The Sessions - December 2015

Another two red letter Trent sessions

1st of December – River Trent

I took a week’s break from fishing to recharge my batteries after the Spanish trip and after finishing work on the 1st I packed the car and drove up to the Trent raring to go again. I had two nights fishing planned and was hoping for a December double in the mild conditions.

With the wet cooler weather keeping people away from the bank I got there just before dark to find one car in the car park. There had been a lot of rain in recent weeks and the river was very high and coloured so I walked the section first to have a look and have a chat to the angler who was fishing. As often happens we hit it off straight away and stood chatting for over two hours, I never consider this wasted time as you pick something up from most people.

He was in the area I wanted to fish but it was soon apparent it would be hard going as he couldn’t keep a rig in place for longer than 10 minutes with all the rubbish coming down and hadn’t had a bite.

I decided to move to an area I know approx a mile downstream where the river straightens up with deeper margins that creates a slower pace and normally fishes well in flood. I tried a rig first before setting up and it appeared to hold ok so I set up the swim and put two rigs out for 21:40 hours only to find they got wiped out in under 10 minutes. I was contemplating going to sleep and starting afresh in the morning when I got a call from Jerry, he was fishing with Paul “Gadget” Floyd on the Barbel Society section at Sutton and although having a few problems were managing to keep rigs out.
So I packed the car again and drove 7 miles up the A1 to meet them.

This was the first time I’d been to Sutton so after the hellos and usual banter with good friends I had a walk along with a rod and bare lead trying to find a fishable swim.
I thought I was ok 300 yards upstream of Jerry and set the swim up and swung out two rigs into the deep margin with Pandemic boilies and pva bags. Not even 10 minutes past before they were wiped out, this was not proving to be one of my better sessions so I reeled in and went to sleep.

2nd of December

I didn’t rush to get up in the morning and woke to find the sky clear and sunny with a strong wind. Gadget and Jerry has caught some small fish in the night which was encouraging as fish were clearly feeding. I walked the section with Gadget, he has done really well there this season and had emptied it on maggots and we discussed areas that looked fishable.

The wind was getting stronger which makes it difficult on Sutton and I just didn’t fancy it so decided on another move. I packed the car again and drove 14 miles back into Newark onto the middle Trent and got to the section I knew to find it empty.

The swim is on the outside of a bend, with a deep margin and the current steams through, especially when the levels are high. I tested it with an 8oz lead off the end of the rod and it wasn’t too bad so I set up the swim.

Finally after being on the river for 20 hours I started fishing properly and lowered two rigs tight to the margin in 12 feet of water, then I dropped 20 whole boilies up and downstream of the rigs to get some feed in the area.

I was getting about 60-90 minutes before the rigs were dragged out of position and on the second bait up I had the first take at 16:50 hours. The fight was incredible in the fast current and the fish felt huge and when I finally netted it I though it may be a double but it wasn’t quite at 9-11, but it didn’t matter after all the problems I hadn’t given up and was rewarded.

20:05 hours – the downstream rod went again and after another long fight I landed another at 9-09.

22:00 hours – the levels were slowly dropping and I was able to keep rigs out two hours. The downstream rod went again resulting in a well-deserved December double at 12-02, over the moon was an understatement!

23:55 hours – I’d been dropping in 6 boilies after each fish, the same rod went again and this was another double at 11-06, after all the struggles it was turning into a great session.

04:10 hours – after having another at 7+ and a couple of hours of rain the same rod went again, this one was another good one at 10-15. The levels had dropped by 2 foot since I had started.

During the next four hours the levels continued to drop and the rain didn’t stop, one rod had got jammed in the margin so I went down to one rod and tried to get some sleep. 08:50 hours the rod crashed over and I was playing what I thought would be a certain PB, it felt so strong and just wouldn’t give up, at one stage I was convinced it was a big Carp and was stunned when a Barbel popped up that didn’t look a double and weighed 9-01. It shows that you just never really know… and that’s the beauty of fishing.

I carried on until mid-morning catching one more at 8-14 and went home feeling pretty pleased with myself.

