River Ribble Double, That's A Wrap!!

 

 While taking a break up in the Lakes with the family I knew that could present an opportunity to take the gear up north in the car and seeing as we crossed the Ribble on the M6 heading north it would be rude not to give it a go at some point, the Ribble is one of my most northerly target rivers and to achieve the unthinkable would be immense.

 The only time I ventured on to the Ribble previously was back in March and the river was in a terrible state where 5oz leads didn't hold bottom in the margins. This time around things were very different. 

Slightly less benign.

What I was greeted by on Sunday evening.

 Sunday evening I made the 50-mile trip south with the gear and made my way up to an area where it was reputed to hold Barbel and somewhere that I felt I stood a chance. With such a big river it was a bit daunting as to where I should start exactly. So I leaded around briefly to try and find any gullies or drop-offs where Barbel might patrol and within 5mins I found a good gully in between two shallower banks, this was to be where I would set my traps.

 A single 12mm robin red pellet with a small PVA bag on one rod and a large lump of Spam on the other rod was my go-to, all I could do now was wait and hope that there was something moving around. As mentioned above, the conditions on my previous visit were not ideal. However, they weren't fantastic this time around either as the river was really sluggish and barely moving owing to very little rain where it matters. I just hoped it wouldn't hinder me and around thirty minutes later as I was staring at the shooting stars arcing across the skyline my pellet rod went into meltdown, nearly losing my rod in the process!

 Immediately I had to loosen the clutch as the fish really fought hard from the get-go and knew I was attached to a Barbel or a Carp, obviously, I was really hoping that a Barbel was pulling on the other end and once I finally got it out of the gully and over the rocks I saw what I was attached to and knew it was my target fish, all that was left was the small task of coaxing it into the net which it was not happy about, she stripped around 30yards of line off and was back in the middle of the river before I could blink, such was the power of this fish I was not in complete control for around a minute, once I finally got it under control she came in gently with no more than a plod for the bottom, the battle was over and even better still it was a double! The scales were readied along with the mat, but oddly not the camera...yes, I bloody well left it at home in the middle of the bedroom floor. I could not believe it, but thankfully for me my iPhone is pretty decent and the couple of images I got were sufficient.

 My first and last Ribble Barbel weighed a very pleasing 10lb 13ozs and represents the 20th different river across the U.K that I have managed a double figure Barbel from and the halfway stage of my epic journey.

Very happy man!! No: 20!

 That. Will. Do!!

 The mighty Ribble conquered in very quick fashion indeed, it was the fish I needed and the hard work was mainly done before I had even stepped foot on its banks. Once she had left the sanctuary of the net and back home I sat back thinking about the achievement that's just been made, that sense of success is so good when I calculate all those times that I fail, every day is a school day!

City lights with Mars shining as bright.

 The rest of the 3hr session passed by without more than chublet pecking at the Spam and a small chub falling off as it was coming to the bank on the pellet rod, Mission Complete, on to River Number 21!!!!!

A Gap in the Nettles.

 After opening my account on the Blackwater a few days later my next trip was beckoning. This time I was heading back up to the Nene where I hoped that my run of poor form was turning the corner, a 9+ off a tough river like the BW gave me a bit of confidence whilst making the 288 mile round trip up towards Peterborough. 

 A decent run up there meant I managed to get fishing before witching hour in a spot my mate Ross knows holds a couple of fish around late-summer, we hoped this would be the scene of success and finally chalking off my 20th river. We sat chewing the fat and as bite time came and went we wondered what if..., so many ideas running through our heads but you could only fish one spot at a time. At kicking off time we packed up with nothing to show for my efforts.

 The next morning I woke up at 0430 and headed over to a spot that I felt maybe worth fishing for a couple of hours but unfortunately someone was already in there and had THREE! rods out in a small mill pool, really not necessary but that's fishing, I felt he was doing himself a huge disservice having three lines out in what is a tight area and quite likely the Barbel were on high alert before he finished setting up.

