The Sessions - Jan 2022
Sponsorship and a few Barbel
I finished last month’s piece having given the new bait, BBB, its first run out on the Barbel Society section at Sutton and it was a successful session, and I’d got a new fishing car after mine had died. With only two sessions in Dec I hoped I may be able to get out more in Jan to start the New Year with a bang.
2 January 2022 – River Trent, Collingham
With a new weather front due on the 3 Jan bringing in colder weather I wanted to capitalize on the warm weather so drove up at lunchtime hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. The fish would be packing on weight in the high water so I went to Collingham in the first field as the bigger girls have stayed there all year and there is one there I want to trip up before the season ends in March. As a back-up I’d looked at a section on the middle Trent if Collingham was too busy and there was plenty of room there.
The first field car park was pretty full but I was there so walked the section to have a look, I stopped to chat to one angler who was with his mate in peg 13 and it was quite a funny conversation as he was trying to be cagey but telling me more than he wanted too. We ended up having quite a laugh about it in the end. He was up by the weir in peg 4 and I asked how busy the other swims were, he stated they were taken, but I said I’d have a look any way and walked up, sure enough there was no one in 5-9, I had to chuckle as it something I would have done to give myself the best chance.
I walked back to the car park and had a little smile when he asked where I was going and I said peg 7, it’s all part of the game
Heavy rain was due within the hour so I loaded the barrow and got to the swim as quickly as I could and got the shelter up as it started to rain, I set up on top of the bank and the level was high and we had 7.20m tides due, I got the gear inside and set up camp and then got the rods ready. I knew the swim well so there was no need to check with the Deeper, I put one rod on a single BBB and the other on double 15mm OG both with pva bags and 8oz leads.
I put them out onto the spots and put a mixture of 20 OG and Asbo through the swim. There were still bits of weed in the flow and it was pushing through so I upped the leads to 10oz to try to hold for two hours.
The first bite came at 21:20 on the BBB and what a fight, it would not give up and used the extra flow to its advantage, I was thinking it could be one of the big fish but was not disappointed with a fish at 12-10.
3 January 2022
The next bite came just after midnight, I’d swapped the OG to a single 15mm Pandemic and that was the rod that went with another double at 11-05.
It was not as warm as forecast and certainly felt like a cold January night with two more heavy showers.
Jerry turned up at 06:00 and dropped into peg 6 next to me, I had planned to go at first light but stayed until midday to have a catch up with him and had one more fish on the BBB rod at 9 plus to finish a good overnighter and started the new year with a January double.
Sponsorship
It’s the third weekend into January as I sit typing this section; I haven’t been out again since the session above due to the cold frosty weather, I love my winter fishing but the Barbel were not a realistic prospect in freezing conditions where the water temp is dropping and I hadn’t done enough homework for Chub and predators to make me want to get the gear ready. I did make up a batch of cheese paste and walk a lovely section of the Ouse but it wasn’t enough to inspire me to go. A couple of weeks off to recharge the batteries and spend some quality time with Julie is always time well spent.
I get asked a lot about sponsorship and how it came about so with not much fishing to write about and being dropped by Ridgemonkey this month I thought I’d share my experiences.
As I’ve written previously most of my fishing was in Europe from 1991 – 2012 and I started getting back into my English fishing late 2012 with my first trip to the River Trent, I did pretty well straight away and have never looked back.
I never set out wanting to be sponsored, have never asked and to be honest never expected it to happen but sometimes these things just happen.
Madbaits
I got a call from Mark, the boss at Madbaits, just before the 2013 season was about to start, he’d developed a bait for Barbel and asked me to test it, he called it River Spice. Now I was pretty happy with what I was using but Mark told me not to worry, this bait was a bit special and I would not regret it. I popped round to the factory and he gave me 10kg of freezer bait and that was the start of great relationship and me being a consultant for Madbaits. With Mark nothing is too much trouble, he listens to feedback, good and bad and is just a nice bloke. The first session with the new bait was a very good one and with it being so successful we changed the name to Pandemic, because it was catching everything, and it remains a classic Barbel bait today.
Since then I’ve helped relaunch Asbo, and test and develop two new baits OG and the new one this winter BBB which Mark has named after me as a thank you for the help I’ve given him over the years, that’s something I really appreciated and a great gesture. Early sessions with BBB have been good and I’m looking forward to using it into to Feb and March.
