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	<title>Quest Baits Blog &#187; Fishing Sessions</title>
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		<title>Sometimes good things come in small packages</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/sometimes-good-things-come-in-small-packages/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/sometimes-good-things-come-in-small-packages/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:47:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patricia Boer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dutch Carp Lady]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paticia Boer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=4547</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Words by Patricia Boer.&#160; After a few months of  fishing sabbatical, due to the birth of our daughter, I&#8217;ve decided to go fishing again. I had chosen a rather small pool in our town and decided to do some light pre-baiting for two days with Quest Baits Pineapple Crush boilies, around 200 grams each time. According to the [...]]]></description>
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<td><strong><em>Words by Patricia Boer.</em></strong>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em> </em>After a few months of  fishing   sabbatical, due to the birth of our daughter, I&#8217;ve decided to go fishing again. I had chosen a rather small pool in our town and decided to do some light pre-baiting for two days with Quest Baits <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/pineapplecrush.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pineapple crush &raquo;">Pineapple Crush</a> boilies, around 200 grams each time.</p>
<div id="attachment_4561" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4561" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/sometimes-good-things-come-in-small-packages/patricia-3-4/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4561" title="Patricia 3" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Patricia-33-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The first fish banked on Pineapple Crush</p></div>
<p>According to the weather forecast in the morning there would be some rain and during the day the sun would come through. Sitting through the rain seemed the simple solution for this short session.</p>
<p>Around noon I got the first take. Unfortunately, after getting contact with the fish, I lost it. The point of the hook was slightly bent, so I had to change rigs. Only an hour later, the rain was gone and the sun did indeed come   out, shining brightly over the pool… That’s when the second fish announced itself and a few minutes later I was able to net a small but very nice looking common. It is always nice to   catch a fish during the winter, no matter</p>
<div id="attachment_4557" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4557" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/sometimes-good-things-come-in-small-packages/patricia-2-2/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4557" title="Patricia 2" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Patricia-21-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">2nd fish and you can see another take on the left hand rod!</p></div>
<p>what size!</p>
<p>Not long after that another fish picked up one the hook baits and as this fish rolled on the surface, I immediately saw I had hooked a nice mirror!! Of course photos are being taken, especially when you hook a winter carp.</p>
<p>Next&#8230; the unthinkable happened…another take!!!</p>
<div id="attachment_4550" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4550" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/sometimes-good-things-come-in-small-packages/patricia-1/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4550" title="Patricia 1" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Patricia-1-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Gerard with the final fish</p></div>
<p>My husband Gerard took this rod so that I   could put my cute little mirror back properly and by the time I was ready, I could net another nice looking common   with undoubted growing potential.</p>
<p>Despite losing the very first winter take, my guess is due to a wrong choice of hook, we managed to catch 3 nice looking fish in a rather short day session of just 4 hours.</p>
<p>Again, not a big fish, but you have to   appreciate every fish you manage to catch, especially during the winter!</p>
<p>Sometimes good things come in small packages <img src='http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Patricia Boer</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dutchcarplady.com/">http://www.dutchcarplady.com/</a></td>
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	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/the-dutch-carp-show-in-zwolle/" title="The Dutch Carp Show in Zwolle (February 7, 2012)">The Dutch Carp Show in Zwolle</a> (1)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>Pat Gillett&#8217;s November Diary</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-november-diary/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-november-diary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:50:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Gillett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specialist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barbel Diary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dove Diary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Gillet]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=4537</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Friday 4th November – Old Estate Lake Back to the Estate lake for another quick after work session. Got to the lake at about 2.30pm and actually saw a bit of fish activity (these fish very rarely show themselves at all). Started fishing at about 3pm and again used the Rahja Spice shelf life’s in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 4th November – Old Estate Lake</span></strong></h1>
<p>Back to the Estate lake for another quick after work session. Got to the lake at about 2.30pm and actually saw a bit of fish activity (these fish very rarely show themselves at all).</p>
<p>Started fishing at about 3pm and again used the <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/rahjaspice.php" class="kblinker" title="More about rahja spice &raquo;">Rahja Spice</a> shelf life’s in conjunction with small pva stocking mesh bags of the mini mixed <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/pellet/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pellet &raquo;">pellet</a>.</p>
<p>Had just about got the rods in when the heavens opened and it didn’t stop chucking down until packing up time at 11.30pm. I never had so much as a bleep although there was continued carp activity throughout the evening. I came away unsure as whether the weather was to blame (in all the years I have been fishing I have never really caught many carp during prolonged periods of torrential rain), or whether I should have put a bed of bait out to try and get the carp to feed.</p>
<p>Got home to an air temperature of 14 degrees C, crazy for this time of year.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 5<sup>th</sup> November – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>Made my first trip of the season to an area that I don’t really fish a lot. I checked the Environment Agency levels and the Upper Trent was showing 1.26m and rising (probably unfishable with the weed coming down), whereas the Dove was showing 0.72m and rising, so the Dove it was.</p>
<p>I wanted to try some swims that I had not fished before. The river looked like it was carrying about 2 feet of extra water and it was obvious that there was a lot of debris coming down but with a water temperature of 11.2 degrees C the barbel should be on the feed.</p>
<p>I started fishing at about 3.15pm. The first swim I chose had a nice smooth surface to it (signifying a nice gravel bottom) and a decent flow but it became obvious after about 30 minutes that I couldn’t fish it properly due to the amount of debris being washed down the river. I was using 5 ½ oz just to hold bottom a rod length out and this was only holding for about 15 minutes.</p>
<p>I went for a walk downstream and found what looked like the perfect swim for these type of conditions. All the flow was past the middle and to the far side of the river, creating almost a backwater on my side. This would enable me to fish out in the flow without the problem of debris collecting up the line as none should be collecting in the backwater.</p>
<p>With the extra colour in the water I added a matching paste wrap to my Rahja Spice hook baits hoping to give a little extra pulling power. I also baited the edge of the backwater with about 30 boilies of varying sizes.</p>
<p>I had a quick wrap on the rod top after about 10 minutes so I knew there were fish in the swim. After about 30 minutes the rod was away producing a barbel of about 4lbs which convinced me to stay where I was. I then missed an ‘un-missable’ bite about 30 minutes later so I shortened the hair on this rig. Within 15 minutes of recasting the same rod was away again and after a good fight and a few attempts at netting (a really awkward swim to fish) a nice barbel of 11lb 1oz was in the</p>
<div id="attachment_4538" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4538" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-november-diary/pic1-21/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4538" title="PIC1" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/PIC1-150x74.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="74" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">11lb 1oz</p></div>
<p>net. I took a couple of quick photo’s and then returned the fish in a different swim (where I could reach the water level better and so look after the fish properly before it was ready to go back).</p>
