Well....what can I say! Having managed to catch a wonderful Yorkshire Rother double figure powerhouse I found myself searching for where to go next, the idea was to head to the Aire so once I had loaded the car I sat in there checking distances and first up I drove to Leeds town centre but being a Saturday night it was packed in the areas I wanted to fish, so I bailed out on that and headed down of the old Ferrybridge C power station at Knottingley, once again though I arrived to find it totally rammed.
Gone midnight now and I still didn't have a spot to fish on the Aire so I jumped back in the car and headed to the R.Idle, a beautiful intimate river that carves its way through Nottinghamshire. Known for it clear water and weedy disposition I felt like this could be my best option so I drove to the river and grabbed a few hours kip in the car so I was nice and fresh for 7am.
Once I arose I got the gear together and having done quite a bit of research I opted to rove and only tackle up with the bare essentials so I could cover a lot of water as I chose to purchase a day ticket which had a fair few miles of water. Within 20 mins of being on the river I could see decent Chub and good Barbel to maybe 8lbs and part of me wanted to fish for them but I really wanted to keep moving until I found something bigger - preferably a double of course.
I must have walked a mile and a half before finding another pod of fish and saw one or two which were certainly big fish for such a small river, I opted to roll meat and bread to begin with to elicit quick bites but the Barbel seemed really cautious and every time a bait was moving down to the shoal of fish they would back off and vanish under cover, it became apparent I had to rethink my approach, something I rarely have to do!
So my plan was to fine down the approach in terms of the bait (2x 8mm Robin Red pellets), the terminal tackle was still stout, 10lb hooklink, size 12 hook, short hair for the pellets. Now the attack changed from one and done to building the swim as I felt it was necessary and worthwhile as there was a Barbel or two cruising about occasionally from under the far bank that I thought would do the magic weight.
I spent around 30-45mins just introducing pellets and had Barbel feeding fairly confidently on the gravels which was fantastic to watch and once I could see the bigger fish feeding confidently I began introducing my hookbait which was held down by a link-ledger consisting of 4SSG shot as I wanted to minimise the plop from the bait going out which at times also alerted the fish but I worked how to get it out without a noise by killing the line just before the shot touched the surface which really did work.
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| Every single cast, every 3-5mins.... |
It took well over an hour with my hookbait constantly going out (owing to the relentless weed coming downstream) before I got a take, the pin screeched into action, my rod slammed round with me attached and within 10-15secs the Barbel had lodged itself deep into the far bank vegetation, I simply could not react fast enough to keep it out and the hook pulled fairly quickly, frustrating for sure but oddly I felt there was going to be more chances and more chances I got!
Another 30mins drifted by with Barbel cruising around on the gravels before putting a bait back out, within 5mins it was away again and this time I was ready for what the fish was going to do so I shoved my tip under the water and cupped the centrepin to make sure I got a chance to keep its head away from the willows and once she was clear I kept the pressure on and the battle could then play out in open water which was great fun and really putting my 1.75tc rod to the test, but soon enough my first Idle Barbel was slipping into the net!
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| 8lb 4oz, my first Idle Barbel...yea! |
Pleased as punch with that and not too long after another slipped up weighing 7lb 9oz and just 20mins later I had another and this one was certainly bigger, the sort of Barbel that makes me very nervous. I saw that Barbel saunter its way to the head of 6 Barbel and watched the sediment puffing out its gills before turning sharply downstream with a simultaneous scream from the pin and sharp wrap round of the rod in my hand as I was sight / touch ledgering. This fish was much better!
A good solid fight ensued and it went on for far too long for my liking but I played it well and a few minutes past she was ready for the net and took my chance with glee, I really thought it I had cracked it.
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| And I did!!! River No:30 ✅ |
Weighing 10lb 3ozs I had done the River Idle on the first attempt, I was so happy, mega effort and pleased as punch, punched the air and let out a massive sigh of relief as I could see big Barbel down there, I just didn't know if I would get a chance at one. No need to worry, double 8mm robin red for the win!
Two rivers, in less than 24hrs...I seem to make bit of a habit of doing that. My season started off poorly as I grinded away on the R.Blackwater with what seems like just a handful of fish among a sea of Crayfish, my time on there will come, I can promise you that! But now with this beauty above resting up in the net before releasing I had to think of another plan, where should I go now??
That decision was put on ice as I could see Barbel feeding on the gravels even after the lost fish and 3 landed, my idea was to fish until 3pm and see what I could finish up with. Forty minutes later I had another roaring take which done me on the first run and ten minutes later I had another take which resulted in a fish weighing 6lb 15oz and one last take half hour after that which once again resulted in a hook pull and after that decided to call it on the Idle, 4 landed and 3 lost (all to hook-pulls) possibly down to still feeding a little nervously.
I folded the gear away and headed back upstream to the car with my mind now made up to head for the R.Blackwater, two rivers done in two days what more could I ask for?....
...well, that question was answered emphatically as I opted just to peer into a peg I passed early in the morning where there was a few decent Barbel loitering around, initially I didn't see any fish but thought if I threw some pellet out that if there was something downstream it would come upstream to feed, 3 minutes later I could see a sizeable shape making its way up on to the crease and started mopping up pellets...this fish was not small and bigger than anything I saw in there in the morning.
She dropped downstream 10 yards but still in view and after scrambling my gear together I whipped out my link ledger onto the line I fed and threw some more pellet out and within 30 seconds she was back up and rooting around and BANG!!!!! she had picked up my double 8mm pellet and bolted off downstream some 30 yards before putting the breaks on her, she made her way back up but very slowly, holding bottom, very typical of bigger fish and this one looked to be larger than any others I'd had downstream.
This fish did not want to come in and made it away up and downstream on half a dozen occasions before finally succumbing to me, the fish once in the net looked bigger, a real thick set Barbel and on the scales backed up my thoughts! What. A. Day's angling indeed, double double and three doubles across two rivers in less than 24hrs, absolutely epic indeed. What a special river too, paradise!
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| 10lb 6ozs! River Idle gem. |
Magic. 30 down, 10 to go. Not long now.
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