The Sessions - November 2018
A new section of the Tidal Trent
I signed of last month with my Spanish trip not going to plan but finishing with a great end to the month on the Trent with seven doubles to 14-15.
3 November – River Trent
I hadn’t been out for two weeks due to work and being not well so was dying to get out again. Thankfully the conditions had been poor for Barbel fishing, with cold, clear days and nights with frosts, leaving the river cold and clear, so all in all I hadn’t missed much. I’d been doing a bit of research on a new section of the tidal Trent that had been going under the radar but had been doing some good fish. A friend of mine had joined the club and he along with his mate had been catching fish to 16 plus so that could not be ignored especially when it doesn’t get the pressure other sections were getting. Getting the club ticket was hassle but I got there in the end and with this being my first look I was really looking forward to it.
The weather had changed to a warm westerly wind lifting the night temperature to 8 degrees which is much more promising. I drove up for one nights fishing and arrived mid-morning, I spent a couple of hours walking the section looking for likely areas to start. This is time well spent and with my experience on the big European rivers I’m confident when reading a big river.
Most of the Trent you can park behind your swim but not here and it does involve a lot of walking so a barrow is essential for overnight stays. I found an area at the end of a long straight just before a big bend, the flow indicated the deeper channel being my side of the river and when checked with my leading rod I was proved correct. Learning to read a river is essential for me, some of it comes from instinct most from good old hard work with a leading rod or joining the modern world and buying a Deeper Pro (something I will be buying soon). If you know you’re in the right area you fish so much more effectively than chuck and chancing.
The area I had chosen was not cut out as a swim, the long straight was hidden by trees and overgrown foliage, I’d walked down onto the gravels / mud and walked along in front of the bank. When I found what I was looking for I got the shears out and cut out a swim, it was risky as the tides clearly came back into the foliage but the river was low…… The first attempt was ok and I set up, this brought howls of laughter from friends on social media as they read the tide times and I hadn’t, the tides were due to be big and potentially I would get wet……
So I got busy with the shears and attempt two looked a lot safer, one of those times when social media is a great tool
After being on the river over three hours I finally got fishing and flicked two rigs out with double 15mm Pandemic and pva bags. During the cold snap it hadn’t fished well so I didn’t want to put too much bait in as you never know what’s been thrown in before you arrived, so I put a dozen over the area and my usual few down the section to draw fish up.
There wasn’t another angler within 300 yards either way so I felt pretty confident of a fish or two, sat back with Talk Sport on the radio and the kettle on. The first bite came quite quickly, a small fish at 6+ but a good start.
Unfortunately that was it and my two friends further upstream all suffered the same and blanked.
10 November – River Trent
Following another long busy week at work I was heading up the A1 buzzing to have another go. My pal Ian had been on the previous evening and had caught two fish, a 13+ and a stunning 16-03, a real chunk of a fish.
I was meeting Phil for a social and his first look at the section so all in all it looked like being a good weekend already. I arrived first so went to look down the section, it was evident straight away my little swim was out as the river was high following rain all week and the tides were very big. I walked down to Ian and congratulated him on his PB, it has to be said he works so hard for his fish and fully deserved that fish. His friend Brett had taken two 13+ fish so it looked good for a big fish.
I chose a swim further downstream on the end of the big bend, the deeper channel was starting to push out as it went into an S-bend so I would be casting just short of mid-river. Phil arrived shortly after, we had a good chat and catch up and walked back to the cars for the tackle. The guy is relentless and at 74 is still as keen as ever, I just hope I’m the same at his age. The walk this time was too far for Phil so he set up nearer the car park in a swim that has produced good fish this autumn and winter, our social was to be by phone as we were 500 yards apart, the joys of big fish fishing.
I got set up and had a feel around with the leading rod, it had a good depth at 12 feet with a clean gravel bottom. The rain had been stopping and starting all day and I finally got the rods out at 15:15, both on double 15mm pandemic and then set about baiting up. Instinct was telling me to put more in than usual, I can’t tell you why but it was, so I put 70 pandemic through the swim.
The first bite came an hour later, a small fish at 6+ but that gave me the confidence they were feeding and I had my baiting line right.