<p>This swim was proving like chalk and cheese compared to the first one, I could leave the baits in for literally as long has I liked. Nothing else happened for a couple of hours and then the same rod produced a barbel of 9lb 15oz.</p>
<p>The sky cleared at about 9pm and by 10pm there were signs of frost on the quiver etc that were on the floor. I packed up at 10.30pm with no further bites but happy none the less.</p>
<p>It’s always nice catching fish from ‘new’ area’s, especially in quite difficult conditions. It also underlined the importance, once again, of being able to read the river to give you the best chance of fishing properly when the going is tough. Add to that being able to watch a terrific firework display for free and it was an enjoyable evening.<span id="more-4537"></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 11th November – Old Estate Lake</span></strong></p>
<p>Again back to the Estate lake for another quick after work session. Arrived at about 2.15pm to find 2 guys already bivvied up in the area that I had fancied fishing, so I went to the opposite end of the lake where I would be able to fish without any other lines anywhere near me. I got both rods in for about 3pm and had just sat back to watch the water when the heaven’s opened, and boy did they open. We then had monsoon type conditions till packing up time at 11pm.</p>
<p>I like to be ‘active’ on this particular water, moving the baits regularly (even in the dark), but with the weather conditions I just sat it out. A slow run at 7pm produced a scale perfect common of about 16lbs which was to be the only fish of the night between 5 anglers. This fish fell to a 10mm Rahja bottom bait, cut in half, mounted with a 10mm Rahja <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/hookervariations/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pop-up &raquo;">pop-up</a> again cut in half and balanced.</p>
<p>From what I can gather most of the fish being caught (there are very few) are coming in the short window between 6pm and 7.30pm. So it seems to be only a very short feeding spell, this very often happens this time of year. Although the torrential rain was a pain in the backside, it was again a very mild night of 11 Deg C.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 12th November – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>Checked the levels before deciding where to go, the Dove was only showing 0.5m (very low and clear), while the Upper Trent was showing 0.86 and steady, so the Upper Trent it was.</p>
<p>Arrived an hour or so before dark and the river looked perfect with a good flow and a rising water temperature of 11.5 Deg. C. Things looked really good for a barbel or two.</p>
<p>Things didn’t last for long though as after 2 hours the river really speeded up and there were vast amounts of debris coming downstream making the fishing very difficult. It did seem to level out at about 9pm but by 10pm without so much as a knock, I had, had enough and called it a day. Again the atmospheric conditions were spot on with an air temperature of 12 Deg. C, but the sudden rise in the river spoilt the evening. Wrong venue for the night, but still,that’s the way it goes sometimes.</p>
<p>I checked the Environment Agency River Level Graph the next day and it confirmed that the river had indeed risen by 0.2m between 6pm and 9pm and then became steady again.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 19<sup>th</sup> November – Lower Severn</span></strong></p>
<p>I fancied a change, so made the first trip of the season to the Lower  Severn. Has soon has I saw the river I new it was probably a mistake. Anyone who knows the Lower Severn will know that at really low water levels there can be hardly any flow at all. This was the case today, as the river almost resembled a Stillwater, the only saving grace being a surprisingly high water temperature of 10.2 Deg. C.</p>
<p>There was so little flow that at times I was having trouble getting a swim feeder to empty. I baited a spot just over the near side shelf with about 40 mixed Rahja &amp; Ghurkka Spice baits and a little pellet in what I would guess was about 6 feet of water. The other rod was fished upstream and in the middle of the river (in a much deeper hole). The upstream rod was the one where the feeder continually failed to empty, this told me that although the surface of the river looked quicker</p>
<div id="attachment_4540" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4540" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-november-diary/pic2-19/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4540" title="PIC2" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/PIC21-150x103.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="103" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">I wished the river was like this</p></div>
<p>here, the actual flow on the river bed was very little. I resorted to fishing with pva stocking bags on the upstream rod (to get some bait in).</p>
<p>Despite trying tiny trimmed down baits (down to about 6mm) and tiny bits of paste, I never had so much has a bream tap in 7 hours of fishing (1.45pm to 8.45pm). Has soon has it got dark it went really foggy (never good fishing) and the temperature plummeted so much so that it was only 5 Deg C when I packed up at 8.45pm.</p>
<p>I checked the relevant forums the next day to see how others had got on, on the Lower and nobody else had caught either. This is always worth doing, because if other anglers had caught it could have mean’t there were no fish in the area we fished. A hell of a lot comes down to location on the Lower  Severn.</p>
<p>Think I will start doing a rain dance!!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 25th November – Old Estate Lake</span></strong></p>
<p>Not the best of weather to be fishing this venue(strong cold wind and a predicted clear sky with temps down to 3 degree’s), when you consider that with the low water levels there is nowhere on the lake deeper that 3 feet.</p>
<p>I arrived after work at about 3pm and after a walk of the lake decided to fish at the sheltered end, out of the wind. It felt literally 10 degrees warmer here than on the windward end. I set up with tiny trimmed down 10mm Rahja Spice bottom baits, topped with a pimple pop and small pva stockings of crushed boilies and mini mixed pellet.</p>
<p>Has soon as it got dark the sky cleared to reveal a marvellous display of stars (always more amplified when out in the country with no unnatural light pollution) and a sudden temperature drop, although it wasn’t too bad in my sheltered area. Throughout the evening I heard half a dozen fish gently kiss the surface in front of me, and with the calm water and clear sky I was able to make out where they were, and to cast to them. The only thing was I couldn’t tell what they were, they were either tench rolling or carp ‘just sticking their heads out’ without making much disturbance.</p>
<p>I fished till 11pm without so much as a bleep and decided to call it a night (was supposed to be going to a river the next morning). This venue is proving to be really tricky at the moment with most anglers only averaging one run a month (or less), which makes my 3 runs in 5 evenings seem not so bad.</p>
<p>I hadn’t fished this lake for about 6 years and at that time all the bigger fish were old big framed mirrors. From what I can gather now, most of what few fish that have been caught have been common’s. This makes me wonder whether with the combination of 2 very cold winters and the age of the fish, these mirrors have died off, leaving much fewer fish in the lake. All adds to the mystery of fishing the place I suppose!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Conclusion</span></strong></p>
<p>A quiet month really this month with only 6 short sessions (I enjoyed them all apart from the one on the rising Upper Trent) , although I did manage to catch my double figured barbel for November and also a nice common from the old estate lake. None of the venues I fish really hold many fish (I fish them for the ‘highish’ average size and usually the solitude) so if you can only manage a few short sessions you are really up against it ‘catching’ wise, although on saying that I have still managed more than most on my trips so the Rahja has still performed well.</p>
<p>I have probably been guilty of trying to fish too many different venues this month (with the short time available) – but I always enjoy plenty of variety. It can be to the detriment though, has you will always catch more if you stick to one particular venue has you have more chance of being there at the right time!</p>
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	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/" title="September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers (October 13, 2011)">September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers</a> (7)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/" title="River Wye Barbel Debut (July 28, 2011)">River Wye Barbel Debut</a> (11)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>Match Winning with an Apple Core, a cork ball and Rahja Spice Glug!</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/match-winning-with-an-apple-core-a-cork-ball-and-rahja-spice-glug/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/match-winning-with-an-apple-core-a-cork-ball-and-rahja-spice-glug/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:04:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Carp Fishing Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lee Wheeler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple Core Rig]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carp Match]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghurkka Spice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rahja Spice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tackle Up]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=4487</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Words and pictures by Lee Wheeler: A few weeks ago I entered a carp cup match sponsored by my local tackle shop &#8220;Tackle Up&#8221;. The draw took place at 8 o clock in the morning and I drew peg 18 which was a swim that had a large amount of water in front of  it. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><em>Words and pictures by Lee Wheeler:</em></strong><br />
