The Sessions - March 2020
Barbel bonanza to finish the season…..
I signed off last month after a having had another very lean couple of months fishing due to the flooding and bad weather, I’d only managed 5 nights fishing in two months and was missing the buzz badly.
8 March - River Trent, Tidal
I’d taken the last week of the season as annual leave and was going to fish unless it was impossible to get on the river. My plan was to fish the Trent at Sutton for the first part of the week, move to Girton and then maybe finish of on the Nene towards the end of the week. The Nene had been fishing well and was well worth a go although there is no night fishing so that made it a bit of a pain. As things transpired I didn’t fish the Nene in the end, for two reasons, I had a call from Phil who’d caught a stunning brace of a 15 & 16 so along with Theo’s brace all the big fish had been caught and my session on Sutton just kept getting better.
I arrived mid-afternoon and already knew where I needed to be with the conditions as they were, the river was still high and coloured and there was bad weather and rain forecast so the levels would rise again, add to this a new moon and big 8m tides I needed to be on the outside of a huge bend so that I could fish close in and control my feed accurately. The weather conditions were good to start with, warm at 11 degrees, cloudy with sunny spells but big winds were due early in the week. The bank was treacherous, muddy and very slippery so great care had to be taken.
I ran the Deeper through the swim and found what I was looking for, a deeper crevice where food would naturally hold after coming down in the flow, this was approx. 20 yards downstream so I walked down to it and put bankside markers at the top and bottom of it, I was then able to walk down to the top marker and cast straight out knowing the rig would drop into the crevice and settle, simple but very effective. The left hand rod was fished in there and the right just above it. Once the spots were sorted I put rigs onto both, hookbaits were double 15mm Asbo that had been glugged in an Asbo Food Dip all week and smelt lovely. I then put 20 Asbo and 20 Addiction through the swim in my normal fashion but knowing it would not go any further downstream than the crevice.
17:10 – the first bite came a lot quicker than I expected and was on the left hand rod, it felt a good fish but if I’m honest I was being to gentle and the hook popped out, not a good start.
18:35 – I didn’t have to wait long before the same rod went again, this one stayed on and was 10-00 exactly.
20:45 – I’d added another 9plus before the same rod went again, this was definitely bigger and pulled the scales round to 12-14. I started to put bait in after every fish and put another 50 out, I rarely bait that heavily especially in winter but it just felt right.
22:50 – the left went again and I had another double in the net at 10-10, this was followed by another an hour later at 11-02, what a great start to the trip.
9 March
It started raining in the night but the bites kept coming, I had another 9plus and an 11-07 in the dark and then the best of the trip so far at 13-08 at 08:00. Bait was oozing out of them onto my mat which proved the baiting was working well and was definitely being held up in the crevice.
After a start like that I was buzzing, six doubles in the first night and morning but I had a concern and that was being surrounded. The peg I was fishing was at the start of the fishery, I’d walked the gear the 100 yards down to it but the track to rest of the fishery was closed due to the flooding. There were two people in the first swim but that was 100 yards upstream and I didn’t feel they would affect my fishing at all but if someone dropped in below me it would, so this is where the little tricks come in. I took some photos of the worst parts of the track and flooding in the field and posted them on the FB page making out I’d arrived and couldn’t get on the fishery, it worked a treat as people went into overdrive with disappointment and no one turned up until the last night. My pals Jerry and Jude were on the phone laughing their heads off when they saw the post as they knew what I was up to, maybe a little naughty but it worked 😊
The day had been very quiet but I kept recasting every 3 hours. The wind and rain increased as the day wore on and by 17:00 it had really got going with 45-50mph winds and driving rain.
I had a few bites in the evening landing a Chub, a Bream and two singles.
10 March
The rain finally stopped in the night and as forecast it warmed up to 11 degrees and was very windy. 00:40 – the left went again and this felt a better fish again and was another double at 10-05, this was followed by another single 4 hours later.
I decided to do another night in the swim, it was warm the level would rise and I was sure they would be on the feed so I baited with 100 boilies. The wind was 48mph but the shelter was positioned well and pegged down so my worries eased as the day went on.
14:35 – the left crashed over again and I landed a nice day time double at 11-01, another fish that was oozing bait on the mat.
The wind finally dropped by teatime leaving it clear and warm at 10 degrees, the river was rising and an 8m tide due at 23:00. It’s worth noting you have to be aware of these things when fishing the tidal and you may have to move the camp back in an instant.
