between them on feeder. having turned it away from the snag it continued  past me upstream. A classic barbel tactic. It came back down towards me hugging the bank.Once on the surface it had a couple of last minute attempts at avoid the landing net before it was in. A nice fish around the 3lb mark.

After the barbel the swim had gone quiet. A chucked in the last couple of handfuls of reds and the last handful of hemp. I knew I wouldn't be staying late as, apart from running out of bait, it was predicted to start raining. Just upstream of me the was a big splash and a great deal of bleating. Having a look a sheep had fallen down a sheer overgrown bank. I gave it a prod with the storm pole and it swam down stream a little way until it could get out. It was soon reunited with it's lamb. A few more dace were taken before it started drizzling. By the time I packed up it had stopped, only to start again, some what heavier, as I got to the car.

I thought I'd cracked the problem with the erratic action cam, but it would appear that out of my collection of USB leads I'd managed to pick not one but two faulty ones to use with the power bank. The one I was using kept causing the camera to  such of then back on and corrupt some of the files. Damn technology, always let down by the cheapest part. This was the last of my days off. Not a bad few days fishing for the start of the season. I hadn't really been trying for anything other than enjoying a bit of float fishing.

Computer Says Ure

Wednesday morning the computer selected a stretch of Ure for me to fish in the afternoon once I'd got some more decorating done. The river was a reasonable level when I got there, but the flow was remarkably slow for this stretch. There best of the flow was about three quarters of the way across. The swim was about  seven foot deep, so I opted for a 7bb avon. A size 18 hook to 2.9lb hook length terminated the rig. Maggots over hemp, as I'd been fishing all week, was the method. I fed both the far line and a line on the near side in a near stationary slack.

 

It took nearly an hour before I got the first bite which resulted in a small roach. The next cast produced a small dace. I managed ten fish, both dace and roach, over the next hour before it went quiet. While I had a sandwich and cuppa I dropped the float in the slack. The float moved about 12 foot during the time it took to eat the sandwich. Plenty of time for a fish to take the bait, but none were interested. The fish reappeared in the far swim with just the eight coming over an hour before going quiet again. This time I picked up a few more roach from the slack. A natter with a chap who reckoned it had been fishing crap disrupted my regular baiting of the swims. It took another hour before the fish reappeared on the far line. I bumped off what would have been the largest fish of the session with out seeing it.

Come 8:30 the bites had dried up on both lines. Another chap turned up and reckoned it hadn't been fishing too bad, plenty of bites if you could get the fish to stay in the swim. He was surprised I hadn't had any perch or chub though. I fished on until ten for a couple more fish. I reckon I'd had a fish every ten minutes or so, enough not to get bored.

I can't say this trotting maggots lark is doing particularly well at times, but it's quite enjoyable. One more trip to go before it's back to work.

Frightening Chub

Tuesday morning the computer suggested a trip to the Swale. Arriving late afternoon I was surprised how few pegs had been used considering it's a popular barbel fishery. Wandering through the long grass, aggravating my hay fever, I found a shallow 3' swim I fancied. A look further downstream, just in case, I spotted some chub in a swim of similar depth. Catapulting out some hemp didn't have the effect I was hoping for. The chub slowly slunk away. Catapulting maggots in didn't bring them back so I returned to the previous swim.

Setting up with a 3.3g loafer and a 2.9 hook length to a size 16 hook I again tossed in some hemp followed by maggots. The first few trots produced chewed maggots so I dropped to and 18 hook and single maggot. Eventually, after some heavy feeding the chewed maggots nearly stopped and a few small roach started to come to hand. After an hour so, with a couple of dozen fish caught, a pike decided to eat and grabbed a roach I was reeling in before spitting it out. It then dropped down to the roach shoal scattering them every where. I fished on for another half hour with out a bite.

With no bites forthcoming I moved to the swim I'd frightened the chub from. Feeding maggots only I fished until I could no longer see the float with only one a have been a fish, may have been a stick to show for it. Talking to another angler, who'd been fish another clubs water upstream, as i walked back. He said that it had been rather patchy and a bit of rain was needed.

I maybe should have fished deeper water, but you just never know with fishing. The peg upstream could have been chock a block for all I know. I'd caught and as I'm not after anything in particular, just enjoying some float fishing, I'm not bothered.