<a rel="attachment wp-att-4488" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/match-winning-with-an-apple-core-a-cork-ball-and-rahja-spice-glug/match-winner-008/"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4488" title="match winner 008" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/match-winner-008-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a>A few weeks ago I entered a carp cup match sponsored by my local tackle shop &#8220;Tackle Up&#8221;. The draw took place at 8 o clock in the morning and I drew peg 18 which was a swim that had a large amount of water in front of  it. Fortunately the other pegs along my side were not drawn so I had a range of ideas where to fish.</p>
<p>I started off by fishing a spread of Ghurkka Spice boilies over an area where I had seen a few fish show and after about 15 mins of having the rod out the bobbin pulled up to the top and line started to tick off the reel. I hit the take and I had the fish on. Unfortunately after about 40 seconds of having the fish on it came off, this was not a good start as someone else had just landed a fish and was in the lead!</p>
<p>I put the rod back out but everything went quiet for everyone so I decided to get my bag of dog biscuits and see if I could get the fish feeding confidently on the surface. After about 30 mins of constant feeding I had the fish feeding like mad, I didn&#8217;t have a controller float with me so I resorted to using an idea which a friend and I came up with which was using an apple core as the float.<a rel="attachment wp-att-4489" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/match-winning-with-an-apple-core-a-cork-ball-and-rahja-spice-glug/apple-rig-001/"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-4489" title="apple rig 001" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/apple-rig-001-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a> On the hooklink was a size 12 mixer hook and a trimmed down Ghurkka Spice pop up. The fish just werent having it. After having about 4 fish mouthing my bait and then spook off I decided to change hookbaits, I put on an 8mm cork ball soaked in Rahja Spice Bait Glug I cast the apple core and cork ball beyond the feeding fish and slowly drew it over them, within about 10 mins I had a fish stick its mouth out and suck in my bait the apple bobbbed under and I struck the rod hard. The fish <a rel="attachment wp-att-4490" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/match-winning-with-an-apple-core-a-cork-ball-and-rahja-spice-glug/match-winner-009/"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4490" title="match winner 009" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/match-winner-009-150x118.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="118" /></a>weighed 11lb 6oz and that put me in second place shortly after one of the others were into a fish once landed his fish came in as 18lb 4oz which put me back down to 3rd place. It was game on now and I was trying my hardest to bag up on a few fish I got the rod back out and I was soon into another one, once this fish was weighed and landed it all kicked off I then had 3 more fish in about an hour and a half. I was now in 1st place with a very convincing lead. It came to the end of the match and I was the winner with a total of 5 fish and a total wieght of 68lbs.</p>
<p>Once again Quest Baits came out on top.</p>
<p>Thanks Lee Wheeler.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/winter-carp-thoughts-with-lee-wheeler/" title="Winter carp thoughts with Lee Wheeler (January 9, 2012)">Winter carp thoughts with Lee Wheeler</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/readers-question-what-bait/" title="Which bait would you take to France? (April 2, 2008)">Which bait would you take to France?</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/small-things-can-make-a-big-difference/" title="Tactical carping; find those features&#8230; it can make a big difference! (May 22, 2008)">Tactical carping; find those features&#8230; it can make a big difference!</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/observation-was-the-key/" title="My PB UK Common &#8211; Observation was the Key! (June 29, 2009)">My PB UK Common &#8211; Observation was the Key!</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/instant-nutritional-shelf-life-baits/" title="Instant Nutritional Shelf Life Baits (August 15, 2011)">Instant Nutritional Shelf Life Baits</a> (1)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>Pat Gillett&#8217;s October Diary</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-october-diary/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-october-diary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:51:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Gillett]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[River Dove]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Upper Trent]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=4420</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Saturday Ist October – River Dove I made a visit to a stretch of the river that I haven’t fished for about 3 years. I never actually caught a barbel from this area despite trying lots of swims, all I ever caught was chub. On walking the stretch it proved to be a lot [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_4422" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4422" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-october-diary/pic1-18/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4422" title="PIC1" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PIC1-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The only cover for 200 yards</p></div>
<p></span></strong><strong style="font-size: 13px;">Saturday Ist October – River Dove</strong></h1>
<p>I made a visit to a stretch of the river that I haven’t fished for about 3 years. I never actually caught a barbel from this area despite trying lots of swims, all I ever caught was chub.</p>
<p>On walking the stretch it proved to be a lot shallower (amplified by the exceptionally low water level) than I remembered. The only fish I saw were a barbel of about 9lb, half a dozen chub and half a dozen bream. These were all in the same swim, which my mate dropped into.</p>
<p>I chose a swim that although it was very shallow, had 10 yards of bushes on the far side. This was the only cover for about 200 yards up or downstream so I figured was bound to hold some fish.<span id="more-4420"></span></p>
<p>The day proved to be the hottest day on record for October (29 deg C) so I was glad I didn’t start till after 5pm. The only problem with warm weather this time of year is the massive temperature drop you get when it goes dark under a crystal clear sky. Today was no different, it was only 10 deg C (and very misty) when we packed up at 11pm.</p>
<p>Apart from a few small knocks all was very quiet, I had heard a couple of good fish crash in the ‘open water’ above the bushes at about 9pm. With nothing happening I cast a six bait ghurka spice stringer to this area at about 9.30pm. This proved to be a good move as it resulted in the only bite of the evening when at about 10.30pm a 9lb 15oz barbel took the bait. It gave a good account of itself in the really shallow water.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wednesday 5st October – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>Back to the stretch that produced the 12 &amp; 13. Nothing at all to report as the river was totally dead. After about 30 minutes I told my mate that we weren’t going to catch anything. Sometimes you just know and even though I have been on a decent run of late it just never felt right at all.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 8<sup>th</sup> October – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>After the Dove being so dead a trip to the Trent was in order. The only potential problem this time of year is the fact that the weed is dying and breaking away and this can make the fishing a nightmare at times. This proved to be the case although I did try something different which enabled me to leave the bait in on the upstream rod with no trouble at all. The downstream rod was pretty much a waste of time has it was consistently being wiped out.</p>
<p>There were no fish of any species rising has it got dark. Has on the Lower Severn, this is always a bad sign and so it proved has I never had so much has a ‘tap’ in 6 ½ hours.</p>
<p>It was actually warmer at 11pm (15 deg C) than it was when we started at 4.30pm. This weather is certainly weird.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 14<sup>th</sup> October -  River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>Went back to the stretch that produced the 9lb 15oz a couple of weeks ago as I had heard 3 big fish crash out in the dark upstream of where I was fishing so I thought I would give this area a try.</p>
<p>The river had a really good flow has it was still carrying a bit of water (had been up a lot more in the week and I wished I could have got out then). A really bright day with a cold wind (14 deg C when I started at 4.45pm.), followed by a crystal clear sky and bright moon and a sudden temperature drop as soon as it got dark. (worst night of the week so far!)</p>
<p>I continued with the spicy baits and mini mixed <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/pellet/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pellet &raquo;">pellet</a> combination which has been consistent for me of late. The only change that I made was to wrap the baits in the matching paste as I wanted a bit more ‘umph’ in the coloured water.</p>