With the main bait market being Carp, Mad has good team of consultants, a huge testing team and a great range of bait making Madbaits one of the leading brands in the bait market and just reward for the hard work Mark and Nick have put in over the years and I’m very proud to be part of the team.
Jack Pyke
My pal Ray was running an Angling website and asked me to start writing for him, I agreed and started a monthly blog in 2013. Two years later Ray introduced me to Glenn at Jack Pyke, they were advertising on Rays site and were looking at getting their clothing into the fishing market, we went down to the warehouse and were taken out for a meal where we discussed how I could promote their brand. Essentially I was fishing regularly all year round so would be seen on the bank and could give the clothing a thorough road test in all weather.
Since then I have been part of the Jack Pyke team and wearing some of their excellent outdoor clothing and wouldn’t be without the field boots, wellies, three piece winter suite, light fleece top and many of the other items I use.
I catch up with Glenn a couple of times a year and send him some of my catch photos for his website and catalogues, it’s an arrangement we are both very happy with and it’s another company I’m very happy to be associated with.
Castaway PVA
It was at the Manchester Fishing Show in Feb-16 while working on the CatMaster Tours stand I was approached by Paul, who was part of the Castaway and Madbaits teams, and he asked me to pop over the Castaway stand for a chat. The owner David Crookes congratulated me on my Barbel fishing and asked me if I’d like to join the Castaway team. I use a lot of PVA so was obviously very pleased and flattered to be asked and agreed and have been on board ever since.
I use the 35mm mesh stockings to make my PVA bags and get through loads of it every season, it comes in 25m bulk tubs and is an excellent product that I can’t recommend enough. They have a great range of products and the company goes from strength to strength so check them out for all you PVA needs.
Ridgemonkey
I’d known some of the Ridgemonkey lads from doing the fishing shows for years as they developed and grew from their early days doing the sandwich toaster and boilie air drying bags. In Jan-17 Ray had arranged a meeting at the Manchester Show with Gaz and after a good chat I was invited to be on the Pro Team which I was very flattered to be part off. They aim mainly at the Carp market and I believe I was the only all-rounder on the team but their excellent products can be used by us all and I use many of them every session.
I found out I’d been dropped in Jan this year after asking for the latest trade list and was a little surprised at the reason.
I've always really appreciated the support for the 5 years I'd been on the team, and thank Paul, Jay and Gaz for letting me be part of it. I understood the review process and have no issue being dropped. But the reason being due to inactivity on social media and lack of promotion I found a bit odd as 2021 was probably my best year for exposure in the angling press and social media, with launching my website in 2020, AT covers, regular magazine articles, LEP book chapters and catching the British Record Crucian in April 2021. Still it is was it is, I will continue to use their excellent products and wish them all the success in the future.
Free Spirit
Another deal to thank Ray for was my association with Free Spirit. I had a meeting with Simeon at the Big One in March-17 and my first rods arrived in Jan-18. He sent me the excellent Hi S Heavy Water Barbel rods, 13 foot, 2.75 test curve and I have used them extensively all year round on the river Trent ever since. They really are a joy to use and can handle anything the Tidal Trent throws at them and only this week I was casting 10oz leads without any issue.
We had some exciting plans for 2021 but covid kind of ruined that so hopefully 2022 will see these plans fall into place and I will reveal all nearer the time once I know it’s definitely happening. Becoming part of the Free Spirit team was a very proud moment in my angling life and long may it continue.
Obviously one of the key elements is consistently catching fish all year round, I enjoy sharing my experiences and helping people where I can so am happy to share my catches on social media and it seemed to grow from there. As I’ve previously stated I wrote a monthly blog for Rays site for approx. 8 years, was getting regular coverage in AT and then started writing articles for Catch Cult. I was a regular at the shows promoting CatMaster Tours so got to know most of the brand owners so it all sort of fell into place as a result of all these things.
My website is growing in popularity after a good first year and my intention is to start guiding at some point soon so I hope to continue promoting the brands as best I can. I’ve seen it a lot down the years where sponsorship with the big brands comes and goes for different people and I’ve now experienced the same with Ridgemonkey but for me it was a positive being associated with them and I have no regrets and wish them all the best for the future.
