The Sessions - September 2016

PB’s…

1 Sept – River Ouse

I had the evening and night to myself but had work in the morning so it was down to the Ouse for a local overnighter. The day had been lovely and warm at 25 degrees with high pressure and it was nice evening to be out but less than ideal conditions.

I wanted to fish a new swim but on arrival found someone in there so I dropped in the weir swim to start with. After losing rigs last time out I had a lead around in the swim with braid and a 1oz lead, I found the drop off to be steeper than I first thought with stones stuck in clay and no snags, I summarised that the leads were wedging on the stones / rocks and the clay was keeping them in place when trying to release them causing me to lose rigs. The bottom appeared better closer in so both were dropped two rod lengths out with pva bags and the ever faithful Pandemic. My pva is supplied to me by Castaway pva, I received 100m in June and have found it to be awesome stuff, very tough and a good melt down time.
I landed a Chub soon after starting but really wanted to be in the new swim. My chance came at 21:15 hours when the angler went home, he hadn’t put any bait out so I was confident a move would be good. I’d already had a lead around so knew where to position the rigs and they were put out quietly with twenty boilies round each.

Three hours later the left hand margin rod flew round and I landed my first Sept double at exactly 10-00. That was it and I packed up at 05:00 for work.

3 Sept – Warwickshire Avon

I was keen to get back to the Avon to my baited spot, so by Sat lunchtime I was driving across the Midlands again. I had a stop over to meet my good friend Colin Bunn of CatMaster Tours and his son Ashley for a chat and to plan our Spanish trip for Nov and then arrived at the river for 18:00 hours. As forecast there had been a lot of rain all day but it was moving east and had dropped to drizzle when I arrived, it was warm and cloudy at 17 degrees so I set up full of confidence.
I went in “the willow”, swung the rigs in and baited down the section with a boilie every 10 feet and finished just in time as the heavens opened again. The rain finally stopped and I rebaited again at approx. 22:00 hours.

22:20 hours – the right hand rod crashed over and immediately I knew it was a good fish, it was strong and fought really hard and I struggled to get it in the net due to its length, eventually it went in the net and I knew it was a PB. On inspection it was the section biggie “one eye” at 14-13 and I was over the moon.

I had another good fish 3 hours later but it wasn’t quite a double at 9-12, this was followed by one of the many average Chub in the Avon. It continued to rain on and off all night and I packed up after the gear had dried off at 08:00 a very happy fisherman. People often ask me why I go fishing, but the feeling you get when you achieve something special wouldn’t mean a thing to a non-angler so what do you say when they ask??

6 Sept – River Derwent

I had two rest days ahead so after finishing work at lunchtime I loaded the car and headed back up the M1 to the Derwent. It has to be said the Derwent is a beautiful river with fantastic fishing and a venue I’ll never tire of fishing. Since the rain at the weekend it had been cloudy and muggy and was warming up again at 25 degrees. I arrived in time to set up before dark and dropped straight in my hot spot, the levels were up a bit after the weekend rain so I hoped the weed coming down wouldn’t be too bad.

It’s easy to look back and say this but believe me it’s true, on the drive up I had a feeling that it was my time and something special was going to happen. This feeling continued as I walked across the field and I had no hesitation in going in my hotspot despite my concerns over weed. I started fishing at 20:00 and baited down the section and this feeling continued, I was buzzing with confidence, even after having to rebait after 90 mins due to weed and then it happened….
22:40 hours – the right hand rod belted over, I lifted into it and it felt heavy without really doing much, it just held bottom and plodded about without coming up. I just knew it was a good one so took my time and eventually it came up, it looked big in the clear water but I still wasn’t sure. It went in the net first time and on first look I guessed 13plus, I got the mat, sling and camera ready and went back and looked in the net again and it continued to grow. When I lifted it out of the water I just knew it was her but did not let myself believe it until I parted the mesh and got a proper look, only then did I let out a cry of joy, I’d done it, my target fish on my terms and tactics, all the miles, hours and bait were worth it by billions!!

It looked huge and was another new PB at 16-09, it’s been caught heavier but I could care less, I was elated and the phone went into melt down. I had a message from Neil Wayte at 4am and replied straight away, his reply was priceless and only a fisherman knows that feeling.

I thought about reeling the other rod in and sleeping but sleep was not an option I was buzzing and wide awake so I rebaited both rods.

01:10 hours – the same rod whipped over again and I landed another double at 11-01 to record my best brace.

I carried on until 08:30 hours and decided not to do another night on the Derwent, I’d caught my target fish and a total of 21 doubles from the river this season, I had to pick a weed cutter up from Phil Smith so decided to drive across the midlands to the Avon.

7 Sept – Warwickshire Avon

Phil had left my cutter stashed in the field with a cryptic text, “turn left though the third gate and it’s by the fifth post”, as promised it was there and a very useful piece of kit it, thank you to Merv Wilkinson for making them.

It was muggy at 24 degrees, cloudy and no rain, the river was up a bit with colour and looked spot on. I went in the “top oak tree” for a lunchtime start and put one in the middle and one in the right hand margin with 20 boilies over both.

They had only been out 20 minutes when the left hand rod crashed over, it’s a tricky swim with a lot of pipe reeds but I negotiated it through and landed another double at 10-05.

I fished on through the day taking three Chub. By the time it got dark Phil had arrived with the bailiff John, by 23:30 none of us had had a touch, after not getting any sleep the night before I was tired so I decided to pack up and drive home, I’d had a brilliant few days and was worn out.

12 Sept – River Ouse

The weather had remained warm and muggy and when I got to the river at 22:00 hours I was still in a t-shirt. I dropped in the big swim and cast to my far bank markers and baited with 15 boilies on the spots. It wasn’t long before the tip smashed round, it wasn’t a big fish at 7-10 but any Ouse Barbel is a worthy capture.

I had a Chub and an Eel in the night and was up for work in the morning.

I didn’t get to fish much for the rest of the month, I did two blank sessions on the Ouse and a Perch trip that resulted in plenty of Carp but no Perch. The rest of the time was spent working, jobs at home and socialising with friends & family. I felt I needed a break and had two weeks leave in October to look forward too when I hope to have further tales to tell.
A brilliant month, one night on the Derwent, three on the Ouse and one night and a day on the Avon, resulting in 7 Barbel, 5 being doubles and two PB’s, awesome stuff!!

Until next month tight lines.

Julian Barnes