<p>All was quiet until about 8.30pm when the downstream rod signalled a bite. After a decent scrap in the fast flowing water a barbel of 9lb 14oz was in the net. On inspection this proved to be the same fish as the 9lb 15oz fish of a couple of weeks ago (small ‘nick’ in it’s tail), not a good sign to get a repeat capture on only my second visit to the area.</p>
<p>Never had another tap until just after 10pm when the same rod produced a barbel of 8lb 12oz. Both fish falling to the <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/rahjaspice.php" class="kblinker" title="More about rahja spice &raquo;">Rahja Spice</a> / paste.</p>
<p>I again heard some large fish crash but I am pretty sure these were carp and not barbel.</p>
<p>Don’t know if I will come back to this area as I have never been keen on recapturing the same fish and with it happening so quickly, it could well be that there are very few fish in this area.</p>
<p>Packed up at 10.30pm with an air temperature of 8 deg C.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 15<sup>th</sup> October – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>Made a return visit to an area that I hadn’t fished since the start of the season. The river had dropped back to the low water level of previous weeks but for some reason still retained a lot of colour and was flowing really well.</p>
<p>The weather was exactly the same has yesterday (caused by a new high pressure front). I was set up for 4.30pm and I had a rod wrencher after about 10mins, the fish coming off within seconds. Looking at the hook I could see there was a small scale on it, so the fish was obviously ‘foul-hooked’, but it at least showed so that there were barbel n the swim.</p>
<p>At about 5.30pm a ‘sharp jaggedy’ type of bite on the rahja paste produced a huge immaculately conditioned barbel of <strong>16</strong> …………………… ounces. A good sign for the future.</p>
<p>After dark the temperature really did <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/glugs/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about dip &raquo;">dip</a> and a cold fog descended on us. I lost a barbel to the upstream rod at about 8.30pm,it felt like the line was underneath a snag as soon as I made contact.</p>
<p>So a bit of a frustrating evening with 3 bites but only one tiny fish on the bank. But at least I am still getting bites on the Rahja in poor conditions.</p>
<p>I packed up at 10.30pm with no further action and an air temperature which had plummeted to 5 deg C.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 21<sup>st</sup> October – Old Estate Lake</span></strong></p>
<p>I fancied a bit of a change so I dusted my carp rods off and made my first visit of the season to an old estate lake. It was only a short afternoon / evening session of about 7 hours.</p>
<div id="attachment_4423" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4423" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-october-diary/pic2-15/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4423" title="PIC2" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PIC2-150x121.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="121" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A good start - 25lb 4oz</p></div>
<p>I took the spicy baits with me to see how they would perform on the carp front (have caught lots of carp on the Rahja in the past).</p>
<p>It was a pleasant afternoon of about 14 deg C with quite a strong westerly wind, which due to the shallow nature of the water I decided to fish on the back of.</p>
<p>All was quiet until it was just getting dark at about 6.30pm when one of the rods baited with the Rahja Spice screamed off and after a relatively short fight a nicely condition Common was in the net. The fish weighed 25lb 4oz and I was well pleased to catch it on my first visit.</p>
<p>This was to be the only bite of the trip in what proved to be a really enjoyable afternoon. It was nice to be able to place the rods on the alarms without having to sit there staring at isotopes to strike at the first movement, much more relaxing. Might do a bit more of this, this winter if we don’t get the big chill of the previous 2 years.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 22<sup>nd</sup> October – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>A really quiet evening with just a couple of ‘chub rattles’ to show for 6 ¼ hours fishing. Even though the swim I fished screamed fish, I think the successive cold nights mid week had a really detrimental effect. I am pretty certain there are not many fish in this area anyway so it was always going to be hard going with the falling water temperatures (I would much rather fish when the water temp is say 6 deg C and rising that 12 deg C and falling).</p>
<p>Packed up at 10.45pm when it was actually warmer (11 deg C) than when I started.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 28<sup>th</sup> October – Old Estate Lake</span></strong></p>
<p>After last Friday’s bit of success, I was back for another quick session on the estate lake. Conditions weren’t great after a day of continuous cold rain (never good on a shallow lake), and now crystal clear skies and a cool westerly wind. With this in mind I kept the baiting to a bare minimum (only half a dozen free offerings around each hook bait.</p>
<p>I started fishing at around 4.30pm and by 9.30pm everything on the ground had ice on it. Was due to pack up at 10.30pm, I left the rods till last (as I always do) and whilst they were laying on the floor one of the bait runners started to ‘tick’. It’s amazing how many times this happens (which is why I always leave the rods to last). After about a minute the carp was off, and on close inspection of the hook the ‘point’ had turned over. This is something that I always check for, but on this occasion I had been particularly rushed and it had slipped my mind, a really costly mistake to make on a water where some weeks don’t even see a ‘run’ off a carp. It was only 3 degrees C when I arrived home.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 29th October – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>I checked the E.A website for the levels of the Dove and Upper Trent and with Dove showing a well below normal level of 0.48m the Upper Trent seemed like the best bet. This was showing a reading of 0.95m so there would be a good flow, my only concern being that two successively cold nights would put the barbel off on what isn’t a prolific stretch at the best of times.</p>
<p>With the conditions not being the best I didn’t put any freebies in at all, preferring to fish a feeder and  a chopped down rahja spice hookbait, which was left in for has long has the weed coming through would allow.</p>
<p>The weather couldn’t have been more different from yesterday with a strong Southerly wind and an air temperature of 14 degrees C when I packed up at 10.45pm. (oh to be fishing for the next few days!)</p>
<p>Just the one bite at 9.30pm and this produced a nice barbel of 9lb 5oz, which both me and my mate guestimated at about 10 1/4lbs, but although it was a vey stocky fish it hadn’t got much length to it.</p>
<p>So a bit of a mix and match this month, where I don’t feel I really got the timing right for any of my trips. It is getting to that time of the year when timing can be essential to get the best of the river fishing (being there when the level is right, the water is coloured, water temp rising not dropping etc) and with the way the trips fell this month I felt I missed out on the best of the conditions by a day or two each trip.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>Pat Gillett</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-diary-part-1/" title="Pat Gillett&#8217;s Diary Part 1 (August 17, 2011)">Pat Gillett&#8217;s Diary Part 1</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/upper-trent-barbel-question/" title="Upper Trent Barbel question (November 16, 2011)">Upper Trent Barbel question</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/" title="September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers (October 13, 2011)">September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers</a> (7)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:34:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Pat Gillett continues his excellent Diary Blog&#8230; Didn’t get out much at all during August with 3 or 4 short trips to the Trent and the Dove which produced a couple of smallish barbel and 2 lost fish (cut – offs) on a stretch of the Dove which I had not fished before. Friday 2nd [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><strong><em>Pat Gillett continues his excellent Diary Blog&#8230;</em></strong></p>
<p>Didn’t get out much at all during August with 3 or 4 short trips to the Trent and the Dove which produced a couple of smallish barbel and 2 lost fish (cut – offs) on a stretch of the Dove which I had not fished before.</span></h1>
<h1><strong> </strong></h1>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 2<sup>nd</sup> September – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>Made a visit to a stretch of the river that I hadn’t fished for about 12 years.The river here is very narrow and it was absolutely choked with weed, so much so that it was restricting the flow of the river. It was 4pm before I found anywhere that I thought was worth trying. Packed up at 8.15pm (strictly no night fishing) and only had 1 small bream to show for my efforts.</p>
<p>I had put a bit of bait in 2 spots and the river was that low and clear that I actually had mallards diving on my bait (first time this has happened to me on any river), they just wouldn’t leave it alone and made that much disturbance that any chance of catching was ruined.</p>