 With that disappointment I went back to the car and drove about 3 miles downstream to another section where I static fished for around 3hrs in an area known to hold early season fish, but again I had nothing but a couple of tentative Chub taps. Once those 3hrs had passed I had decided to completely change tact and opted to stalk Barbel in the backwaters, only travelling with the basics. 

Wonderful looking bits of water.

 I covered some superb looking areas with numerous areas that I thought would hold Barbel, it wasn't until 2/3pm that I finally found a Barbel and it was my target fish, a long thick set Barbel came cruising downstream past me and held up in a clump of ribbon weed before coming up in the water and flanking twice on some clear gravel, this fish of about 12lbs was the fish I really wanted and it was within reach. 

Stealth mode activated.

 I rolled meat continuously until it became apparent that wasn't going to work so I pinched on a couple shot and allowed it to gently come to a stand 8-10 yards downstream, alongside a bed of lush ranunculus, a modest sized piece of meat was just waving enticingly on the gravel and as the initial minutes drifted by I was very confident of a take, as the minutes turned into my first hour my confidence that the fish was still in the area was on the wane. Given the fact I hadn't seen it I changed my tactic again, by replacing the meat with a 2ft tail of 10lb flourocarbon and size 10 hook along with a scaled down 15mm boilee and small PVA bag of 4/6mm pellet with a tiny lead to minimise disturbance and up stream put another rod out around 20yards to see if it had passed me by and was sat just above me.

The rolling gear :)

 I spent the next few hours hoping she would come back but after a good 4/5hrs I finally gave up and decided to try somewhere else for dusk which was the spot I fished the evening before. Unfortunately night fishing is not allowed on the sections I was fishing so I was reliant of the witching hour doing the business but there was a familiar lack of action and by 9pm it was almost time to call it and another visit to the River Nene ended in a blank. This wasn't before an Otter showed itself cruising the far margins in search of dinner. 

 Just to make matters worse my 1hr 49min journey turned out to be 4hr 20min as the Dartford crossing was down to 1 lane and when I was approaching the roadworks the signage and my App said 20mins delay, that I can stomach so decided to ride it out, WRONG! that 20min delay ended up being 2hrs 31mins!!!! I was fuming to say the least and when I finally got on to the bloody bridge it was down to one lane for one bloody van! Absolutely disgusting. It made what was a tough trip and blank even worse. 

 I think I'll leave the Nene now until next season and create a plan of attack for an earlier season leviathan.

Go Big or Go home.

 

 That's quite often a phase I mutter to myself whilst pondering my misfortunes, the lack of bites does have me thinking whether my approaches should be refined, or if refined go bigger and bolder. That was something I had been thinking about between visits to the River Blackwater.

 At home, whilst driving around on my way to jobs and whilst on the tools that nagging feeling of what was I doing wrong. I couldn't seem to get a Barbel to commit to my highly nutritional offerings perfectly placed, in positions where I felt they would be home, not to mention hours of rolling meat too. None of which seemed to arouse one iota of interest, I couldn't be getting it that wrong could I?

 So I decided to rove around on Tuesday for the day, in the rain and try to search out a fish. A single rod, tin of meat, bag of essentials and I was away, just add Barbel. For around 2 miles I rolled and searched for fish, under trees, through the endless beds of ribbon weed and occasional metalwork, I just couldn't muster a touch, by this point (3pm) I'm thinking there must be next to no Barbel around and I seriously thought about packing away and heading to another stretch I have an eye on, but I wanted to try one more spot.

Playing hide and seek.

 This spot looks the bollox and with the persistent rain hammering down I opted to hunker down under the brolly and see if something would come to me, a sixth of a tin of meat went out on a nice hard slither of gravel flanked by dense ribbon weed. A game of patience began and in between phone calls with friends about three hours had drifted by without a touch, then, out of absolutely nowhere my rod thumped off downstream to what can only be described as a typical three foot twitch, IT HAD FINALLY HAPPENED.