11 November
The night was cold and clear and unsurprisingly no one had a bite, I’d rebaited every two hours to get the pva mix through the swim and hoped it would pay of later in the session. The weather changed again in the morning bringing more rain but a warmer westerly wind and by lunchtime it was sunny and warm at 12 degrees. My pals were all packing up for home but I had another night to go and by early afternoon I was on my own. I love the Trent but at times it can be very bleak in bad weather especially when you’re not getting bites. The tides were huge and bigger than expected so I was glad the shelter was right back up the bank when this tide came up.
14:10 – the downstream rod crashed over and finally I was into a fish that pulled back, this was my first double from the section at 10-04.
18:50 – I’d had an 8+ on the same rod and it went again and this was clearly heavier and stayed deep and swam upstream. I got it to the net and it powered off again and into the rocks, it was low tide and the level was right down and the rocks exposed so the fish managed to get into them but luckily I got it out without the line parting and it was a good one at 14-09.
12 November
I had another average fish and with four fish in relatively short time I was happy the extra bait had worked
02:50 – the downstream rod went again and then stopped, I went out to the rod and found the line slack and what looked like a big ball of weed on the surface caught in the line. I picked up and started to reel in when the weed took of and started to fly, I realised there was a bird caught up. I gently reeled in conscious not to hurt it but it kept crashing back into the water which obviously wasn’t good, as it got closer I could see it was an Owl and just hoped it would end well.
I got it onto dry land and could see the line was wrapped around one wing, I’ve handled birds of prey before so know they can be tricky so I got a towel to wrap around it. I got the towel over it and managed to get the line away from its wing and untangle it and it didn’t look like any damage was done. The bird was in an awkward position so I tried to get the towel around it to wrap its legs up to prevent it from grabbing my hand so I could get it up to dry level ground so it could rest. Let’s just say it was an epic fail, it somehow twisted its leg round and grabbed my wedding finger sticking one claw straight through it, I tried to gently remove it when the other foot grabbed the palm of my right hand, to be honest it was funny as I was stuck unless I wanted to hurt the Owl. I had to just relax my hands totally, it seemed ages but in reality was about a minute before it released its grip and I could move my hand and the towel away from it. The Owl then had a shake and took of none the worse for wear, where as I was stood there with blood streaming down my left hand.
I later identified the bird as a Short Eared Owl, a beautiful bird and an encounter I won’t forget. The picture attached is not one I took but is a picture taken by a friend of mine Paul Bennett who loves his nature photography and shows the beauty of this bird.
I finished the session with another flurry of bites resulting in two fish to 9-09 and one that came of before I picked the rod up.
23 November – River Trent
Another week went by before I could get out again and I was meeting Ian for another session on the new section.
The weather had been mixed all week with one night being very frosty but by the weekend the temps were back up to 8 degrees in the day and 5 degrees at night with thick black cloud and a light easterly wind
I arrived mid-afternoon, loaded the barrow and made the long walk down the field and let’s just say it was a little disappointing to find an angler right opposite the swim I’d fished the previous weekend casting straight onto the area I’d found. I’ll help anyone but come on, you get followed on FB by people you know who are trying to spot a blade of grass in a picture to find your spots rather than congratulate you on a fish.
So I went on the middle of the big bend away from the other angler and was fishing by 16:30 with both on double 15mm pandemic, only this time I didn’t bait up as much putting 30 pandemic through then swim.
Ian arrived and had saved my weekend by stopping at a shop to pick up tea bags as I’d forgotten mine, he set up 200 yards upstream of me.
24 November
00:20 – the first bite came after midnight and felt a good fish, the tide was running off and the fish made full use of the extra flow but it ended well at 11-01.
I’d had another early morning at 8+ but then disappointingly nothing all day. It had rained on and off and been quite cold but I really thought we’d catch.
22:45 – it was high tide and the water right up and not the time you expect a bite but the downstream rod crashed over and I was into a big fish, it felt heavy and was chugging around staying deep, again it ended well and I was very happy with another 14+ from the section at 14-12.
Apart from a Chub that was it, Ian had two singles so it was a difficult session but I was more than happy with two doubles and as I was driving home I was already looking forward to the next trip.
Until next month tight lines and be lucky 😊
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