<p>Don’t think I will come back to this area until later in the year.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 3<sup>rd</sup> September – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>Another short afternoon / evening session (4.30 to 11pm) on a different stretch of the Upper Trent. Again the river had very little flow to it and the weed wasn’t really a problem. A really warm night that produced a 4lb 9oz chub and a bream of about 7lb, both to 16mm <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/pellet/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pellet &raquo;">pellet</a> hook baits fished over the mini pellet mix. I used the <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/rahjaspice.php" class="kblinker" title="More about rahja spice &raquo;">Rahja Spice</a> on the other rod for the first time but it didn’t produce anything.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 9<sup>th</sup> September – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>This was an after work session (4.30 to 11pm), I was undecided where to go, but after checking the river levels on the environment agency website I could see that the Dove hadn’t had any fresh water, but the Upper Trent was showing a rise of 0.1m. This made my mind up for me and so it was the Upper  Trent with the hope that some fresh water would spur the barbel into feeding, as long as the weed coming down (with the rise in water), didn’t make the fishing impossible.</p>
<p>Looking at the river it was noticeable that there was a much better flow (with the little extra water) and so I was quietly confident that I would catch a barbel.</p>
<p>I did away with my normal approach and fished boilies on both rods (I really wanted to give the Rahja and Ghurkha Spice a go). The upstream rod was fished in conjunction with a feeder (carrying 5oz of lead to combat the weed coming downstream), which was loaded with the mini pellet mix and some broken boilies. The downstream rod was fished just 10 feet from the bank and consisted of a 3 ½ oz lead and a stringer of various sized boilies with 2 x 15mm baits on the hair. I also baited this area with about 50 Rahja and Ghurkha spice boilies of various sizes.</p>
<p>After about 20 minutes the downstream rod was away and i quickly netted what proved to be a river P.B. bream of 9lb 2oz. Like the barbel from the Upper  Trent this was a young looking fish in absolutely pristine condition.</p>
<p>A small chub soon followed on the upstream rod and then all was quiet until about 9.45pm when the upstream rod was away again and after a good fight a cracking barbel of 11lb 4oz was in the net. Before I even had time to weigh this fish, the downstream rod was away. This proved to be a barbel of about 8lb that I struggled to get into the landing net, which already contained the 11lb 4oz fish. It’s amazing how many times this happens when you just get that little feeding spell.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-4384" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic1-17/"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4384" title="PIC1" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC1-150x128.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="128" /></a></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">I had packed everything away at 11pm and was just going to reel my upstream rod in, when the bait runner started to scream, resulting in a barbel of about 7lbs.</span></h2>
<p>So quite a productive short session, good initial results on the Rahja and Ghurka Spice baits on what was a really balmy night with strong winds (it was still 18 deg C when I got home at just before 1am). The weed situation wasn’t too bad and I was able to leave the baits in for up to an hour before the feeder or lead, was dislodged by the build up of weed. I am sure the extra flow spurred the fish on to feed.<span id="more-4383"></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 10<sup>th</sup> July – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>Back to the same spot for another evening trip. Again it was blowing a gale but we also had near monsoon rain for quiet a few hours. The air had a much fresher feel to it than yesterday and it didn’t feel as ‘fishy’ to me, but with the river still having a good flow to it I was reasonably confident of catching a barbel.</p>
<p>I decided to use exactly the same tactics as the previous day to see if the Rahja Spice would again do the trick. Within 10 minutes of<a rel="attachment wp-att-4385" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic2-14/"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-4385" title="PIC2" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC2-97x150.jpg" alt="" width="97" height="150" /></a> casting in (4.45pm), the upstream rod was away resulting in a bream of about 7 ½ to 8lbs.</p>
<p>The weed proved to be much more of a problem and I was forced to recast every 30 to 40 minutes. I also lengthened my hook lengths up to combat this (up to 6ft long to avoid the hook bait being masked in weed). It was a very quiet night (apart from the rain lashing off the brolly) with no fish movement at all.</p>
<p>The upstream rod was away again at about 9.45pm when a slow pull round on the rod tip was met with me striking into what felt like a really heavy fish, that just moved off slowly to the middle of the river with me being able to do very little about it. There then followed a tug of war between me and the fish for about 15 minutes. I was thinking I had either hooked a huge barbel or a river carp. Now I am never disappointed when I catch a double figure barbel, but I have to admit that when I saw the fish in my head torch I was a tinge disappointed that it wasn’t the monster I thought it was. At 10lb 9oz it was a good fish but if I had lost it I would have been convinced that I had lost a monster. I have had this happen a few times over the years with both barbel and carp that have given the impression of being much bigger than they actually were. I guess it’s like everything else in the animal kingdom, you get some fish that are much stronger than others.</p>
<div id="attachment_4386" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4386" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic3-9/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4386" title="PIC3" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC3-150x132.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="132" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The 10lb 9oz I thought was a monster!</p></div>
<p>Apart from a small carp to another angler these were the only fish caught from the stretch being fished on both nights, so a really good start for the spicy baits in what seems to be a difficult time for barbel anglers at the moment</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wednesday 14<sup>th</sup> September – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong>I finished work early to have a mid-week evening session. Didn’t really expect a great deal with the sharp change in the weather (only 6 deg. C when I got to work this morning), and a forecast of a full moon and clear skies, but I just felt like I needed to get out and have a go.</p>
<p>The river had a lot less flow than the weekend since that little bit of extra water had now passed through.</p>
<p>I used the same approach as the previous 2 sessions has I wanted to continue with the spicy baits even in very unfavourable conditions.</p>
<p>It proved to be a very quiet evening (as expected) without even a bream knock, until I had packed everything away apart from my upstream rod. I was finishing packing up (11pm) when I heard the bait runner singing. This proved to be a barbel of 10lb 2oz  (a fish that would be easily recognisable by the fact that the bottom lobe of its tail was missing) and again fell to the Rahja Spice Shelf lifes over the mini pellet mix.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 17<sup>th</sup> September – Upper Trent</span></strong></p>
<p>Much better night for fishing with overcast skies and a temperature of 15 deg. C when I packed up at 11pm.</p>
<p>The river was totally dead with nothing ‘topping’ at all. When the Trent is in this mood, it is always a struggle, (the Lower Severn is the same – it can just switch off) and so it proved, has I never had so much has a knock in 6 ½ hours of fishing and with the increased amount of dead weed being carried downstream (5 oz to hold bottom 2 rod lengths out) it wasn’t the most pleasurable of trips!</p>
<p>Also saw an otter on the river, now whilst the general public loves to see them on television, it’s not a good thing to have on a stretch of river where the barbel stocks are not exactly prolific!</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Saturday 18<sup>th</sup> September – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>With the Upper  Trent being totally dead yesterday, a change of venue was called for. So it was off to the Dove and a swim that I have only ever fished once before.</p>
<p>Has is the norm of late, the river was exceptionally low and clear (lowest it has been since the drought in 1976) and with the really poor weather conditions (crystal clear sky, full moon, strong cold north westerly wind, you could see your breath by 8pm), it was going to be a trip of ‘scratching’ just for a bite. Small hooks and long hook lengths with small baits were to be the order of the day.</p>
<div id="attachment_4387" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4387" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic4-3/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4387" title="PIC4" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC4-150x133.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="133" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">12lb 1oz</p></div>
<p>I only had 1 bite in 6 ½ hours of fishing, but this produced a nice barbel of 12lb 1oz. This again came to the upstream rod (I am sure this gives better presentation) and again fell to the Rahja Spice shelf life’s over the mini mixed pellets.</p>