 I wasn't home and hosed just yet though as this fish had no intentions of coming quietly, numerous strong lunges downstream and runs upstream into the ribbon weed this fish knew what was up! and it was a good fish too. In the relatively clear water I could see the fish constantly turning and flanking before disappearing from sight once again, it was a tricky 4-5min battle (or so it seemed) before she finally came to the net before resting in the folds, I had, at last caught a R.Blackwater Barbel and she wasn't bad either.

 A piece of meat was the winning formula this time around, who knew! :) the ever faithful luncheon meat.

Excellent!

 A few record shots were taken and a weight taken too, I didn't think it was the double I am angling for but knew it was a good Barbel and at 9lb 1ozs I was not disappointed, third trip to the river and I have lift off!

Mint conditioned Otter dodger :)

  The rest of the evening passed by without incident, I shall have to wait for another visit to chalk the Blackwater off my list, number 20 is pending, watch this space!!!

Toughing It Out.

 

 Since my trip to the R.Wye I have struggled to get a Barbel and not through the want of trying. It's been one of them seasons where I feel the conditions are largely in favour of targeting Barbel given the lacklustre summer we have experienced so far. Typically in summer I am looking for times of heavy rainfall following on from a prolonged spell of heat and little rain, as for this summer we are spoilt for choice with conditions very much akin to late October!

 A couple of visits to the R.Blackwater have produced nothing more than tentative enquiries from small chub. The area of the Blackwater I've been targeting I know holds Barbel but not entirely sure of numbers, however having walked and fished it twice I would have thought if there were good numbers of fish that I would have seen them ghosting across gravels or hanging out the back of the plentiful ribbon weed or overhanging bushes. 

 It certainly looks good for a Barbel and Brian managed to extricate one from its watery home at the first time of asking (8lb 0oz), which gives me hope going forward, as with everything time will tell as to whether it'll happen here or if indeed I look elsewhere on the Blackwater, for now I will concentrate where I am currently fishing in the vein hope a double slips up!

Intimate and weedy!

Stealth is key!

 On Thursday I also returned to the R.Nene hoping to wrap up this river at the third time of asking. Things aren't looking good for what used to be a superb river, the Barbel seemed to have in the main ridden the Otter onslaught and now good sized Barbel are coming through between 8-12lbs and look pristine which bodes well and the river looks amazing, however given the amount of rain the Nene valley has seen I was shocked to find the river clear, in fact tap clear! Now I was expected it to have at the very least a tinge to it. Extraction is stripping millions of litres out of the river and water being diverted in extraordinary programmes to avoid new developments going under when the river will inevitably flood, plus the gates further the down the river are constantly open to prevent this, problem is the height of the river has dropped a lot too. The environment once again being exploited and damaged for human gain. Not that it looks terrible to me of course not knowing the river, but locals who know the river well and have done for 20/30 years have seen the decline.

Sunrise on the Nene.

 Yes it meant I could spot fish in the carriers and spot fish I did, good Pike (one very big Pike too), a couple shoals of Chub, again, some very big ones with one either over 7lb or just a little under along with a few friends that were over 6lbs themselves! I did find one Barbel that I estimate to be around 8lbs, however its positioning was making it almost impossible to target, when I finally managed to get an angle to enable me to get the bait under the tree the small plop of my half/ounce shot spooked it down river and out of sight, I knew the chance was gone but gave it half hour anyway. 

The Barbel' lair, Gnarly!

Beautiful stretches of river!

Tap clear, even after all the rain we've had.

Majestic!

 Chances of a fish were coming at a premium and later on the day I was joined by my mate Ross for the final few hours which we both knew was the best time for a bite from one of the Nene warriors, with baits out in the areas I felt a bite would come, I felt confident all the way up until the rods had to come in and pack up. Smaller fish such as Dace and Chublet were causing issues as they were whittling down my luncheon meat with consummate ease which meant at times I was fishing bare which I knew was not helping my cause so I've got to find a solution to that conundrum. 

 So another 3 blanks to add to my stats....

Brown Hawker.

Wyeside Revisited.

 My first detour on to the Wye saw me battling freezing cold floodwater, driving 30/40mph horizontal rain and wind, just to top it off I blanked on the Barbel front. The fishing was pants.

