barbule

August 2005

28th/29th 21st/22nd 18th/19th10th/11th Middle Trent

Due to holidays and a heavy work load! my fishing has been well and truly curtailed this month so my 1st session in August was well into the 2nd week, a chance phone call from Tony2 (checking up on my daughters broken arm) saw me on the bank at5pm. Tony had already had 1 barbel about 8lbs and Hugh (the Vicar) had had a 7lber things were looking up or so I thought?A rod with the ever faithfull "pellet and feeder" combination was cast very slightly upstream and a 2nd rod with boilie and paste wrap was cast slightly down stream. The kettle was on and 1st Faye then Tony and then finally Hugh all made visits to the "tea room". The tips on my rods never moved one iota in 6 hours, while Tony had 5 fish and Hugh had another (he just can't stop catching now after a very quiet start to the season). Hugh had left soon after darknes came and Tony was packing up just before midnight Faye had dropped in his peg but proceeded to not listen to the "master" and missed a couple of bites by striking too early! Left by myself it was a very warm night with some of the biggest bats I have ever seen on this part of the Trent crashing into my line all night, even with the rods set low over the water. At half past midnight the boilie rod gave a tap and the tip swung round as a fish tore off with the bait and my 1st barbel of August was on, a cracking fight ensued with a 4lber in the net this was followed in the next hour by a couple of what seemd like its brothers so my session was a happy one with 3 barbel and the obligatory chub.No more sessions for me this month so roll on september and a bit of rain!18th Middle Trent Well I sneaked out Tuesday evening and thought I had missed the best of the fishing as we had some rain over the weekend and most of the water had dropped out by the time I got there and it was back to its low level of the previous weeks. As I walked down the bank Hugh had already had one barbel a beauty of 7lbs, He has been on holiday this week and has spent a lot of time on the bank both on the middle and the non-tidal and he has been catching well after a terrible start to the season when he couldn't even catch a cold! He had another as I was setting up, so things were looking up, I had talked to Steve who had been there the previous night and he had been catching a lot further out than normal so one rod baited with boilie was cast out and the other rod was set up, not my normal set up tonight as the water was low and the fish had been a bit finnicky lately I decided on a technique shown me by Dick Dowing a couple of years ago, so my quiver tip rod was set up and touch ledgering with pellet was the order of the day.The boile rod was unmoved until about 11.30pm when the tip slammed over I was into a cracking barbel that weighed about 6lbs but I decided to concentrate and just fish the one rod and touch ledger, this paid off and 15mins later another fish was on this time a beauty of 8lb+, feeling all the taps and bangs on the quiver reminded me of the time spent with Dick and Graham when I caught 3-9lb fish in 2 hours! on my beloved trent.The tip was never still and in the next hour I had 2 more fish including a beauty of over 9lbs, Hugh ended up with 5 barbel and the obligatory chub so he went home happy looking forward to his trip to Scotland at the weekend. I packed up in the early hours and had an unexpectedly fullfilled drive home. Now will I be able to sneak out again before the end of the month?21st/22nd Middle Trent

Well I sneaked another session on Sunday evening, I took an old mate of mine Arthur, we used to fish together all the time upto my "specie" days. I picked him up late Sunday afternoon and as we drove to the river we talked of times gone by and fishing adventures of the past, it had been about 7/8 years since we fished together, he still does his match fishing with the "Veterans" but seems to be a bit bored with it now so you never know we may get back together again.

We arrived just after 7pm to find the river well down, the weather was really good with no wind and a warm night forecast, I had told Arthur to only bring clothes and food as I would supply everything else and as we took the gear down to the river Ian was packing up, he had struggled today but it was good to see him again after a few months. Pete and Paul were already set up and fishing. We settled into one of the larger swims so we could fish together and after a nice cuppa and one of "Paulines" special sarnies we settled down to try and get him his 1st ever barbel. Pete had had a cracking 7lber and Paul was catching too so things were looking up,Arthur had been getting taps and pulls on the tip of 1 of my GTI's all night but his match fishing prowess was getting the better of him as he was striking to early and not waiting for the inevitable "wrap round", he did land a bream of over 6lbs though so he would have gone home a happy chap even if the inevitable didn't happen. At 10.30pm his tip had been bouncing around for quiet a while and it was killing him every time I told him to leave it alone and wait, I told him of the advice of an old barbel fisherman gave, when asked, when do you hit a barbel bite? his reply was "when the butt of your rod hits you under the chin"! Well it did "wrap round" and he was into his 1st barbel after a spirited fight he couldn't believe the size of the fish that had nearly pulled his arm off, the 5lber recovering in the net amazed him.

We settled back down and I had one about 8lbs and then just after midnight I had gone to talk to Paul he had had a cracking night and was well into double figures but no big fish, 8lbs being the largest, as I walked back I could hear a lot of splashing and wasn't sure if the old fella had "fallen in" as I came through the trees Arthur was just sliding the net under another barbel, the fish looked a lot bigger than his 1st as it lay in the landing net recovering, we weighed and photographed it and he was a happy angler as the scales went round to 9lbs 9ozs. Then I noticed he had caught it on my rod! We stayed on a couple of more hours and had another fish each so an eventful night was had by us both and a long lost friendship looks like it may spark into life again. 28th/29th Middle Trent.Well I managed to wangle another session his month, arriving at the pub at 6pm to meet up with Howard (skidlid BFW) and Paul (the scouser) we had planned on doing a late night early morning session.

Paul was in the same swim he fished last time (and blanked then) he had brought everything but the kitchen sink with him as usual. he had had a new PB during the week on the Ribble so he was a happy bunny anyway but still looking for his first Trent barbel.

Howard has been a bit down lately, fed up with cars getting vandalised on his normal river, so I invited him up to a nice peaceful river for a quiet session (how wrong was I!). He was in a swim 2 pegs down from Paul and started off fishing 2 rods, (not something he is used too) one inside and one straight out, now Howard is used to fishing the Great Ouse and not having to cast! so it was a bit of a shock to learn he had to cast 30yds out into a huge river like the Trent, would his rods take it or snap under the weight of a 2oz feeder! after leaving him for a while to get comfortable I set my gear in a swim up stream from Paul. A call from Howard told me he had just landed a small chub so at least he wouldn't go home blanking, some 20 minutes later a shout from him again and I was off down the bank (my gear still not set up) as I came to his swim I could see he was into a fish, Howard is a Peregrine man and his Stepped Up Avon was bent into a nice arc with a barbel firmly attached to the end, a spirited fight saw me net a cracking 6lb+ fish for him, his 1st trent barbel. Howard said that would do him if he never had another bite! Paul meantime had broken his Trent duck with an unmarked 6lber not the PB we had hoped for but more than welcome in the early hours of the morning. As I let Paul out of the gate at 05.30 I was still on my 1st blank of the season! I returned to my chair contemplated packing up and going home but as Howard was still fishing I thought I would give it another hour, I cast out my rod and the boilies hadn't even hit the bottom when the tip wrapped round and I was into a fighting fit Trent barbel, I had lost 2 earlier when the mian line scrapped on the rocks but now with the addition of my special leader this one was soon in the net, a cracking 8lber, saving me from a blank! Well the constant txts and calls from howard during the night made certain that he had the best nights barbel fishing he had ever had he ended up with 7 barbel to 9lbs 1oz and 5 chub to 5lb+ and a happy smiling face at the end of it. At one stage he was playing a barbel when his other rod went so as I was stood next to him there's only one thing you can do, thanks Howard!!Come up again soon. Total for August 10 barbel

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page last edited 21.6.06