<p>You can tell Autumn is on the way has over the last 3 nights I have seen 6 foxes going in and out of peoples gardens to forage, as I have been arriving home at just before 1 am. Haven’t seen this at all for months.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Weekend 25/26<sup>th</sup> September</span></strong></p>
<p>Didn’t get out this weekend, but used the little spare time that I had, doing some work on my boat (I have a 14 footer moored on a large reservoir). Still some more to do though, just in case the weather turns really cold (like the last 2 winters) and I fancy a spot of pike fishing.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wednesday 28<sup>th</sup> September – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>I finished work early on a really warm and sunny day (27 deg C in September!) for a quick evening session on the Dove.</p>
<p>I headed for the same area that produced the 12lb fish on the last trip, keen to see what else may be there. With no rain the river was still exceptionally low and clear so again I used the small baits, small hooks and long hook length method.</p>
<p>I set up at 4.30pm not really expecting much until a lot later (with the bright sunshine and air temperature of 27 deg C) and so I was really taken by surprise when at about 6.15pm one of my rods signalled a bite. I was just pouring a cup of tea from my flask and so was not on the rod straight away, which mean’t that the barbel had already got up speed. This swim is really hit and hold and with the pressure I had to apply along with the speed of the fish, the hook straightened. That’s the first time I have ever had this with the Korum S3’s that I like to use in the smaller sizes. This bite came to a lightly baited area (Ghurka and Rahja Spice boilies) and fell to a Ghurka Spice hookbait. I did a bit of cursing and changed my rig over to the next hook size up.</p>
<p>All was very quiet with little or no fish movement until at about 8.45pm when my upstream rod showed a very ‘chubby type’ bite, which upon connecting with the fish proved to definitely not be a chub. A really good fight ensued with what was obviously a really good fish and after about 7 or 8 minutes it was over the net. This proved to be difficult as the net cord had broken so there was no tension in the</p>
<div id="attachment_4388" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4388" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic5/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4388" title="PIC5" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC5-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Definitely not a chub - 13lb 4oz!</p></div>
<p>net. I managed it after a couple of attempts and it proved to be a really cracking barbel of 13lb 4oz. This fish fell to the Rahja Spice shelf life’s over the mini mixed pellet mix.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>I packed up at 11pm with no more bites but very pleased none the less. Arriving home at 12.30pm the air temperature was 18 deg. C, this really is crazy weather for the end of September.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday 30<sup>th</sup> September – River Dove</span></strong></p>
<p>With the continued incredibly warm spell (warmest on record for this time of year) I again finished work early so that I could spend the evening on the River Dove to see if I would be lucky enough to continue my good run.</p>
<p>Started fishing at about 4.30pm and I had a bite after 10 minutes, again on the upstream rod and after a short fight a battle scarred fish of 10lb 3oz was in the net. This fell to the Rahja / mini mixed pellet combination.</p>
<div id="attachment_4389" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4389" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/pic6-2/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4389" title="PIC6" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PIC6-150x129.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="129" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Battle scarred 10lb 3oz</p></div>
<p>I packed up at 11pm with nothing else happening at all, apart from 4 idiots who decided it would be a good idea to canoe down the river in the pitch black (9.30 ish) and without any lights. I am not against anybody enjoying their hobbies, but this was stupid and dangerous on a little river like the Dove. They were also breaking all the rules as canoes are not allowed on the Dove at this time of year or on low water levels.</p>
<p>It has proved to be quite a successful time of late using the Rahja and Ghurka Spice, with 6 doubles (and some back up fish) in approxiamately 40 hours fishing. This is testament to the pulling power of these baits (no pre-baiting and I would doubt if the fish had seen them before), as I know of several good anglers (and a lot of others looking through the various forums) who have struggled to catch any barbel off these rivers in the last 6 weeks.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>Pat Gillett</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 26px;"><strong><br />
</strong></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
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	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/" title="River Wye Barbel Debut (July 28, 2011)">River Wye Barbel Debut</a> (11)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-october-diary/" title="Pat Gillett&#8217;s October Diary (November 2, 2011)">Pat Gillett&#8217;s October Diary</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-november-diary/" title="Pat Gillett&#8217;s November Diary (December 8, 2011)">Pat Gillett&#8217;s November Diary</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pat-gilletts-diary-part-1/" title="Pat Gillett&#8217;s Diary Part 1 (August 17, 2011)">Pat Gillett&#8217;s Diary Part 1</a> (1)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>River Wye Barbel Debut</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:33:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Gillett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specialist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barbel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barbel Catchers Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Gillet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[River Wye]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=4018</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Words and pictures by Pat Gillett.&#160; Over the years I have had some good days fishing as a guest on Barbel Catchers Club &#8216;fish-ins&#8217;, so when my good mate Geoff Dace asked me if I would like to be a guest on a &#8216;fish-in&#8217; on the river Wye, I jumped at the chance. &#160; &#160; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><strong><em> Words and pictures by Pat Gillett.</em></strong>&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_4019" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4019" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/pic1-15/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4019" title="PIC1" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PIC11-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Geoff Dace relaxing in his swim</p></div>
<p>Over the years I have had some good days fishing as a guest on Barbel Catchers Club &#8216;fish-ins&#8217;, so when my good mate Geoff Dace asked me if I would like to be a guest on a &#8216;fish-in&#8217; on the river Wye, I jumped at the chance.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p></span></h1>
<p>The ‘fish-in’ was to take place on Friday 22<sup>nd</sup> July, with the Midlands Region of the B.C.C. booking a stretch for the day.</p>
<p>Having never fished the Wye for Barbel before I did a bit of searching to see what information I could find, and it soon became apparent that the Wye seemed pretty much the same as the Middle Severn that I used to fish about 15 years ago. There are large shoals of barbel in certain swims with the rest of the stretch holding the odd one in most swims. With this in mind swim selection would be key to having a good day.</p>
<p>We arrived at the venue at about 1.30pm, there were already a couple of the members there and one of them was just returning a barbel, so the fish were obviously feeding. A quick walk of the stretch and I soon found what I was looking for, a swim that to me, absolutely ‘screamed’ barbel. This was on the inside of a bend and about 120 yards above a shallow ford that went across the river. There were banks of streamer weed to about 30 yards out and then a clean gravel bottom, which proved to be around 3 to 4 feet deep. From my time fishing the Middle Severn this looked a perfect area for holding a large shoal of barbel at this time of year.<span id="more-4018"></span></p>
<p>Geoff got in about 2 pegs above me and had 2 barbel in the first 10 minutes while I hadn’t had a bite in the first hour, which left me thinking about a move, however just after the hour mark my downstream rod was away and after a good fight my first Wye barbel was in the landing net, only a small fish of about 5 1/2lbs but still very welcome all the same. Another small one followed 10 minutes later so I decided to stay put.</p>
<p>I then pulled out of a good barbel and on checking the hook I found that the ‘point’ had turned over. I put a new hook length on and within 2 minutes was into another barbel, the hook also pulled out of this one. On inspection the hook looked</p>
<div id="attachment_4020" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4020" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/pic2-11/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4020" title="PIC2" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PIC2-150x100.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="100" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">My chosen swim</p></div>