If I had any advice for people it would be to always stay humble, don’t let it go to your head, share your experiences, help people where you can and don’t get into any social media spats. If you’re out on the bank, catching good fish and are happy to share in the press and social media, you never know who is watching and you could be the next angler getting a call.
28 January 2022 – River Trent, Collingham
With the forecast looking better for the weekend I took the Friday as annual leave to ensure I got to the river early and was able to get a good swim but unfortunately it didn’t work out as planned. I got up early, got my food bag sorted for three nights and the van loaded but when I tried to start the van the battery was dead. With it being a Friday all my friends that could help were at work so I jumped in my Merc and went to the car shop to buy some jump leads. Eventually after borrowing the neighbour’s car to jump start mine I set of at 11:30.
When I arrived in the car park it was nearly empty and after walking the section I set up in peg 2 so it turned out ok in the end. It felt very cold in the south westerly wind and certainly not the 12 degrees forecast, the air pressure was high at 1034 and the river level low at 1m at North Muskam. The fishing had been poor with very few Barbel being caught, the high pressure and cold weather had definitely had an impact.
I took my time setting up and cast two rods out at 15:00, one on a single BBB and the other on double 15mm Pandemic both with PVA bags. With the water being low the current was whipping through and I needed 12oz to hold bottom in the area I was fishing. Just into dark I put a dozen BBB through the swim.
29 January 2022
The night was cold and clear, not great conditions and I didn’t get a touch, there were three other anglers on, two blanked and left first thing and a guy I met for the first time Neale, had three on maggots.
Neale and I fished pegs 1A and 1 for the day, I was in peg1 and put one on a BBB and the other on a single banded Elips pellet. The wind got up to 42mph and it felt cold and it just seemed dead, eventually late afternoon the Elips rod went over and I had an average 7plus Barbel.
An hour before dark I made the decision to move to peg 4 for the night to get away from the pacey channel I was fishing in the previous night, moving the shelter in the strong wind was a challenge but I got it set up ready before dark, with a third rod I put in peg 5. I had two on BBB and one on Pandemic all holding with 8oz leads and put just a dozen BBB through the swim.
I had two takes on the third rod between 21:00 and 22:00 with the BBB doing the magic again, these went 11-06 and 10-09.
30 January 2022
Just after 01:00 the middle rod went over and this felt a heavy fish that was difficult to stop and it found a snag between pegs 4 and 5, I couldn’t move it so put the rod in the rest.
30 minutes later the third rod went again and I netted another low double at 10-02, as I was weighing it the snagged fish started taking line so I slipped the fish back and picked up the rod again. It was a powerful fish and was kicking hard, I could get it back to a certain point and it was stuck again so I left it another hour on the pod.
The same thing happened again so I made the decision to point the rod at the fish and walk back really slowly, I’ve done this many times and it works 8 times out of 10. I could feel it coming through what was obviously a large branch, I felt the lead come free so it was just the fish to tease through when the hook link broke just above the loop link 3 inches above the hook……..
The wind dropped and it got very cold at 1 degrees with a thick frost and the bites dried up.
Neale had only caught one in the night and I did consider going home as they clearly were not really feeding. I checked the weather apps and although the wind was due to be very strong at 48mph the air pressure was due to drop to 1015 for the night before rising again the following morning so I felt it may trigger a feeding spell and decided to stay. I moved the shelter again into peg 5 as the bites were coming from that area and had to face it away from the river as the big wind was due from the west / north-west. Once that was ready for the night I fished peg 1 for the afternoon catching another high single at 9plus on BBB.
I got the rods out in peg 5 just before dark and put 20 OG / BBB through the swim. I had another average fish at 8plus before midnight with the big wind arriving at 02:00 and it was ridiculous. My shelter was well pegged down but was shaking continually with the wind hammering into the bank we were fishing making it impossible to get any sleep. I managed one more fish at 10-10 and slipped it straight back as there was no way a camera tripod would stand up in the wind.
I thought I would have caught more but it wasn’t happening, and Jerry moved in after me for a 48 hour blank. Sometimes it can be so easy and at other times not but I guess that’s all part of the journey……
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
Big thanks to my sponsors for their continued support,