The Sessions - October 2020
I signed off last month having achieved my season target of a 4 pound Crucian and actually managing to catch two, I’m still floating in the clouds on that one.
The first weekend of the month was spent with Julie in Southwold, we needed to recharge our batteries after a really busy seven months in our working lives due to covid-19, I look back at this year that has gone past in a blur and still can’t believe what has happened and I wonder whether we will ever go back to what we class as normal, let’s hope we do and we can all get back to the lives we enjoy.
Southwold was very wet and windy but we walked plenty of miles in the fresh sea air and came back refreshed and ready to go again
10 Oct 2020 – River Trent, tidal
Autumn had well and truly arrived with lots of rain and cooler temperatures, I drove up in the morning to find it generally very busy on the five sections I looked at, which I should have expected on a weekend.
I went a bit further down the tidal to the area I spent a lot of time on last winter to find a good area free of anglers. I hadn’t fished this particular bend before so the first job was to get the Deeper out and have a look, this was time well spent as the deeper channel at 14 feet was further out than it appeared by looking at the river. Once that was sorted I set the camp up and got soaked while doing so as the rain showed no signs of stopping.
The level was up a good five feet so 8oz leads were required to hold bottom, both rods were cast out to the channel both on double 15mm Asbo soaked in Food Dip and pva bags. Initially I didn’t put any freebies out as the high water would have been bringing food down and the fish would have been gorging, so I didn’t want to over feed. The forecast was for a warmish night with a light westerly wind so conditions looked good.
After two hours and no takes I put 20 boilies through the swim and recast every two hours up to midnight.
11 Oct 2020
I didn’t get a touch and speaking to my pal who was 400 yards further down, him and his friend had not had a bite either. This area has been good to us over the last two seasons but word has got out and it has seen a lot of pressure this season and that is very evident in mine and my friend’s catches from there this season.
I tried three Elips pellets on one rod in the morning and quickly had a 6 pound Bream and then nothing more up to lunchtime. Instinct was telling me to move so I made a call to one of the Ashfield bailiffs, swim 1 on Cromwell had been reopened after the river levels had dropped and was free so I quickly packed the car and drove back up and was in the swim for 15:00.
River Trent, Cromwell
The swim had been closed for two weeks so I felt very confident of some action, however the level was still right up to the top of the wall and the flow was racing through. I tried 8oz and couldn’t hold in the main flow so had to pull the rigs short to enable me to hold bottom. Once I was happy with the spot I put both out on the double 15mm Asbo in Food Dip. The level came up again bringing down lots of debris that dragged the rigs out of position, so I had to bring them shorter again into the slacker water sheltered by the lock to be able to fish effectively. The next problem was the crabs that were still active in the slacker water so I changed to Asbo Hard Hookers soaked in Food Dip, they still manage to whittle them down eventually but it takes quite a while.
One 7 pounder saved a blank and I packed up for home first thing in the morning, it certainly wasn’t a session to remember.
19 Oct 2020 – River Trent, Collingham
I had a free night and got invited by my pal Steve Ward to join him, his son Ryan, Jerry and Mark Roberts on the weir pegs for a night so I packed the car and drove up arriving late morning.
The river hadn’t been fishing well and people on the weir had been struggling but with some big fish around this season it was well worth a go. The conditions looked great, the level had dropped with no debris coming down, it was warm at 14 degrees with a south westerly wind, it all looked perfect. When I arrived they were all fishing and hadn’t caught anything, pegs 1A, 1, 3 and 4 were taken so I went in 5 which in the past has been kind to me when I’ve had the chance to fish it.
I set up the swim and know it well so no need for the Deeper, I put both rods out on double 15mm Asbo Hard Hookers soaked in Food Dip, this has been such a good bait for me and the Food Dip is probably the best additive I’ve used, a fantastic product from Madbaits.
The area is fished 24/7 and sees a lot of bait so I didn’t want to put much in so put 20 boilies through my swim and would not top up until I caught a fish.
Well I’d love to tell tales of a great trip but it was rubbish with only Ryan catching a few to 14 plus in peg 1. I had to go in the morning due to work, the others all stayed on for another 24 hours and struggled with Jerry and Mark blanking.
I left scratching my head, with so many big fish in the section they had to feed sometime, little did I know that in 5 days’ time I was to find out…….
23 Oct 2020 – River Trent, Collingham
I was to start two weeks annual leave on the 23rd and was due to fly to Spain to fish the Rio Ebro for Catfish with my pal Colin, covid had ruined that for us, this will be the second year in 19 years I haven’t been to Mequinenza and having not been for 2 years I miss the place and can’t wait to get back.
That left me wondering where to start with my two weeks leave but sometimes in life as quickly as opportunities go others appear and this time I was able to take it with both hands.