18th of December – River Trent

Due to work and social commitments I hadn’t fished for two weeks and was dying to get out again. I text the bailiff to check the river levels and got a positive reply so packed the car after work with the tackle and enough food and bait for two nights.

The weather had been unusually mild with not much rain and when I arrived there was only two cars in the car park.
I walked the section and found the levels very high and coloured. The swim I wanted was flooded but I was able to set up in the next one and couldn’t wait to get started so ran back to the car to load the barrow.

I got back to the swim and got baits out for 17:30 hours, it was still warm at 13 degrees and only expected to go down to 10 in the night and was to remain cloudy, the conditions were perfect.

With the high levels I didn’t have to cast out far which is how I prefer to fish for Barbel and was holding with 6oz leads. As I had the whole section to myself I put three rods out with the third being on meat after my success in November.
18:50 hours – the first bite didn’t take long when the Pandemic did it’s magic and the left hand rod smashed over, the fight was fantastic in the flow and the first fish was a double at 10-13.

21:00 hours – I was thinking about re-baiting when the meat rod crashed over. I use a big piece, a third of a tin, so the fish have all been doubles and this was no different at 11-00. The wind was getting pretty strong and I had to peg the shelter down with rocks as well as the pegs.

23:10 hours – I was getting regular action and had landed two more at 9-14 and 8-10 on the Pandemic. The meat rod went again and this was another heavy fish that used the extra flow to its full advantage but I got it at 12-03.

19th of December

This was another of those sessions when everything I touched turned “bronze”, I just wished one of my pals was there to enjoy the fishing with me.

02:25 hours – after a little quiet spell the right hand boilie rod went over and it was yet another double at 11-10, I was looking for the unicorn …. I’d trodden in as this was the 4th double of the session already.

I then suffered a bit of bad luck, losing a certain 13+ right at the net which was very odd after having played it all the way in, but I couldn’t complain as it was only my forth loss of a magical season. I checked the hook point and it was fine so I recast with a fresh pva bag, this proved a mistake……
Two Bream followed and the wind was becoming a real problem as it was so strong. One of the Bream tangled up the meat rod so I wound that one in and fished with the two boilie rods.

My mistake of not changing the hook from the lost fish then cost me another good one coming off once into the fight. It was then I remembered a conversation with my pal Laurie, the owner of our local shop, Ouse Valley Specialist Angling, some of the modern hooks open up but spring back so you don’t notice when you look at them, but the weak point has then been created and they open up again, lesson learnt for me.
07:00 hours – the same rod went again after changing the hook and all went to plan and I landed another double at 11-11.

The wind swung round slightly so I had to reset the shelter which was a real problem as the wind was so strong, eventually I got it all sorted. The fishing slowed down a bit with just Bream coming at regular intervals.

12:00 hours – the left hand rod went over with more meaning and this was no Bream, the end result being another double at 11-15, this was quickly followed by another smaller Barbel.

17:00 hours – the afternoon was Bream, one after another, but I always maintain Bream feed with Barbel you just have to get through them. Sure enough the next bite was a strong one and another double at 10-05.

18:10 hours – more Bream followed before another vicious take on the left hand rod resulted in another at 11-11.

20:05 hours – the Bream continued to feed until the right hand rod crashed over and another long fight took place, this was the biggest of the session at 13-12.

Soon after the last fish the sky cleared and the wind seem to get stronger, the clear sky definitely having an effect on the fishing as the bites just dried up completely. I carried on with my two hourly re-baits until at 02:00 hours the wind flattened the swim, literally blowing everything over. So I made the decision to pack up and head home, I’d caught more than I thought possible, crazy fishing at any time but this many in December!!??

This was another session that rates as up there with my best, 12 Barbel, 9 being doubles taking my season tally to 51 doubles ….unbelievable!

29th of December – Chestnut Pool

After working most of xmas week and having two days celebrating with my family I thought I’d have a day’s Perching before going back to work on the 30th.

Well I came down to earth with a big bump, I fished two floats with worms and prawns feeding dead maggot over the top all day and didn’t get a single bite.

Barbel – 20 fish / 12 doubles – 3 nights on the Trent

Happy new year, see you next month… tight lines to all.

Julian Barnes