 Fast forward a 8 months and I found myself back on the Wye. For weeks Brian and I were super excited to get back up and finally put the Wye hoodoo behind me, the search for a double figure Barbel was underway to get me to the halfway point of my enormous challenge. 

 Brian talked up our chances of having an absolute hatful between us and given what I know about the Wye I felt it would be about right...if we could find them.

 We arrived around 8am and got to work pretty quickly, the plan to begin with was rolling meat, something we are both very adept at doing. Stalking the fish where possible and playing the numbers game...that was until we saw the river, up between one and two feet and dirty / bordering red, we knew immediately we weren't stalking Barbel on this trip!! I stuck with the initial plan and rolled meat.

 Throughout the remainder of the morning and afternoon all I could muster was a few Chub to around mid-3lbs which was not what I was after, nevertheless I was catching.

 After fannying around for a few hours it was pretty clear that given the dirty water and lack of action on the rolling meat a change of approach was needed. Knowing that one of the shallow runs stretches a few hundred yards I could tell where the river started to drop away, which gave way to a steadier flow and somewhere I thought the Barbel might be held up, I dumped the rolling setup in the car and enlisted the gear I had packed for the R.Severn on Saturday.

 Within a couple of hours it was clear my decision to build a swim and work it paid off, after a couple of modest Chub I finally got the bite I wanted, a savage loop round of the tip and a Barbel was on the end, just not a very big one, nevertheless they all count and my quest on the R.Wye was underway. Not long after I was away again, with a better fish of about 3lbs which tells how big the first was! Then within 45 mins the third Barbel of the evening slipped into the net which again was slightly bigger at 5lb+.

Perfectly formed scamp.

 However it wasn't all glitz and glamour. At one point I was connected to a much better fish that I reckon was around 8lbs, a good fish and one that was nearly ready for the net when it made one last dash for the middle of the river and in doing so brushed past something sharp ( suspected rock ) and the 12lb hooklink broke about 2'' above the hook, gutted!

 Things after that started to improve as the fish got bigger and ending up the evening with a new Wye best of 6lb 8ozs. The following morning held much promise for the swim I had ticking over. 

6lb 2oz

6lb 7oz

 A quick scoot down from Brian's mum and dads place to the river was in order to try and get the most out of the peg I finished up in the previous evening. Action didn't take long to resume and I had another 6lb+ Barbel and a couple of Chub before getting another savage take which felt like I was connected to better fish, out in the flow she hung for most of the fight before kiting straight into the margins where the net was ready! 

8lb 4oz and another Wye PB.

 Another PB Wye Barbel for me of 8lb 4oz, I was very happy the weights were going in the right direction and hoped things would only get better. However, sadly they didn't. Infact after breakfast bites almost totally dried up and my hopes of a double figure Wye Barbel were slipping until the moment the rod came in and proceedings had come to an end on the second day. 11 Barbel my total across the two days which totalled 25hrs of angling, with six over 6lbs with the best 8lb 4oz, to be fair given the conditions yet again were against me I think I did quite well. Business not yet complete here, I shall be back with a firm target in mind.

Sunset over our Wye adventure.

Wonderfully fresh Red Admiral.

Plan B, C and D all scuppered by the weather, Saturday morning we headed off to fifth choice venue...to be continued. 

 Just coming away from the trip as it were I have read quite a bit about the parasite ( Argulus Foliaceus ) which latches onto the fish and penetrates the flesh and has a set of hooks that bed them into the fish and then feed off the blood stream, almost all of the fish I caught were carrying them, some 5-10 parasites, other fish had as many as 20 on them, for most of the fish I removed all I could find, horrible looking creatures and from what I understand they haven't been in the Wye and Severn systems long, I feel if something doesn't happen soon the infestation could claim a lot of fish owing to infection. 

 Most of the fish I removed parasites from I sprayed the areas with ESP Carp Doctor which hopefully creates a decent barrier to enable the fish to overcome any issues caused by their unwanted hitchhikers. 

