After reading Shaun’s diary type pieces, I thought I would share my own. Due to work I have been restricted to a couple of short trips a week.

Friday 8th July – River Dove

After a bit of success on the Dove during the two previous week-ends, we were back again to the same area for another after work session. I stayed with the Special Crab after the previous results but despite trying numerous different presentations I only had a few small chub knocks to show for 6 hours fishing. I would guess that with the present conditions the barbel will revert back to feeding late at night (11pm onwards). This very often happens (on the small rivers), you get a ‘duffers fortnight’ where the fish can be caught relatively easy at the start of the season and then it changes very quickly. It was quite surprising that even with all the heavy rain showers we have been having, the river was still at the lowest level I have seen it.

Saturday 9th July – River Dove & Upper Trent

Each season I try and fish a new stretch of river and with everywhere being extremely low and clear (and the fish having finished spawning), it seemed like the perfect time to go and have a look somewhere new.

The stretch of Dove we went to look at proved to be a major disappointment. After walking for about 1 ½ hours, through head high vegetation and nettles, clambering under and over barbed wire fences etc we never found anywhere that looked really appealing. I did see four or five nice chub (biggest would have been a big 5) but only one very small barbel, not much when you consider I could see the bottom along 95 % of the stretch.  It also proved to be the wrong time to be wearing new walking boots as my heels are now covered in blisters lol!

Part of the Upper Trent

With this stretch being unappealing we made our way an area of the Upper Trent where we had made a couple of swims on the opening weekend. You don’t usually see another angler on this area but on arrival there was another car there, and true to form the guy was fishing in the swim I had made. I ended up fishing well upstream in an area I hadn’t looked at before. I made a small gap in between the 6 feet high bull rushes and fished the remaining four hours there. Again I was bite less and the weed coming down was a real problem at times, even using 6oz to hold bottom.

Still it was a pleasant evening sitting in amongst the reed warblers.

So a bit of a frustrating day really,but also informative as I can now cross another stretch off my list. There was an abundance of wildlife about and apart from the usual herons and kingfishers etc I saw a couple of baby fox cubs playing in the fields, an owl and a single Egret working the river.

This all adds to the experience, somebody once wrote “if it was all about catching, then it would be called catching and not fishing”. Today really summed this quote up.

Wednesday 13th July – River Dove

Another short after work session on the Dove. Nothing at all to report.River still really low and clear. Only the odd fish being caught (midnight onwards). Really need some rain for things to change.

Would have been a good evening to be fly fishing, has there were two significant trout rises at different times.

Friday 15th July – Upper Trent

After blanking on the Dove we decided to head for the Trent for another after work session. Once again the river was very and low and clear, but for a change the weed didn’t prove to be a problem and I was able to hold bottom with just 2 ½ oz.

Still nicely overgrown - The Upper Trent

I fished with pellet hook baits on one rod and special crab boilies on the other, with both being fished in conjunction with the mini pellet mix. The special crab produced 3 bream to about 7lbs whereas the pellet (16mm) produced 2 barbel up to maybe 8lbs. This very often happens if you have chub or bream in the area, they seem to ‘home in’ on the boilie first.

The 2 barbel along with another one my mate had all fell in the last 20 minutes of the session (we packed up at 11.15pm), so we could have done with stopping a bit later, but I was due to be in work the next morning so couldn’t really stop any later. This time of year with the river being low and clear it does seem as though very often you are wasting your time before it gets dark and to get the best out of the fishing you really need to live local to the river so you can pop down regularly for a couple of hours at the best time. I can’t really do this has even fishing till 11.15, by the time I have packed away, loaded up and got home it is still about 1am. I can never just switch off straight away, so it is usually after 2am before I get to sleep. When you have to be up at 6.30 ish for work, this soon takes its toll. So I am hoping for some rain to put some colour into the river.

I also seem to be on a run of smallish fish at the moment. Of the 9 barbel I have caught so far, only 1 has been into double figures. From the two venues I have been fishing I would expect that to be 5 or 6. But at least I am catching and I know this ratio will change if I can keep on catching quite consistently (my mate was talking to a good barbel angler that he knows and this guy had, had 11 blanks on the trot).

Friday 22nd July – River Wye

Actually had a days holiday (only my third this year) and had a smashing day on the River Wye – see my River Wye Barbel  Debut – blog entry. http://www.questbaits.com/blog/river-wye-barbel-debut/

Saturday 23rd July – Upper Trent

Absolute peach of a fish 11lb 4oz

An evening on a stretch of the river that I hadn’t been on for a while. Very windy and some heavy showers, but the river is still painfully low and clear.

After the first cast it soon became evident that the weed was going to be a problem and so it was a case of using 5oz’s to stop the bait being dragged all over the river bed.

Once again nothing happened until the last half hour of the trip. I had 2 barbel in this time (10.30pm to 11pm), a small one of about 4lb and an absolute peach of a fish of 11b 4oz. The small one falling to a 16mm pellet fished over the Quest Baits Mini Pellet mix, whilst the bigger fish came just 6 foot from the bank after fairly heavy baiting. The bait (a 15mm Special Crab Freezer bait) had been in the water for nearly 2 hours before it was taken.

The Upper Trent barbel I have caught over the last few seasons (from different venues) have been absolutely stunning looking young fish. This latest fish of 11lb 4oz looked like it had just been ‘minted’ with huge orange fins and a perfect massive tail. These are all good signs for the future considering how often the Trent has been polluted in the last few years.

Cheers Pat Gillet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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