The Sessions - Nov 2022
Guiding, NPS show, Barbel and Crucians
I finished last month’s piece half way through a guide session with John Merriman, it had already been a success with a PB at 14-11 for John, and with two weeks off work I had lots of fishing to look forward too.
1 November 2022 – River Trent, Collingham
Although not easy, day one of my two day guide session with John had been successful with all of us catching a few.
I was up at 05:00 to get the swim ready, it was mild but had been a very wet night and the river level had come up straight away. I put two rigs out while I waited for John and Duncan to arrive and got the kettle on, I do love a cup of tea, especially when I’m fishing and it certainly helps keep me warm in the colder temps. They arrived at 06:30 and as they were setting up I had a take and landed an 11-12 to start the day nicely.
I got John fishing and he quickly added a 9-09 and it looked like being a good day but the weather had other ideas, the south westerly wind really got going and was pumping straight at us making it very hard to get rigs out to the spots. Then the rain started and it was difficult to keep a shelters in place and they had to be positioned so we couldn’t see the river.
Even the bird life was struggling, this Seagull beached itself next to us, it was shivering and so exhausted it literally sat right on the water’s edge with its wings spread trying to dry off, the wind and tide kept lapping water over it so things were not looking good. I wrapped a towel over it so it could not peck me and picked it up, there was no fight left in it and it just let me do what I wanted, I took it over to where we were set up, put a wind break round it and made sure it had the sun on its back and left the towel over it to keep it warm. After an hour or so it started to rain so I moved the Gull under my shelter behind John and I, covered it with the towel and hoped for the best. It must have been two hours gone by when we heard an unfamiliar sound behind us, it was the Gull, it looked to have made a full recovery and was pecking the back of the shelter trying to escape. It’s a shame animals don’t realise when we are trying to help them and become aggressive, but probably a good thing as not all of us have the best intentions and we do not want wildlife relying on us to survive. We moved our chairs and gave it some room and it walked back out into the river and paddled away.
The weather really had turned against us and became quite cold, it had killed the fishing with only four Barbel and lots of Bream coming our way. We packed away at dusk, I went back to peg 7 for the night and John and Duncan made their way back to the B&B for the night, it was good two days, good company, good fishing (well, day one was) and we had made plans for another session in the new year.
I got rigs back out for 17:30, one on BBB, the other on double Pandemic and put a spread of both through the swim. An hour later the Pandemic rod bleeped twice and just bent the rod over slightly, that was enough and I struck into a heavy fish that put up a strong fight, it all went to plan and a fish at 15-07 slipped into the net and more than made up for the two days tough fishing.
The river continued to rise bringing down lots of rubbish and I didn’t fancy clearing the lines and recasting every 20-30 mins so reeled in at midnight, I set the alarm for 04:00 just to check the levels so I didn’t get caught out, the river was rising and a 7.5m tide was due so it was best to check.
2 November 2022
I woke up at just past 03:00 to a funny sound, I quickly realised what it was, the river was in the Titan and under the bedchair, you have to be so careful as it can be so dangerous, I know the river so well and had still been caught out. I always set up the same, everything has its place so I knew which bits to move first and got all the gear to the top of the flood bank, the Titan was the trickiest as the inner capsule was full of water but I got most of it out and moved it up the flood bank, put most of the gear back in and was asleep again by 04:00.
I got up again at 07:00, the level was right up to 1.35m and carrying lots of rubbish, the gear was all soaked and I was left wondering what to do next. Out came the stove and the kettle went on, a mug of tea, four eggs on toast later I felt a lot better. The sun came up and dried most of the gear over the next three hours and I’d had time to think. I was going to the NPS show that night so had the day to kill and planned to try one of my flood spots that gave me the chance to keep the lines out of the main flow and away from the rubbish in the flow.
I was fishing again by 11:10, and put one on BBB and the other on double Pandemic, ten minutes in the right spot and all the last nights troubles were behind me, a double take with Barbel at 11-07 and 13-09.
The wind was up to 40mph and hammering into my spot but I was only flicking the baits out two rod lengths and the bites came at regular intervals with some brilliant fishing with further doubles at 14-09, 14-06, 10-09, 11-14, 12-01 and a single, what an afternoon!!
I packed up on dark, went for some food and then onto the NPS show at the Newark showground to support Ian who was one of the speakers. It was a really good evening, well organised, full, with almost 400 people and great to see and catch up with so many friends and familiar faces. Ian did really well for his first time speaking on stage and Brian Ingram gave a great talk on his Pike fishing. To cap off a good night I was asked to speak at next year’s show which I’ve accepted and am really looking forward too.
7 November 2022 – River Trent, Cromwell
I had four days at home with Julie which is always time well spent, and with Julie back at work I was ready to get out again on the Monday morning. I had a loose plan for some Zander fishing in the day and Barbel at night but with 45mph winds and rain due in the night I changed venue and went to Cromwell, I knew if I could get one of the swims I wanted the wind goes over your head without issue. My first three choices were all taken so I went in a swim that I love in a flood but not so much in normal winter levels. I checked it again with the Deeper as it had been two seasons since I’d last fished it, with the spot located at two rod lengths I put both rigs out on double BBB at 17:15 and a spread of BBB and Pandemic through the swim.
8 November 2022
It had started raining soon after I’d set up and didn’t stop all night with 45 mph winds hammering the far bank, I hadn’t had a touch all night and at 05:00 I knew I had to move so checked to find my second choice swim was available so even though it was still raining I made the move.
I wanted to Zander fish for the day so retackled the rods and was about to start at 06:15 when I got that instinctive feeling to move again. It was very warm with strong south westerly winds and a big 7.3m tide due, great winter Barbel conditions and I just felt I had to move, the conditions were just too good. I sat there a while deliberating and it involved packing the van again, driving 7 miles and then barrowing the gear down the field but I knew I had to do it so went for it.