 Anyone fishing the Wye, Severn and indeed any other water in that Wye and Severn catchment do keep an eye for it, if the fish you catch do have them as gross as it is, remove what you can and treat the latched areas, just help the fish out a bit! Oh and don't throw or flick the lice into the water, they swim very well, try to do on land and check nets, weighing slings and mats before leaving to ensure you don't inadvertently transport them to another watercourse that may well not have such a parasite.

Afloat Again.

 

 Back on the Rudd again with Brian on Saturday just gone. A trip that appeared to hang in the balance owing to the typical British weather, with heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast we wondered whether sat in a boat with carbon fishing rods in the middle of the fens was a good idea. One thing we have learned over the years is that A: neither of us are sensible when it comes to decisions made regarding angling, B: the weather forecasts are rarely accurate. 

 With such "Fentastic" angling on offer we decided that we were going to go anyway! 3am the alarm went off, 0320 I was showered and car loaded, 0330 I was leaving my house for Brian's in S.London and by 0545 we were at our launch site, serenaded by birds still going through their morning rigours.

 The really early start was in anticipation that we may have our visit curtailed, which we would do if things got too close for comfort, straight away we hunted down fish among the eel grass where we would see fish darting in and out of, the bigger looking to seek cover under the miles of reed and pads systems which they use so effectively to remain concealed, but when one gives its position away we would try to get their confidence up by feeding copious amounts of crust and aim for fish we perceived as being "decent".

Mint 1.8

 It was a slow start with some nice fish being caught but nothing big which was slightly frustrating but we know very well how quickly that all changes, but they are very pretty fish and size almost doesn't matter!  

A nice one of 1.10

 The cloud started to build around 11am and thought that the system was closing in on us and that we were going to have think about heading for the launch site, some 3miles from where we were fishing at the time, coupled with boisterous swans we had parts of the system isolated from us which was quite frustrating but angry cobs in an inflatable rib is no match.

 Thankfully I did find a bigger fish which settled on 2lb 1oz which we hoped would be the start of a good run of better fish. 

That's better :) 

 We pressed on with our hunt as the clouds slowly gathered weight and streaks could be seen getting closer and then....

 It trashed it down! Mercifully, not for long and lighter clouds could be seen beyond the system that was currently dumping on us, with that we decided to ride it out and see if we could get some more better fish as the smaller fish were really feeding hard and the larger fish seemed to be hiding away from us.

 I slowly edged my way to the total of 18 Rudd, amazingly less than half were over a pound, with only the one over two-pounds, a big fish day it was not, however its always great fun powering around the fens with Brian and just generally fecking around talking nonsense all day!  

Lush!

 Also for the ornathologists out there here's a video of a Bittern flying past us in the boat.

Bittern in flight

Another Piece in the Jigsaw.

 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.

River Loddon Double, That's A Wrap!!

 

 What can I say! This was one hard earned fish and over the frigging moon to have finally achieved my Loddon double, in fact I just wanted a Barbel, just to prove to myself that a can still catch them. Even when you are getting bites at least you have a sense of confidence that it just might happen, but I didn't have a single bite across "Eight" entire trips and had to wait 13 hours for my bite yesterday.

 Rewind a little back to Wednesday evening, I finished work and had dinner with the mrs and kids, then loaded up before making the 62 mile journey to the banks of what was a real thorn in my side. The Loddon has a reputation for being a very difficult river anyway, but the last 3-4 years catches have tailed off enormously and anglers are blanking for Barbel for entire seasons, I know how that feels!

Ready and waiting.

 With a closed season behind me and enough time elapsed since my last visit here I went with a new sense of hope and oddly I felt that it was going to happen, don't ask me why, sometimes you get that gut feeling and have to act on it. I arrived at the river around dusk and got a march on to the river which is quite a wander, once finally into my first cutout I got the rods out and the plan was to sit and wait with my traps out for a Loddon ghost.

 Not long after the rods went out the rain began to fall and very quickly found myself hunkered down under my brolly ( Drennan Specialist Brolly 50" version ), all I needed was a fish but the hours ticked by and soon enough I had moved, dawn had come and gone with nothing more than the odd Crayfish nibble. 

