Farewell My Inflatable Buddy.

 

 After 10 years of "near" perfect service, run ragged, rode upon by a few hairy arsed men holding rods aloft my trusty fishing boat finally gave up as a rogue overwintering rat had a part of my right gunwhale for dinner.

 It took me 96 miles of driving and organise a couple days of angling for Rudd with my mate Chris to realise the hole that was there. Chris had himself made the journey over to the fens to sample some of the angling I and a few others have experienced over the last decade. Here are a few captures that have crossed the walls of my boat, it had done well. 

A pic from a couple years back.

PB Zander for me

A good upper double pike

Brian with a sparkling esox

Ditto

Brother Rich with a 13lb 3oz Zed!

PB Rudd last summer, 3lb 0oz

Hundreds of beauties like this.

No pomp and circumstance, to the tip!

Oh HELLO! Bigger, more spacious, my new boat!

1 Bite, 1 Fish.

 

 Yesterday night I popped to the upper Thames for a catch-up with my mate Adam and decided to put a couple of rods out each with the hope of a Barbel. We nagged away for a few hours but all that came my way was a Bream and Adam was plagued by Crayfish and small chub, although one of his takes certainly looked Barbel-esque. Alas he didn't make contact.

 My plan was when we finished on the Thames I was going to jump back on the Blackwater and continue my quest for a BW double. I was fishing before 2am and first light was only a couple hours away. I hopped between pegs as I always do when Barbel fishing but the only indications I got were from Crayfish nipping away at my boiliee.

 As first light tinted the sky I was welcomed with a beautiful wash of pinks, reds and orange glows, it really was special. 

 I was really hoping to get a barbel during this time as it would have made a wonderful picture for sure! Sadly it wasn't the case and sunrise had come and gone and I'd made numerous moves and dropped little heaps of boiliee and pellet so I could go back to them on rotation, amazingly I didn't get a bite until 1050, it was a good bite too and fishing right under a raft of fallen willow in 5ft of water and clear gravel, the sort of place I would expect to find a Barbel, this time around though it wasn't but it turned out to be a really big Chub! Bigger than I thought they went in the Blackwater.

 A summer "six" anywhere is big but a 6lb 1oz Chub off the BW is a really big fish and she was in great nick barring a big scrape on the other flank. I couldn't be disappointed with that, two trips I have had a nice river Carp, now a big Chub, the BW really is full of surprises. 

 Next time around will a Barbel finally let its guard down? My fingers are crossed.

Back to the R.Blackwater.

 

 I have a strong desire to chalk off at least one river this month and with a toss up between a few the Blackwater is one river I think I will focus on, the Kentish Stour of course will always remain an option but not finding it easy on there as I've extensively documented on here.

 Yesterday afternoon I finished work and jumped on the M4 westbound via Chiswick A4. For an early Friday afternoon the traffic was very light and chewed through the 45 miles at a pace, a Barbel of any size would always be welcome but a double figured fish of course was my target.

 I walked this section for the first time and started dropping bait in a few areas that looked good for a bite and drifted between pegs, spending around 30-45 minutes in each before moving. Around 6pm I had a brilliant take on the pin and it screeched into action, straight away I could feel the weight and knew it was a very good fish, I started to get nervous and it took 2/3 mins of constant lung busting runs upstream and back down into the pool I was fishing before I saw it, I could have swore blind it was a Barbel, alas a few minutes later it revealed itself, a nice river Carp but I can't lie, I was a tad deflated if I'm totally honest.

 A couple of quick pics and slipped it back to whence it came and hoped the next interaction wasn't from a Carp or the pesky Crayfish that seem to be there in great numbers, annoyingly.

 I spent the following 6hrs moving between 5 swims I had baited and fished them on rotation until my eyes started to close, I knew I had to get away, still with 64 miles of driving ahead of me, of course I was fine to drive, just a motionless rod-tip was hypnotising me. I will be back soon enough for another go!

I do love a James Denison, very mourish.

Barb wire is your friend...mmmmm BEEF!

And so it begins.

 

 Two weeks of the new season have already drifted by and the south is bathed in glorious sunshine, just how summer should be, issue is the mosquitoes are out in force everywhere! 

 On the 17th of June I decided to venture onto the Kentish Stour once again for my customary blank, the river looked in great condition with vast runs of water crows-foot and ranunculus creating areas so dense I'd dare not fish anyway, but where I could looked great and after a good wander around settled on a nice open field away from the biting most pointless creatures on earth.

 Unfortunately I just didn't see much around apart from a very relaxed Beaver that ambled upstream past me, when it see me it powered underwater and shot up out of sight, I am starting to get used to seeing these awesome creatures, so much bigger than I initially thought, what was even madder was I was having a chat with local angler Ben and whilst we were chatting we could hear rustling in the undergrowth just 10 yards from us, then the chewing started, followed very quickly by a loud crack as what turned out to be a Beaver had removed a young tree and proceeded to drag an 8ft tree through the undergrowth to the bank before crashing into the river with it. 