On the way home from the river on 20th I got a call from Ian Potts, he had secured a cancelled booking on the weir and asked if I wanted to join him for 48 hours and I could have 1a, I very quickly agreed and that was a great way to start my annual leave.
We arrived at 07:00 for the 08:00 change over, I was to fish 1a and 1, Ian wanted 3 and Phil Smith came to join us and wanted to fish peg 8. The anglers leaving had struggled but caught a couple of fish, I was happy to hear this as that meant the big fish had not been caught and had to feed at some point so gave us all a good chance.
I’d never fished 1a and was really looking forward to it despite the fact it hadn’t been producing much at all recently. I got the gear into the swim and as is my normal practice I set my landing nets up first, it’s funny really but it’s something I daren’t change I always do that first.
I wanted to maximise fishing time so the rods were all ready to go, I set two up on my standard rig but with size 12 hooks and a single banded Elips pellet with a pva bag of small pellets. I waded out and set up an eye line marker on the bank so that I was always casting from the same spot and cast one a rod length off the wall into the deeper water just short of the snag and the other a rod length to the right of that. I intended to fish hook baits only with possibly only a little hemp spoppered into the swim if I felt I needed it. A third rod was set up with a single 15mm Asbo Hard Hooker and placed in peg 1 and cast towards the weir on the edge of the main flow, again with just a pva bag. The fish hadn’t been feeding so had clearly been gorging in the high water and were full so there was no need to give them lots of bait as I felt this would decrease my chances of catching.
With the swim set up the kettle went on and I was full of anticipation, I’d always wanted to fish the peg but never had chance and I was finally there and the baits out. The weather still looked great, cloudy, warm at 12-14 degrees with heavy showers and a south westerly wind, it had rained non-stop since I left on the Tuesday but the level had not come up and looked perfect.
11:00 – the first bite came to my left hand Elips rod and took some landing once it got into the flow, but the little hook held firm and what a great start to the session at 15-14. I was buzzing and quickly text Julie before that was followed by a 9 plus on the boilie rod.
It rained pretty much non-stop until 16:00 and started to feel quite cold, my instincts kicked in again and I felt I need to boost the swim so I walked along the wall and lowered the spopper in a number of times to put two pints of hemp on the spot, a little hemp is a great attractor but will not fill fish up, I then left the spot for an hour before recasting.
18:10 – I’d caught a two singles on the boilie rod and was returning the second when the left hand Elips rod tapped a couple of times, I struck and immediately knew I had another big fish on, this one was lethargic and came to the net quite quickly and was another cracker at 16-08. My suspicions were true, the fish I’d caught were bulging and full and fully vindicated my decision to not put any bait in.
After the photos and celebrating with Phil and Ian I continued with a call to Julie and texts to Jerry and Jude.
I added another double at 10-01 on the boilie rod and the swim then went quiet for the night. Ian picked up a couple of singles and an 11 plus, Phil had not had a touch.
24 Oct 2020
I rebaited my rods at 06:00 and found the crabs had been active on the boilies during the night whittling down the hard hookers.
Phil decided to move up to peg 5 leaving his rods until last and sure enough one went giving him his first fish of the trip, but he stayed with his decision to move and got himself set up in peg 5.
08:20 – I’d had Bream on both Elips rods and recast them, the right hand rod went and this felt another big fish, after a short fight I bundled it into the net and had a look, it looked huge, Ian arrived and stated “that’s a PB for sure”, I wasn’t convinced, called Phil over, got the gear ready and popped it on the scales, they settled on 16-12, a new PB by 3oz and I was over the moon, what a fish, what a session. We got the photos done and watched a huge fish swim strongly away and were all thinking could the session get any better, there are three known bigger fish in the section that hadn’t been caught and we all hoped one of us would get one.
My phone went into melt down again with a call to Julie, she loves my successes and gets as excited as I do, along with calls to Jerry and Jude.
By midday the forecast strong winds arrived with lots of rain, I picked up another single on the boilie and more Bream on the pellet rods. At 16:00 I repeated the baiting with two pints of hemp and leaving the swim for an hour just before it started to pour with rain. It was hammering down when the boilie rod went over, I got soaked landing and quickly returning a fish at approx. 11-08.
25 Oct 2020
I jumped in the bag to warm up and slept for 7 hours, getting up at 04:30 to recast and maximise the additional hour we’d get with the clocks going back, the rain had stopped and it was cold and clear. I’d had a good sleep so got the kettle on for a brew and watch the morning come up.
Ian had caught fish to 12-15 and Phil to low 10 plus and I’d slept through it all. Ian had to get home and was gone by 06:00, Phil and I carried on until 08:00.
The additional hour worked for me as while packing up I hooked another that tore off towards the weir and felt another very big fish, it would not give up but again the little hook held and Phil slipped the net under another that looked bigger that it weighed at 13-00 to finish a fantastic session for me with 10 fish, two 16’s and a 15-14, what a trip.