21:50 – the right hand rod banged over, this felt a good fish and I reweighed it twice as I thought it was bigger than 12-14. I added another high single an hour later.
11 March
I had takes regularly through the night landing five singles and topping up the swim with 20-30 baits each time, they were really responding to the baiting. The level had been rising and on high tide was right up to the bivvy door. I’d moved the rods back in the night but by lunch they needed to be moved again. I added more singles through the day and kept bait going in.
By 17:30 the level had dropped 2cm on low tide with another 8m tide due at 23:00, I had to make a decision to move back up onto the flood bank or move sections. I was collecting my Chinese from the guys in the first peg when my left crashed over, I got to the rod and started playing what was obviously a big fish, they saw what was happening and walked down when disaster struck, somehow it got caught on my top rod and jammed the lead, I knew it was a good one so didn’t want to lose it so picked up the top rod and tried to tease it free but all I succeeded in doing was cutting off the line with the fish on, I was gutted, all the hard work building up the swim for a big fish and I had lost it.
To rub it in the wind started to get up again and it was raining, I had to break camp and move up onto the top of the flood bank, this was causing me concern as I would have no shelter from the big winds but didn’t want to move from the swim. I finally got sorted and the weather really turned Baltic with strong wind and driving rain, the river kept rising and by high tide it was up to the bottom of the flood bank, I would have been sat in 2 foot of water.
12 March
It was a good night to catch up on some sleep so I didn’t recast until 04:20, the banks were treacherous again and fortunately I’d put new markers down for the crevice before the level came up so I could still fish accurately. I has two more singles and was landing them where I had been set up fishing 24 hours ago.
The winds were big again at 45mph and by 10:00 it was clear and sunny so I put more bait in to top up the spot. It was about this time that fortunes can change, a mutual friend came down for the last two nights and was fussing over where to go, he wanted the swim I was in but obviously couldn’t so was asking advice. “If the track was ok I would be down the bottom end” I told him as it’s my favourite flood swim but I didn’t fancy a huge walk with the barrow. After deliberating he loaded his barrow and did the walk which was an hour plus at least. Then after numerous messages about where the spot to put his rig was he was set up and fishing……
I carried on baiting as I was sure I’d have more bites yet.
13:40 – the tide was just turning when the left went again, it was tricky landing it as I had to get it over the rocks and up onto the floodbank but it worked out well at 11-08.
16:40 – both rods went at once which was funny and ended well, a single and a 12-08 coming to the net.
The wind carried on pounding us with more rain right up until 23:00, it was about that time I got a message to say my friend had caught a PB at 15-10 and thanked me for the advice.
13 March
I’d started to feel a little unwell with a headache and feeling cold, I wrapped myself in my bag and tried to sleep it off not getting up until 05:00 to find a single had hung itself. By mid-morning I was feeling ok again, it was cloudy with light showers and a light wind, not sure why I felt so bad in the night but I put it down to running out of food to cook and just got to cold.
12:20 – the tide had turned and was rising again when the left went over resulting in another double at 11-08. The actual river level itself had dropped significantly and was back in its banks again but I wasn’t moving the shelter again.
13:50 – the same rod went again and I landed yet another double at 10-14.
By teatime I was hungry and decided to treat myself to another Chinese so wound in and drove to the next village to collect it, I have to say it was delicious and very welcome especially as the temp had turned very cold with a north westerly wind. 20:40 – I was soon fishing again and the left smacked over again resulting in another double at 12-06, unfortunately this was a massive anti-climax as I had a call to say the mutual friend had caught my Girton 16 at a massive 18-03, while I was pleased to have helped and put him on the spot I was annoyed at myself at the same time, one, I knew I should have made the effort and two, I should have just kept quiet.
14 March
I added another three singles in the dark hours and carried on fishing until all the gear was dry at 11:00, I then slowly packed up and reflected on a great session, I’d landed 32 Barbel and lost three, with 14 being doubles. To put it in perspective there was only two other Barbel caught in that club section and the one below the whole time I was there.
Looking back at the photos when I got home it was evident I had some repeats and should have moved after two nights as I’d caught the biggest fish by then, something to think about for next season.
That was it for March as Covid-19 really kicked off, work became crazy, the government put us in lockdown and then I caught the virus myself, I sit here writing this block having come through the worst of it after being very poorly…..I hope.
My season of mainly Barbel fishing had ended and it was a good one, 176 Barbel caught with 63 doubles and only 6 lost in 41 nights fishing, a great result in less fishing time than in years past with a couple of really noteworthy trips to remember.
Until next month tight lines and be lucky 😊
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