Miles of nettles and Himalayan balsam, untouched banks of the River ColnBrook have made reccy's very challenging, almost completed neglected it sounds like heaven with fish (in this case Barbel) completely unhindered but trying to target a place where there are no swims is a challenge.
Last season I found some Barbel fairly early on and managed a fish of 5lb 6oz, I looked to use last seasons experience as a springboard for this season. Targeting the same section I did last season I hoped to find a fish or two. With undergrowth dominating the banks it was a tough ask getting to the bank but managed it in a few places and fed 4mm pellet and hemp via a bait dropper onto gravel patches upstream of bushes and overhanging trees and with only a two-hours available on this occasion I had to get to work.
So I settled down in one peg which I baited first but nothing happened inside half an hour so a move was on the cards and popped 40 yards or so downstream to a slightly easier to fish peg and no sooner did the bait go in I got a couple of gentle taps on the split cane which had me tuned in immediately. With the tree cover I couldn't see in but hoped it wasn't Chub as I know there are some corkers present ( my best out of the ColnBrook weighing 6lb 5oz ). After ten minutes the rod savagely pulled round and was hooked into a powerful fish that moved around the swim with gusto, under control the whole time I allowed it some room to play as I'd previously fished this peg last season and leaded around to find no snags.
It wasn't the battle of a big fish and so it would prove as a scamp of a Barbel surfaced before continuing the scrap shortly then succumbing to the net, correct species and another ColnBrook Barbel.
In pristine condition just like the 5lb fish I had last season, this one of a similar size, quite possibly has never seen an angler, ever and that's what I like about this river, yes its a b*tch to navigate but once the exhausting work has been done then fish can be found, I am just hoping I can find that big fish I saw last season that I couldn't find once the smaller one nailed the bait, it shot off and was never seen again.
The task is to find that fish ( which I estimated at 11lbs ) or of similar ilk to achieve what I want from the river as I've already completed its sister river, the Colne.
I popped that one back and trickled a little more pellet and hemp in and sat back and listened to the Ashes commentary which wasn't quite going to plan. About ten minutes before I was going to pack away my rod without hesitation lurched downstream, I was away again but within seconds of connecting with what felt like a heavy fish it went through a snag and it was gone, cutting 12lb flourocarbon like it was cotton candy! was it a Barbel? or a Carp?...I'll never know but I have my suspicions.
Once that happened I packed the gear away and bait-droppered 3 loads of pellet and hemp into all three spots, primed for a return at some point next week.
To be continued....
ReplyDeleteIndeed! I just hope no one is walking the banks and pick up any of my little cut throughs, if it remains untouched then I do fancy my chances of bigger fish, its a river that is very closely guarded and locals give nothing away, social media it never gets mentioned and very few angling clubs on it too, something of a river lost in time. It's an odd feeling, but it is proper pioneering and seem to have got quite fortunate so far, notwithstanding the mozzie bites and countless nettle rashes...its all something you never get used to nor can avoid.
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