 After leaving Ben I went down to the fields where its deeper and slower, I was hoping to find a Barbel down there and have seen them a couple summers back but nothing in my net apart from chub and bream and this trip reverted to type as two dark KS bream were landed. Not my target but at least I had bites.

 For that trip I was done. Last week I ventured out onto the Blackwater once again but this time around I was beginning my quest on a new section of the river and it looks so much better than where I was previously fishing, lovely deep bends, onion reed and rushes lining the banks, coupled with pacy shallow areas so it really has everything, I think catching a Barbel here will be tough but really relishing the challenge and thats the great thing about the 40 Rivers Challenge because every river within that challenge represents it's own challenges, on the Blackwater the Crayfish are the problem that need to be worked out.

 The first three spots I worked myself into I was plagued by Crayfish very quickly, two of which I nearly swung in! Knowing that Crayfish were present and very active I felt that there wasn't any Chub or Barbel present so I opted to move every 20-30mins. From experience if there is big fish activity then the Crayfish don't tend to be as bold therefore the crayfish activity isn't there and those are the spots I tend to spend more time in as I think there is a chance of a Barbel or Chub.

 As the hours ticked by I moved around to some very nice looking areas but the same outcome was faced, however as the daylight waned I had high hopes of a bite come dusk but even then my rod was motionless and around 10pm I packed up and headed home as I had work the following morning. Another blank.

 Oh, and I nearly got stampeded by these bloody retards, quicker they end up as burgers and steaks the better. Only just made it through that gate and coupled the heavy duty caribeana to link the gates, nearly shat myself and I really backed myself to get to the gate before them, threw my gear into the field as I scrambled the gate shut. F*CK.

Yuk, bloody hate cows!

My Opening Gambit.

 

 Well, it wasn't the opening day/s that I had planned, to cut a long story short during the winter the rat or rats that I had in my shed had gnawed a whole in my boat the size of a credit card, I was fuming considering I didn't notice until I had reached my launch site 93 miles from home, having set off at 3am and inviting my mate Chris to join me for a mission across the Fens in search of monster Rudd. SS Rudd was no longer.

 Chris and I both did what we could on the bank to get her afloat but there was to be no salvaging that. Around 9am we decided bank work was our go to alternative and did so for a few hours and I managed one decent Rudd of 1.13 along with a load of fish around one pound, but there was an overriding sense of complete disappointment, I was super pissed off at it all and no doubt Chris was happy just being there but for me it wasn't enough and really wanted to captain us to some brilliant fishing which I know can be had.

 We got to around midday/1pm and decided it was best if we tried somewhere different where we stood a chance of better fishing so we packed away but unfortunately Chris didn't make it to the new venue as his car was giving him trouble and had to head off home / garage to get the issue resolved. With that I carried on went about my business but the fishing in the high sun was tough going and a lot of the Rudd were tucked away in the eel grass, I knew the latter hours would be best but I packed up at 8pm, to be honest the disappointment of the eaten boat had killed the enthusiasm so buggered off home. 

 Less said about that trip the better.

Tench Campaign Part 4.

 

 Well as the river season draws ever closer and the thought of stalking monster river Rudd and feeling the tug of the bronze torpedos as I get my 40 Rivers Challenge back underway it would seem my time after Tench has come to a close (still 4 weeks to run on my ticket), it has been a super start on a venue I'd never seen before and knew little of, I came away after 6 visits with 23 Tench with 19 over 7lbs and 3x new personal bests weighing at 8lb 5oz, 8lb 14oz and 8lb 15ozs. 

 Part of me wants to get back on there before July 15th as there are certainly doubles in there fully spawned out, my only reason for not going back is the time spent there is possibly taking an opportunity away from catching a big Barbel from a river within my challenge, its a quandary I must overcome, those big tench that I was catching across late April and May are truly special creatures.

 Tench number 22 & 23 came on a short overnight session last week when I decided to have one last go for a real fatty before they got down to business, little did I know they had already been at it and considering the condition of the two Tench I had they were going hard at it, with that knowledge I packed up and went home, two 6lb plus fish to round off my short Spring campaign wasn't a bad return.

 There may yet be a part 5.....watch this space.

 Anyway, it's June 16th tomorrow, Rudd fishing wherever the wind takes me and hopefully get some great content for a film for the Drennan Specialist platform. Good Luck to you all. 

Tench Campaign Part 3.

 

 Well, before I get to the trip I have just finished with I'll catch you up on a visit I paid last week Friday.

 I blanked...

 Well, that's been taken care of let's get on with the trip I finished up on earlier today. I had loaded the van on Thursday morning with all the fishing gear I required for a 36hr stay and the bare minimum of work gear! I finished work around 3pm and set off for the motorway and thankfully my trip from Fulham to Mid-Kent was very smooth and I was back on hallowed grounds and fishing by 5pm.

 Every time I pull up to gates the thoughts of monster fish laying up in the net are rife! There are fish here to make the most accomplished specimen angler shake with nerves and excitement in equal measure. I just want one fish of that standard, until such time that happens I will do my best to empty the place!!