I was fishing by 10:15, it was cloudy and 15 degrees, crazy for November with a strong wind hammering into me. I put the rods out, one on double BBB and the other on double Pandemic and the fishing was non-stop all day until I reeled in at 16:45 and fully justified all the hassle of moving, I caught 21 Barbel with 9 being doubles at 10-15, 11-08, 12-02 (twice), 11-00, 11-01, 12-02, 13-01 and a fish called Golden Eye at 15-01, it was just a brilliant day. I’ve written before about trusting your instincts, it’s an essential part of my fishing and very rarely fails.
I moved again to a peg that I could night fish and went through my normal process of getting the rigs out and baiting up, it was still warm and windy but was just so good to be out. The fishing was not as hectic but I had another 6 Barbel with 4 doubles to 10-09 by 01:30 and then the bites dried up.
I was up at 06:30 and started to pack the swim down for another move, although this was a big one, with the really warm conditions I felt it was worth a go for the Crucians so planned to drive down to Johnsons in the early hours on Thursday morning.
10 November 2022 – Johnsons Lake, Marsh Farm.
I left the Trent, went home to change the gear over, restock the cooler box, get the hemp from the freezer and buy the casters and then spent four hours with Julie. Having a supportive partner is another part of my success as she just gets it and fully supports my crazy obsession, she cooked us a lovely meal, we chatted and caught up and she was happy to see me rush out the door again at silly o’clock.
With both trips amounting to 200 miles driving I finally arrived, and set up in my third choice swim with the other two taken by Carpers and got my head down until first light.
I woke up at 05:00 and instinct kicked in again, I was in the wrong place, I just knew it, I walked round the lake to the area I felt would be better to find a gentle breeze blowing into the corner and I knew the wind was going to get stronger so I raced back, loaded the barrow and moved again and was finally set up, ready to start and feeling very confident at 09:30.
The only slight concern was the club had treated the lake with ten ton of Siltex on 1 Nov and I didn’t know what impact it may have on the fish wanting to feed. I knew where it had been put in and felt I was fishing far enough away for it not to affect the spot I was baiting too. I put six spombs of hemp and caster on the spot and loaded the feeders with my special little mix and flicked the rigs out both on fake caster.
By 13:00 I’d not had a touch but had seen fish roll just off the area every now and again. Three hours later and the first Crucian of the session tripped up at 3-04 followed by a 5 plus Tench and I topped up the spot with five spombs of mix on dark.
11 November 2022
It was very mild and cloudy with the wind blowing into the corner, it felt perfect and just had to happen at some point.
I had three quick bites before 01:00, losing a good Carp and landing two others at 9 plus and a big Mirror at 30-07 that fought like crazy and fully tested the 1 pound test curve rod, 6 pound line and size 14 hook 😃. An hour later I had another Crucian at a high 2.
I got four hours sleep and put another seven spombs of bait out at first light, got the kettle on and sat back watching the sun come up, it was a lovely morning and great to be there.
Something that had been going on behind the scenes for a little while finally happened and after a few messages with Alan Stagg, I was asked to join the Gardner Tackle Team and happily accepted, I already use a number of their products and am really looking forward to working with the team and promoting the brand, thanks again Alan.
In between messages with Alan the mornings fishing was brilliant, the conditions were perfect and the baiting had worked and I had Crucians at 2-08, 3-04, 3-03, 3-07 and 3-10 along with another Carp, a stunning Common at 34-06 that bent my spoon net beyond recognition.
The bites stopped at 14:00 and by 21:00 I’d caught small Tench and Carp so reeled in for the night to catch up on sleep.
12 November 2022
I was up at 05:00 and put six spombs of bait on the spot planning to fish until lunchtime. I had two bites, a low double Common and a Crucian at 3-02 to finish another brilliant session where I’d really capitalised on the balmy November conditions.
25 November 2022 – River Trent, Collingham
After a ten day stretch at work I was really looking forward to getting out again, the conditions had changed after lots of rain and everywhere was in flood but there is nearly always somewhere to go. This is where all the years of prep, leading, Deeper work and walking the sections pays you back massively, with the level at 2.39 the river looked unfishable but I knew a few areas I may be able to present a bait.
I drove up and arrived at 11:30 and went to the first area on the inside of a big bend, it looked perfect so I got the leading rod out, clipped on a 7oz lead, cast it out and held the rod for 15 minutes, everything seemed fine so I set the swim up.
I put both rods out on Pandemic hard hookers and put some BBB and pandemic through the swim; it was quite chilly but sunny with a gentle breeze, the river was steaming through and highly coloured and it wasn’t long before I realised I’d made a mistake, I couldn’t hold for more than 30 minutes there was so much rubbish and leaves in the flow, even on the inside of the bend. I tried for a couple of hours but knew I’d have to move so packed the camp back into the van and drove to the second spot.
I felt it may be to high but wanted to check so I took a leading rod and walked along the flood bank, when I got to the swim it was touch and go so I waded out as far as I could and lowered the lead over the drop I was looking for but again I’d made a mistake, it was too high and I couldn’t get to the spot and lost the lead in the rocks. Back to the van and I drove to the third spot and parked up, it was quite a walk so I walked down first to check with the leading rod, the flow was hammering through but the area I wanted to fish was slack and perfect so I walked back to the van for the gear.
After a lot of effort and moving twice I was finally fishing in the third spot and was rewarded for not giving up, I was the only person on the whole section but it was worth it with three singles and doubles at 11-03 and 14-13 to finish a brilliant months fishing.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😃
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