Pat Gillett continues his excellent Diary Blog…

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 September – Upper Trent

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.

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.

Don’t think I will come back to this area until later in the year.

Saturday 3rd September – Upper Trent

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 pellet hook baits fished over the mini pellet mix. I used the Rahja Spice on the other rod for the first time but it didn’t produce anything.

Friday 9th September – Upper Trent

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Saturday 10th July – Upper Trent

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.

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 casting in (4.45pm), the upstream rod was away resulting in a bream of about 7 ½ to 8lbs.

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.

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.

The 10lb 9oz I thought was a monster!

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

Wednesday 14th September – Upper Trent

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.

The river had a lot less flow than the weekend since that little bit of extra water had now passed through.

I used the same approach as the previous 2 sessions has I wanted to continue with the spicy baits even in very unfavourable conditions.

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.

Friday 17th September – Upper Trent

Much better night for fishing with overcast skies and a temperature of 15 deg. C when I packed up at 11pm.

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!

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!

Saturday 18th September – River Dove

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.

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.

12lb 1oz

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.

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.

Weekend 25/26th September

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.

Wednesday 28th September – River Dove

I finished work early on a really warm and sunny day (27 deg C in September!) for a quick evening session on the Dove.

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.

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.

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

Definitely not a chub - 13lb 4oz!

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.

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.

Friday 30th September – River Dove

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.

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.

Battle scarred 10lb 3oz

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.

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.

Cheers

Pat Gillett


 

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