<p>fine so I recast, only too pull out of another barbel again within a minute of the feeder hitting the water. So that was 3 fish pulled out of in successive casts. Now I doubt if I have hook pulls on more than a couple of barbel every season, so something was definitely wrong. I had been using fairly long hairs so I decided to shorten these right off so that the bait was actually touching the hook. This worked a treat, as I never lost another fish all evening. I have seen this before, when the fish are feeding so confidently that they pick the bait up in their lips and move onto the next bit of food without swallowing the first, therefore with a long hair the hook never goes inside the fishes mouth.</p>
<p>By the time I packed up at 9.45pm (started about 2.30pm) I had taken 15 barbel and 4 chub. None of them were big fish, with the biggest barbel going 8lb 10ozs, but a very enjoyable first barbel session on the Wye.</p>
<p>I used standard feeder tactics, feeding with the mini <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/pellet/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pellet &raquo;">pellet</a> and crushed boilie mix and fishing with either 16mm pellet or <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/specialcrab.php" class="kblinker" title="More about special crab &raquo;">special crab</a> hook baits.  The pellet produced about 70% of the barbel with the special crab the other 30% and all of the chub. It also proved how instant a barbel bait the special crab is, as I doubt these fish had ever seen it before.</p>
<p>One really noticeable thing was the feeding spells of the barbel. You would get nothing for 30 minutes or so then you would get 3 or 4 fish in successive casts, with the fish hitting the bait almost on the drop. I would say that you would pick off a</p>
<div id="attachment_4021" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4021" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/pic3-6/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4021" title="PIC3" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PIC3-150x95.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="95" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Beautiful wild barbel - my best of the trip.</p></div>
<p>few from the shoal and then they would move off and another small shoal would move in later and I reckon the sound of the feeder being recast was actually attracting the barbel to the bait.</p>
<p>The day also proved to match up with the research I had done on the Wye, there must have been a load of barbel in the swim I chose, but the rest of the stretch was very hit &amp; miss with approximately 17 barbel and loads of chub being caught by the other 6 anglers.</p>
<p>It was a really different day to what I have now become used to. I am usually fishing for one or 2 bites in a session, so made for a nice change. I also saw 3 salmon come clean out of the water, which is something I never see on the rivers I usually fish.</p>
<p>So there we are, my first River Wye barbel trip, a really nice enjoyable day, in lovely surroundings, with good company and some exceptionally hard fighting (for their size) wild fish.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>Pat Gillett</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
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	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/winter-barbel-baits/" title="Winter barbel baits (November 20, 2008)">Winter barbel baits</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/readers-query-what-bait-for-barbel/" title="What bait do you recommend for barbel? (April 21, 2008)">What bait do you recommend for barbel?</a> (5)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/on-the-river-again/" title="Want to catch a barbel?  Here&#8217;s some tips&#8230; (October 9, 2008)">Want to catch a barbel?  Here&#8217;s some tips&#8230;</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/september-barbel-fishing-on-two-midlands-rivers/" title="September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers (October 13, 2011)">September Barbel fishing on two Midlands rivers</a> (7)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pre-baiting-for-barbel-and-chub/" title="Pre-Baiting for Barbel and Chub (July 21, 2011)">Pre-Baiting for Barbel and Chub</a> (3)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>Mario Taal &#8211; First result from a new Target Water</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/mario-taal-first-result-from-a-new-target-water/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/mario-taal-first-result-from-a-new-target-water/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:37:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mario Taal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liver B8]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pimple Pop]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=3996</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First reward for lots of effort After my last visit to my ‘2011 targetwater, I’ve had a very busy time so it took me a month for finding time for fishing a proper overnight session over there and I only had time for some morning and evening sessions instead. Last week was different, I kept [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-3997" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/mario-taal-first-result-from-a-new-target-water/img_0307/"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-3997" title="IMG_0307" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_0307-150x100.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="100" /></a>First reward for lots of effort</p>
<p>After my last visit to my ‘2011 targetwater, I’ve had a very busy time so it took me a month for finding time for fishing a proper overnight session over there and I only had time for some morning and evening sessions instead. Last week was different, I kept my eyes on the forecast and in particular on the direction of the wind for the days before the session. I decided to bait up the south-west corner of the lake with 2 kgs of 15 and 20mm</p>
<p>Liver-B8 boilies each day, starting 3 days before the session.</p>
<p>The presentation was simple, a critically balanced hookbait, made of a half <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/hookervariations/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pop-up &raquo;">pop-up</a> and a half sinking 15mm Liver-B8 boilie. The rig was pulled through a pva-bag wich was filled with chopped boilies, maximum action and mini-mix <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/pellet/index.php" class="kblinker" title="More about pellet &raquo;">pellets</a>.</p>
<div id="attachment_4002" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4002" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/mario-taal-first-result-from-a-new-target-water/img_0309-2/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4002" title="IMG_0309" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_03091-150x100.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="100" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Critically balanced - half a boilie, half a pop-up and half a Pimple Pop</p></div>
<p>The spots were 40 and 45 yards out and situated on a clear area in the weedbed. The expectations were high, cloudy skies and the wind was blowing like it was autumn, carpy situations in my eyes.</p>
<p>I got my First take around 24.00, sadly it was a bream, a really big one though but not the specie we’re waiting for. But then one hour later I got a screaming take, followed by a intense fight, but after 20 minutes a good mirror rolled into my landingnet. I straightly knew that it was a good fish and the scale confirmed my thought, the needle stopped at 33,9lb! Well pleased with this first thirty of this water, I consider this fish as my first reward for all the effort I’ve put into this water and it gives me confidence that I’m getting closer to catching the two big commons. To be continued…</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mario Taal.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
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	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/what-bait/" title="What Bait do you Recommend for French Carping? (May 28, 2008)">What Bait do you Recommend for French Carping?</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/readers-query-what-bait-for-barbel/" title="What bait do you recommend for barbel? (April 21, 2008)">What bait do you recommend for barbel?</a> (5)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/liver-b8-passes-the-ultimate-bait-test-with-flying-colours/" title="Quests New Boilie &#8211; LIVER B8&#8230;. what a bait! (May 25, 2008)">Quests New Boilie &#8211; LIVER B8&#8230;. what a bait!</a> (1)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>Near Water Film by Romuald Bayon</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/near-water-film-by-romuald-bayon/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/near-water-film-by-romuald-bayon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:54:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romu Bayon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carp boat fishing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=3889</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A lovely new short film clip by Romu. Simply click the link to watch the film. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236973429648292 Related posts No related posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A lovely new short film clip by Romu. Simply click the link to watch the film.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236973429648292">https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236973429648292</a></p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li>No related posts.</li>
