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July 2023 Blog Diary

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I know that I’m a little late writing this, all was going well until I had a tick bury itself in me at the end of July and that put paid to a normal life for a bit. I’m now in my third week of not really being with it, but now forcing myself to at least try and tap a few words out. Basically, since all the swelling has gone, I have been left incredibly tired and struggling to focus on things. Even a walk up to the post box a little earlier, really took it out of me.

But for now, less of the tick and Lyme’s disease and see if I can take a look back into my July notes and transfer a few of the words over to here, hopefully including the odd little trick along the way as I try to with these blogs.

Posted by Shaun Harrison on 16 August 2023 | Comments Tags: , , , , Read the full post

I'd rather forget July 2020

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Another month passes and if the truth be told, it was a month I would rather forget.

I finished last month’s piece on a bit of a high after tracking down, stalking, hooking and landing a ridiculously long common on the float and centrepin reel. At the time it was a fish I had not personally seen before, which made it extra special.

So, June passed and into July I ventured with what I though was a back problem. Although I have suffered with a bad neck and shoulder for 25 years, my back has always remained strong. My bloke brain just told me to get on with it and to expect more aches and pains as I get older.

Reflections and observations on the first six weeks of my 2019 river season!

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We are now just over 3 months into the 2019 river season and I have only just started my barbel fishing. For one reason or another, I had hardly wet a line for over 3 months (apart from the very odd float fishing trip), so was looking forward to getting out and having a go. Although reading the various forums (such has Barbel Adventures and BFW) concerning the Upper Trent (they were hardly inspiring), as it would appear in recent seasons most anglers are blanking more often than not. Looking at the size of the barbel on the Upper Trent (average 9lb+), I personally believe (that with virtually no small fish coming through, plus the increase in predation), we may have as little has 3 years before the Upper river becomes very much like the Dove and there are next to no barbel there (it will be a great chub river though).

           It always makes me smile looking at the various social media forums and Angling press concerning the Trent, the catches from the Middle and Tidal Trent can be 'ridiculous' (such things as 8 doubles or more in a night etc), leading people to think the whole of the river is one big barbel swim!

             This really is not the case, the Upper Trent may as well be a different river as it is nothing like the middle, with large area's that only hold the odd fish. I know of many an experienced angler that have had plenty of blanks on the Upper Trent and Dove, that have then had a go on the Middle or Tidal Trent and ended up 'bagging up' with 10 plus fish in a session. Personally if the fishing was such that you are almost always guaranteed to catch, I would soon get bored, after 45 years as an angler, it's more about the surroundings, the solitude and the sense of mystery that low stocked venues like the Upper Trent still have to offer. I do feel though that the current situation with some of the huge catches of barbel, from places like Collingham really do give a false impression as to the barbel fishing across the rest of the country.

Anyway enough of my ramblings!

Which Bait for June?

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Well I have been asked the same thing three times already this week, so thought I really should write a proper answer. Before I go any further though I can almost hear the scepticism spilling from mouths that I'm going to just turn this into an advert pushing the latest etc. Okay, but remember that if I give advice that doesn't catch fish, no-one is going to buy from me again. People forget that it is in my interest for you to catch as much as possible. So here goes...

 

More for Less

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I have just come back from an interesting week on a lake in the Champagne Region of France, with my brother David. The weather forecast for the week and the catch reports I had been reading suggested that the week wouldn't be an easy one and that a large catch of carp was probably going to be out of the question as there had only been 3 carp caught from the whole lake on the week prior to our visit. But, careful baiting was to work a treat.

Reflections and observations on the first couple of months of my 2016 river season.

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We are now just over 2 months into the 2016 river season, so I thought I would do a brief review of my own season so far. I have had 18 trips so far (which is around 110 hours fishing in total), and have fished 8 different stretches on 4 different rivers. Probably 'spreading myself too thin', really, but as I have said before, early season for me is very much about visiting a number of places to try and locate some barbel in the first place. Obviously when you can find a number of fish in a particular area, then it bodes well for later in the season if you want to concentrate on a particular stretch. Even better if you can find them on more than one river, because it gives you so many more options depending on levels etc, for later on.

Posted by Pat Gillett on 7 September 2016 | Comments Tags: , , , Read the full post

Musing's on the coming river season!

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PIC1 2It won't be long now until we can get back on the river's and enjoy some some lovely running water angling in some stunning unspoilt surroundings. But what will the coming season hold for us all. The weather has certainly been very up and down, and I as I write this piece it is well below the temperature that we should be seeing for the time of year (just 10 Deg. C in Wolverhampton!). If this keeps up, the barbel will probably end up spawning in July, as they seem to have done for the last few season's. This always makes the few first weeks of the season difficult, as you can have miles of river with very few fish because they will be 'shoaled' up in small area's.

From a conservation point of view, I would say it is now worth a review of the closed season dates to take this into account. How about moving it back a month, so it runs from April 15th to July 16th? (other species are also spawning later). I have always been a traditionalist but you have to be prepared for change. With the already delicate situation of a lot of our barbel rivers, do you really want angler's fishing for them during or just after spawning? They take a long time to recover properly as it is after capture in the summer, without the added stress of capture just after spawning. The majority of carp fisheries are flexible and will close during the spawning period, surely we should be flexible to the same degree, when it comes to our rivers!

Patience is a virtue – ‘build that swim up’!

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This blog piece is a brief follow up to my last article where I detailed my latest week’s fishing in France with my brother David Gillett. Now regular readers of this blog or the Angling Lines blog, will see that a number of the bloggers such has Shaun Harrison, Paul Cooper, Ron Key and myself are forever preaching the virtue of correct bait application, starting off lightly and gradually building a swim up over the week. The week in question perfectly highlighted this philosophy!

Posted by Pat Gillett on 26 May 2015 | Comments Tags: Read the full post

A Week in France and the biggest in the lake.

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I have just come back from another really nice weeks fishing in France with my brother David Gillett. As I have written before, David doesn’t really fish at all so I would be his guide and ghillie for the week, finding the spots, casting and baiting etc. It can make it hard work at times (preparing 6 rods), but we have always had a good laugh and get on well

Posted by Pat Gillett on 12 May 2015 | Comments Tags: Read the full post

Shaun’s Diary April 2011 – Part 1

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I thought it an idea to start a Blog Diary in here and starting off with last month run through how I have approached my fishing through the different venues I have visited and how I adapt to differing weather conditions through the season.

It has only just occurred to me how many different tactics I have used this past month alone to keep those bobbins moving. So, hopefully there will be points of interest in here and possible little tips you may pick up on to start getting those bobbins moving on a regular basis. So, with no further ado, let us start off with my first trip in April…