I drove home at 08:30 feeling really happy and looking forward to some time with Julie before heading back out again in the morning.
26 Oct 2020 - River Trent, Gunthorpe Weir
Luck plaid its hand again and there was a cancellation on the pontoon peg for two nights so I took them, the river level was high for this area but the pontoon peg is the better one when the water is high so it was worth a go.
I arrived at 15:00, it was still warm at 12 degrees, sunny spells with heavy showers and a south westerly wind. The level was up and racing through making the rest of the island unfishable and would make the pontoon swim challenging.
I put both on 10oz leads and put one on a single glugged Pandemic and the other on double 15mm Asbo in the food dip, both with pva bags. The Pandemic was lowered down to the edge of the flow in 14 feet of water, my thoughts were the Barbel would drift into the slacker water to rest, the Asbo rod was lowered a rod length away to the right from the end of the pontoon, I then trickled 20 Asbo along the wall so they settled through the swim.
I’ve written about this before but will repeat my thoughts again here, I prefer a trail of bait rather than a patch, I feel it makes the fish more confident picking up odd baits as they move into an area and then come across the hook bait.
The first bite came at 18:40 and I then had a flurry of seven takes up to just after midnight, all coming to the Asbo rod, I took fish of 10-15, 11-10 and two singles and lost three to hook pull, the flow was so strong causing lots of pressure on the hook hold as I was drawing them to the net that the odd hook pull was inevitable. I had to play them to the end of the pontoon, pass the rod round the post and try to draw them up into the lock to the slacker water to net them, it was a bit tricky but manageable, however a life jacket is recommended because if you fell in off the pontoon in these temperatures and strong flow it would be a struggle getting out.
27 Oct 2020
The level had come up bringing down lots of leaves and rubbish making presentation difficult and regular repositioning of the rigs necessary. The weather turned very wet with rain all day and a stronger south westerly wind, it was pretty grim, but with two very big fish and lots of doubles in the area it was worth the effort.
By mid-afternoon I was clearing the lines regularly and with 10oz being dragged out of position I was questioning how effectively I was fishing, Ricky Middleton turned up for a couple of hours on the weir and was stood with me chatting when the Asbo rod tapped a couple of times, I lifted into it and a fish was on, it would not give in and we both thought it could be a big fish, I coaxed it up into the lock and Ricky did the honours with the net, it wasn’t as big as expected but a nice fish at 12-09.
The leaves got worse making it very hard and looking back I wasn’t fishing well and should have moved earlier to a more sheltered area, I packed up the following morning without another take.
28 Oct 2020 - River Trent, Sutton
I packed up first thing and went to look for an area I could fish effectively. What I look for in these conditions is a deep margin where I can lower rigs in without a lot of line cutting through the water or the inside of a bend where the water is slacker and more sheltered from debris coming down in the flow.
I looked at two sections and found the swims I wanted were taken so I drove down to Sutton with an area in mind. Jerry was fishing so I stopped for a good chat and a catch up before driving down onto the inside of a big bend, the level was up and it looked good. Having not fished it before I got the Deeper to work to find the best area to present baits, when I do this I’m looking for slightly deeper depressions where fish can lay up and food gathers as it comes down. I found an area where it dropped by 8 inches to just under 15 feet before rising again, this looked perfect so I set up in between two swims so that I could fish the area effectively.
I put two rods out with 8oz leads for an hour to test the area for debris, once I was happy I set the swim up and put baits on the rigs and started fishing again at 13:30. I put double 15mm Asbo on one and a single banded Elips on the other, both with pva bags.
14:20 – the Elips rod went and initially it didn’t feel big but as it got closer it went very heavy and swam upstream, I was starting to think my luck was in again until a large Pike rolled with the Barbel in its mouth, it let go and the Barbel obviously panicked to get away, the Pike struck it again and I very slowly coaxed it towards the net, I got the Pike over the net and as I started to lift the net frame touched the Pike and it spat the Barbel and rolled away. The Barbel was in the net and apart from one puncture wound was none the worse for wear and swam away strongly, the Barbel was a 6 plus and looked small in the Pike’s mouth so I’d love to fish for and land that Pike properly at a later date.
29 Oct 2020
The Bream moved in and drove me mad, one after another all night and non-bigger than 2 pound, very frustrating as they give little indication of being hooked other than a nod of the rod top.
I started to pack the swim down early morning as rain was due and the Elips rod crashed over again resulting in a nice fish at 10-11 to finish a very enjoyable and successful first week of my annual leave and my Oct fishing for this year.
My website went live on 29 Oct and I’ve been truly humbled by the response so far with lots of readers and positive feedback, I love writing about my fishing life and it makes it worth the effort all the more when you the readers enjoy reading about my experiences.
Thanks for your kind messages and support.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
Big thanks to my sponsors for their continued support,