The Sessions - Oct 2021
Barbel Jackpot
I finished last month’s piece with some good Barbel after a run of blanks fishing for different species, with October being one of my favourite months to be on the river Barbel were my target fish.
8 October 2021 – River Trent, Collingham Weir
18 months ago Jerry had managed to book the weir for three nights and after looking forward to it for ages that date had come round, I hadn’t seen Jerry for a year so we were looking forward to a catch up and hopefully a few fish. Mark Roberts, who had designed the logo for my clothing was with us for the session, he’s a good angler and always seems to have the habit of bagging a big one when he’s with Jerry.
I was on the road nice and early and had to call in at Judd’s for some fresh dead baits, after a quick chat I made my way up to Collingham. Jerry and Mark were already in the swims when I arrived, it was good to see them both and they had come prepared.
We had already agreed we would rotate peg 1a doing 24 hours each and it was my turn first so with that sorted I set the swim up.
The river was up after a lot of rain but was starting to drop, the weather was good with warm days and nights forecast and no rain, it all looked perfect. The group before us had not done very well with very few fish caught, there were more bigger fish being caught down the section which was no surprise with the high water, the level had been so low this summer, as low as I’ve seen it, the fish had clearly moved out with the higher water, but you are never far away from Barbel in the weir and we were all confident we’d catch a few.
The level was quite high and I waded out up to my waist to my bank marker to be able to cast to the area I wanted to fish, both rods were baited with double 15mm OG with pva bags with no other feed to start with. The weir is fished every day with loads of bait going in, it is always worth fishing for a while before putting any bait in otherwise you could be putting bait on top of other people’s uneaten bait. After a couple of hours inactivity I spoppered out ten loads of hemp onto the area.
I’d brought a third rod for Zander and set that up on a running lead as before with a dead Roach, that was flicked out along the wall around midday. The fishing was very quiet other than a Bream hooked on my rods that was smashed by a Pike as I was reeling it in and promptly bit me off.
Late afternoon I started to get aborted takes on the dead bait and on the third one I hooked and landed a Zander of about 6 pound, small but very welcome, they are such finicky feeders I have a big learning curve to catch consistently. This rod was then put away for the night.
As it got dark Mark landed a small Barbel and Jerry followed that up with a 12 plus and a 13-10. The Mitten Crabs were very active in 1a and as I was reeling in to check my baits a 13-10 Pike grabbed my boilie.
9 October 2021
I did not get a touch through the night, this can happen in 1a and then on another occasion it can go mental all night. Mark had two to 12 plus, Jerry a small one, Mark Dutton and his friend had dropped in further down and had a couple through the night it was very slow fishing.
The night had been warm and cloudy and the river level dropping with big tides, it was perfect conditions other than a steep rise in air pressure that may have had an impact on the fish feeding. I changed both rods over to double 15mm Pandemic hard hookers and put 40 boilies over the area, an hour later the rod smashed over resulting in my first Barbel of the trip at 14-10.
As planned I moved out and Mark moved into 1a, I went next door in peg 1and again it was a very quiet day. It had been very warm at 21 degrees, crazy temps for October, and I had to get the sun cream out. Unfortunately the warm weather put paid to my dead baits, they’d gone very soft and lost a lot of their fluid so that was the end of any hope of a big Zed this trip. I had an 8plus Barbel mid-afternoon just before Gary Knowles arrived to join us for a couple of nights, it was good to finally meet him after having contact over social media.
I firmly believe in instinct and it was telling me to put some bait in so I started to catapult some bait out, a mixture of 20 Asbo and OG. As it got dark we started getting a few takes and after each fish I put another 20 baits over the area. We all had odd fish up to midnight with Gary having the best a 12plus.
10 October 2021
It was again very warm and the Crabs were still very active but only in the slacker water in 1a, I had two through the night with this one being the best at 14-14.
At first light Mark had his fourth and last fish from 1a but a good one at 15-01, Gary followed that an hour later with his best of the trip and new PB at 15-08.
The sky cleared and it was soon warm and sunny as Jerry moved into 1a and Mark moved down to peg 4 leaving me where I was. None of us were really setting the world alight and I was convinced the fish were there so I kept trickling bait in. I set up a third rod and cast it to the shallow gravel run in front of peg 2, I needed a big lead to hold as the water was ripping through there and I wanted it to stay put so used 10oz. I then kept catapulting bait upstream of it to keep bait trickling along that gravel run.
It had the desired affect and I started to get regular takes with some good ones amongst them, after the second fish I put two rods on that area. Although we were not getting loads Gary and I were getting regular takes through the afternoon and evening. Gary had another good one at 14-10 and I had another five doubles with the best two going 14-08 and 14-01.
11 October 2021
I had an 11-15 in the early hours and then the high tide seemed to kill the action for all of us until I had a 13-13 in the last 30 minutes as we were packing up. Strangely Jerry blanked in 1a, in a total of 72 hours we’d only caught five Barbel from the best swim in the country, it just shows you cannot catch what isn’t there.