	</ul>

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		<title>River Season Opening Week-end</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-season-opening-week-end/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-season-opening-week-end/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shaun Harrison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specialist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bristol Avon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freelining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paste]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=3874</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well finally I made the drive down to Bristol to meet up with Nige Cobham to celebrate the first week-end of the river season. The invite had originally come five years ago and one thing and another kept seeing it pushed aside but this year we were both determined to make the trip happen and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3875" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-3875" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-season-opening-week-end/s1080006-copy/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-3875" title="S1080006 - Copy" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/S1080006-Copy-150x112.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Nige fishing the delightful Bristol Avon</p></div>
<p>Well finally I made the drive down to Bristol to meet up with Nige Cobham to celebrate the first week-end of the river season. The invite had originally come five years ago and one thing and another kept seeing it pushed aside but this year we were both determined to make the trip happen and what better time than the start of the season.</p>
<p>So after a surprisingly clear run down the motorway system I found myself greeted on the drive by Nige who quickly beckoned me into his house before thrusting a huge glass of red wine into my hand and we started picking up where we had left off five years previously at a British Carp Study Group fish-in where we had found ourselves in adjacent swims and had a thoroughly enjoyable week-end swapping the odd story or two. It always amazes me how many friends I have in common with people when on the bank.</p>
<p>Obviously we had a lot of catching up to do and I&#8217;m sure some of the wine must have evaporated but before long Nige&#8217;s wife Fiona had left us to it talking the usual angler talk and before we knew it it was 2am and we really should think about sleep.</p>
<p><span id="more-3874"></span>It was to be a totally chilled out week-end so there was no rush the following morning to get down the river and we even walked our dogs first.</p>
<p>Eventually I was to set my eyes on the delightful Bristol Avon and it wasn&#8217;t long before I was mooching around with my Free Spirit Hi &#8216;S&#8217; Special 1lb test curve rod and tiny reel free lining lumps of <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/rahjaspice.php" class="kblinker" title="More about rahja spice &raquo;">Rahja Spice</a> paste into every little fishy looking</p>
<div id="attachment_3876" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-3876" href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-season-opening-week-end/img_6917-copy/"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-3876" title="IMG_6917 - Copy" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_6917-Copy-150x102.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="102" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">One of many chub </p></div>
<p>hole I could find and duly the chub obliged.</p>
<p>In many cases I was able to actually creep up on the chub and carefully manoeuvre  my bait into their path. This really was exciting fishing, finding the fish working out a way of not spooking them and then finally watching them grab the bait.</p>
<p>The first day I caught around 12 chub doing this and then  more on the second day. Nige spent more time sitting it out in known areas trying to tempt a barbel and was also rewarded with bonus chub.</p>
<p>A great week end very much back to basics with a rod, reel, line, hook and bait then going and finding the fish. Already I am thinking of other places where I can do more of this sort of thing closer to home and one thing is for sure after using several different baits the red Rahja Paste definitely gave the most aggressive feeding response I saw. The chub nailed it each time they spotted it so long as I hadn&#8217;t spooked them first.</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/winter-rivers-grayling-and-chub/" title="Winter rivers for Grayling and Chub (December 22, 2009)">Winter rivers for Grayling and Chub</a> (8)</li>
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		<title>Happy New River Season Everyone!</title>
		<link>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/happy-new-river-season-everyone/</link>
		<comments>http://www.questbaits.com/blog/happy-new-river-season-everyone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shaun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fishing Sessions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shaun Harrison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specialist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[first day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[river season]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.questbaits.com/blog/?p=3854</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The rather magical June 16th is finally here again. Very busy with work but I managed to get out for a few hours this morning before the office beckoned. As usual when I am looking forward to something I was up, dressed and drinking coffee before my alarm clock sounded. Out into the silent world [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/S1060007.jpg"><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/S1060007.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3855" title="S1060007" src="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/S1060007-e1308216322593.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="112" /></a></a>The rather magical June 16th is finally here again. Very busy with work but I managed to get out for a few hours this morning before the office beckoned.</p>
<p>As usual when I am looking forward to something I was up, dressed and drinking coffee before my alarm clock sounded. Out into the silent world of the early morning I was soon walking across the fields in anticipation of what might be.</p>
<p>I have been feeding the barbel and chub every morning for some time now and the first hand full of bait has heralded an instant reaction from them just like ringing the dinner gong. Imagine my surprise when the first hand full of bait went in and no fish turned up? Usually the chub would hammer the boilies on the drop and I would need to feed those off to get the barbel in on the action. This morning nothing!</p>
<p>I can only presume they weren&#8217;t expecting me quite so early in the morning. I sat in the swim for 10 minutes but saw nothing so went &#8216;a wandering&#8217;. The three spots I have been baiting were all devoid of fish yet I have been seeing them every morning.</p>
<p>I started to wander back and spotted 2 chub and a barbel on a tiny gravel run between streamer weed in an area I don&#8217;t usually see any fish. Well, it was a start. I cast a free lined lump of <a href="http://www.questbaits.com/docs/boilies/rahjaspice.php" class="kblinker" title="More about rahja spice &raquo;">Rahja Spice</a> paste moulded around a 10mm boilie upstream of the fish and almost immediately one of the chub bolted for the bait and took it immediately. One cast and a couple of seconds and my first fish of the season was being gently un-hooked and lowered back into the river.</p>
<p>I struggled to find many fish until we got towards the time I had been feeding them and sure enough they turned up in their usual spots. This time I anchored a bait with a lead on a gravel strip slope dropping into the main pool I had been feeding. I watched the paste wrapped boilie flutter into place in the deeper water with my lead and main line out of the way up the slope then sat back well out of the way. Five minutes later the line plucked at my finger and I immediately struck.</p>
<p>Chub number 2 was soon on the bank and this heralded the time to leave as the morning dog walkers were starting to appear and not wanting to be seen fishing the stretch I have been feeding I faded away.</p>
<p>Well, not the hoped for opening morning barbel but thoroughly enjoyable all the same and with another 9 months of the season in front of me there is no rush at all.</p>
<p>Hope you all have a great season.</p>
<p>Best fishes</p>
<p>Shaun</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/winter-rivers-grayling-and-chub/" title="Winter rivers for Grayling and Chub (December 22, 2009)">Winter rivers for Grayling and Chub</a> (8)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/suffering-from-carp-withdrawal-symptoms-heres-the-answer/" title="Suffering from carp withdrawal symptoms? Here&#8217;s the answer. (February 9, 2012)">Suffering from carp withdrawal symptoms? Here&#8217;s the answer.</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/small-stream-chub-late-in-the-season/" title="Small stream chub late in the season (March 22, 2010)">Small stream chub late in the season</a> (3)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-season-opening-week-end/" title="River Season Opening Week-end (June 21, 2011)">River Season Opening Week-end</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.questbaits.com/blog/pre-baiting-for-barbel-and-chub/" title="Pre-Baiting for Barbel and Chub (July 21, 2011)">Pre-Baiting for Barbel and Chub</a> (3)</li>
</ul>

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