 I got my first run within an hour or so of getting the rods out and it was a good one too of 8lb 3oz, just 3 weeks ago that was a joint PB! now it's a lovely fish. That was quickly followed up by a big male of 8lb 0oz and then a fish of around 6lb. The fish in here are special. Then the rods fell silent until 1am when I lost a Tench to a hook pull not far from the net.

8lb 3oz, great start.

 With my alarm set for 0340, I was awake and raring to go by 0330 ( who needs an alarm when the dawn chorus was deafening, a wonderful thing to experience, which also featured my first Cuckoo of the year ). Strangely the arrival of dawn didn't bring a single bite, I had to wait until 0630, then it all went berserk. I will add the details at this point of what and how I was fishing. 

 Overnight I had issues with little Perch (wasps) pulling the worms off my hairs and got to a point I had to change it up because I wasn't fishing with bait on the hook after 20mins or so, so I made the decision to switch back to snails as I had fished in my previous two trips. Also I had two rods fishing on a plateau which was about 8ft deep and one rod fished to my left about two-rod lengths off the bank in 12ft of water and this spot for me was devastating, for nearly two hours I couldn't keep the bait in the water. 

 I had a run of very good fish starting with a 7lb 7oz tench, this was followed by...7lb 10oz, 7lb 8oz, another 7lb 10oz, 7lb 4oz and a 5lb+ fish, my newly set PB was broken and then broken again, by these two absolute stunners! 

New PB 8lb 14ozs.

New New PB 8lb 15ozs.

 The stamp of fishing I was having in that period of 7am to 11am was pretty awesome, my open water rods also contributed but the margin spot was having it off! 

The 8.15 in all her glory without my face init.

 I was hoping I may have a session like this on here before they spawned and by the looks of most of these fish that aren't ready to go yet, the water temp at 20.3c would suggest otherwise but bar one female most were in this shape, not swollen heffers! 

 The sport didn't end right there as I took another at 8lb 1oz which gave me the right run around, my biggest male tench yet. 

Beauty and the Buff.

 

 And I would love to say that it carried on after that 8.01 male, the effort to keep the bait flying out and rods constantly re-baited was keeping me busy, but that feeding spell gave way to silence, an unexpected one too given the carnage that had just occurred but that silence stretched all the way through to 0615 this morning when my rod tore off for a final time with my smallest fish of the trip around mid-5lb.

 All in all I finished up with 13 Tench, lost 4, bit off by a pike 3 times ( third time I nearly netted it ) and heard the cuckoo for hours, all very nice given my previous attempt, will I get one more chance before the fish spawn? Only time will tell.

Tench Campaign Part 2.

 

 After sessions one and two had been completed very quickly I had eyes on another trip as I wanted to keep my eye in and keep getting over to the pit, unfortunately I had to wait a week for the next gap to become available such is my busy life outside of angling! 

 Sunday afternoon I got all the gear loaded in the van and off I went, half an hour drive later I was hopping out the van to unlock the fishery gate, and not long after that I was back in my peg that I have now began to work out even though my second visit resulted in a blank, I simply put that down to the lack of activity and feeding fish rather than a poor area and bait not presented well.

 Having renewed my rod license this time I went with for the first time in my life a "3 rod" license which allowed me to get a third rod out, just that little bit more a chance of that special fish. Around 2030 the rods were out and groundbait laced with dendrobeana and worm liquid were launched out to my three spots, two around 20m out and the other around 35m just behind a gravel bar, the two nearer rods my side of the gravel bar. 

 I didn't have to wait long for liners and within two hours my LH rod was away and an angry fish fought tooth and nail to get off my size 12 XT feeder hook and when "he" finally came in it was clear it was a good fish and on the scales it was confirmed I had indeed broken my PB, only by 2ozs but that doesn't matter, that was my first desire on this water, get a new PB and then my second target is a double. 

Brute of a male Tench.

My new PB, 8lb 5oz.

 Hopefully this PB doesn't last as long as the last one did!. As midnight came and went all I had was a little Eel trouble where my RH rod was being pestered so that kept me focused until even that didn't come back, that at least gave me the chance to get some sleep until my 0330 alarm. I was up on the alarm and all three rods were refreshed and all the spots were topped up with more betaine green mix and dendro' and once again I waited around for 2 hours or so before my next run but amazingly the amount of shows and bubblers was ridiculous, a lot of it over my left hand spot, so when the rod went I wasn't surprised it was the LH rod again, this time a female and a Tench of similar size to my first fish weighing in at 8lb 2oz.

Mega looking creatures.

 Then between that fish and when I packed up I managed three more Tench which were all of a good stamp, those fish weighing 7lb 15oz, 7lb 4oz and 6lb 10oz. I was super chuffed with that return and know I am slowly getting the grip here.

Such super creatures.

Downey Emerald Dragonfly Larvae.

My little part of 35 acres, very nice.