I finished the trip with 17 Barbel, 9 being doubles, Gary had a PB at 15-08, Mark another good fish at 15-01 with Jerry not having his best trip with fish to 12plus.
The infamous Collingham Weir, yes at times it can be ridiculously easy, yet at other times it isn’t so, but it’s a great place to be able to fish and I certainly will be going back when the chance arises.
15 October 2021 – River Trent, Gunthorpe Weir
I got the opportunity for the weir swim for 48 hours so took it and travelled up for the midday change over, when I arrived I found no one had been on for 24 hours which was good news as no bait would have gone in. The conditions looked perfect to start with a south westerly wind, warm days and nights and cloudy with a dropping air pressure but with some heavy rain forecast later in the session.
I set the swim up and got the leading rod to work to check the areas I fished too last month when there with Lewis. Everything was as I remembered so the left hand rod was lowered onto the spot a rod length off the wall and the other cast to the new spot towards the weir. Both were set up on the shorter hooklinks as I’ve described previously and baited with double 15mm OG and pva bags.
The first bite came to the left hand rod within five minutes of starting, as I was playing that the other rod went, what a start….
I landed the first and slipped it back, picked up the second and all was going well, half way back it found a snag and went solid. I was pretty convinced it was a large rock and the fish had gone behind it so the pressure on the line was on the rock and not the fish. I tried my normal routine of light pressure and hoping it would pop out, but after standing holding the rod for 15 minutes I put it back in the rest and carried on fishing with one rod. A 9plus and a 10-10 followed and then finally two and half hours later the right hand rod sprung to life and I landed the snagged fish at 10-14. I’ve seen it so many times when people become impatient and pull for a break when from my experience 90% of the time they will come out if left for a while.
The bites kept on coming with double takes three times and by 19:00 I landed 14 Barbel to 11-15 and annoyingly knocked one off with my net that looked easily 14plus.
With the bites being so regular I tried a different bait that I wanted confidence in before trying it on the tidal, it’s a bait with a bird food / milk protein base mix that I hoped the Mitten Crabs would not pick up so after two quick bites I knew the Barbel would take it.
Up to this point I’d put no bait in but with the bites slowing down I started to trickle some in, a mixture of Asbo and OG.
16 October 2021
I’d a 9plus but as is normal in the weir swim bites do slowdown in the night as the fish move out down the section, so I was surprised to see the weir rod go over at 01:40 and I was soon playing a heavy fish. Everything went to plan and it went in the net first time, I didn’t realise how big it was until I lifted the net up the wall and I was very happy with a season best and immaculant 16-06.
It started to rain first thing and looked well set in for the day but I kept getting regular takes. It was very apparent that most of the fish were in the 8-9 pound class and the bigger fish had moved out of the weir as I wasn’t getting the doubles you normally catch. I was targeting and really wanted one of the two big fish and I was already thinking they were not there and down the section which is what happens around this time of year.
The rain was forecast to stay for the day but it stopped mid-morning and although the bites had slowed down I did get regular takes up to late evening.
17 October 2021
I didn’t get a touch all night, nine hours without a bite, I put some more bait on the spots at first light and finished with a flurry of fish before packing up at midday. The forecast heavy rain did not arrive until I’d got the car loaded, with all the gear dry, and was on my way home and then it poured down to really cap a good trip, what a great session, 30 Barbel, with 8 doubles to 16-06.
23 October 2021 – River Trent, Collingham Weir
I came out of work on the Friday to a missed called from Kai telling me the weir was free, I was straight on the phone to return the call. Two people had gone in there but I was welcome to join them if I wanted too. I didn’t fancy the drive after getting home late from work but drove up Saturday morning arriving at 13:00.
They had been joined by a friend for the evening and were in pegs 1a, 1 and 4 so I dropped in 3 with the intention of fishing upstream to the shallow gravel run I’d caught from earlier in the month.
They had been struggling a bit with only a couple of fish from 1a during the night but I was pretty confident the fish would be on the gravel run. I was left to it while setting up and flicked both rods onto the spot with 10oz leads and double 15mm Pandemic hard hookers and pva bags. I had a take straight away and while playing it the other rod went and I ended up with two in the net at once, both high singles.
We all soon got talking as I was sorting the fish out and it turned out to be Ken Brown and two of his friends, Ken has held the Perch record twice with two immense fish from Wilstone Reservoir and it was good to meet him after having read his stories years ago. We got on well, swapped contact details and have made plans for some Spring Bream fishing which I’m already looking forward to.
The next take came quickly and the first double of the session at 11-03 and I picked up another one a lost two before the bites dried up at 20:00.
24 October 2021
Strangely I did not get a take through the night, Ken had three and his friends none before my spot came alive again with four in the last hour with three doubles to 14-01 to finish a great months fishing. I only managed three sessions but had some truly fantastic fishing meeting some great people along the way.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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