The first Buff Tip moth I've seen, joining me under the brolly,
along with a bit of subtle advertisement.

 With thick cloud still lingering I crept into swim number five. I got both rods out and sat back, breaking little twigs and flicking them in the river, then out of nowhere I noticed a couple of bangs on the rod tip! It had only took me 9 visits for that, which I thought was a very Barbel looking bite, experience told me to keep myself ready.

 A few minutes later my phone pinged with an email from a client and I was half way through responding when my rod savagely ripped around, there it was! Straightaway I could feel the weight on the end, but she wasn't doing much, slowly heading upstream hugging the bottom, all the hallmarks of a big fish. My impatience was getting the better of me having not seen a fish on this river for over a season! So I wound down hard to get the fish up and a few seconds later the frame of a good fish came up and rolled on the surface before powering off up river then straight down to where I hooked it, it was a bloody Barbel!!!

 Seeing it did my heart rate no favours, now I knew what I could lose! 

 Thankfully there was to be no bitter ending, on the second attempt I slipped the net under the frame of a good Barbel and was not sure if it was a double, upon lifting it out the river it was a lot heavier than it looked and that was the key factor in my 19th river of my challenge being completed! 

I punched the air in celebration and utter relief it has to be said, I got on the phone to Brian whilst she was still in the net recovering from her exertions, GET IN!!!

My River Loddon double - 10lbs 7oz.

  

 A magnificent fish that took a lot of effort to catch, above is a shot of her going back into her world obscurity. I was also smiling, the nettles up my arse were bloody uncomfortable! I am elated more than you could imagine!

 Now that's all done, here are some numbers behind my quest for a Loddon double.

 I embarked on 9 trips (mainly nights between work, across different conditions), spent 102hrs fishing, drove 1116 miles in search for 1 double figure fish, in the end I got ONE bite, ONE fish and it was my target! I had a sneaky feeling if I hooked and landed a Barbel it would be a double, it was just a case of finding a fish. 

That. Will. Do. River number 20, I'm coming for you :)

Ruddy Fabulous!

 

 With a start of the season planned in search of Rudd I have a few venues earmarked, these venues vary from narrow pacy waterways to wide expansive river systems, neither straightforward to extract the sized fish I desire. Now the target has been a three-pound specimen for a few years now from a river. Back in my youth I was lucky to have access to a public lake at the right time when a handful of old Rudd reached peak condition and weight where my father and I caught specimens to nearly 4lbs (my best weighing an incredible 3lbs 13oz with back up fish of 3lbs 11oz and 3lbs 8oz, where my father went one better with a specimen of 3lbs 14oz, unfortunately we lost these images from 1996 and were never found (the digital days are so much better for this reason!).

 But those moments in time are still etched in the memories museum forever. One day I hope to emulate that special time in my angling life once again. However on the rivers I don't think such specimens exist but you just never know. 

My first outing was on the glorious 16th of June and my task, to find a big Rudd! I only had a few hours as I had to collect the other half and kids plus spend a few hours at the beach to chill out. When I arrived at this specific location I was surprised to see how little had changed since I last visited, back then big Rudd existed and very few people knew they were present, I didn't at that time manage any massive Rudd but had a few good ones, but the reeds now are even bigger and very little access can now be gained along the windy narrow waterway, it really is a lovely looking piece of water and although after 5hrs I didn't see a single Rudd I did manage to locate a solitary Common carp of about 20lbs which after much persuading I did manage to hook and after an epic five-minute battle my fight was finally lost as the hook pulled, a gallant effort to get that far but thought the fight was nearly done and the net was readied, shame I could not get it over the rim of the net. 

 For the 16th, there wasn't to be a grand opening, so all eyes on to the 17th as I went up north in search of big Rudd instead. To somewhat familiar grounds where ghosts of epic proportions show themselves for just a heartbeat before vanishing to never being seen again. 

All cleaned and ready!

The new equipment for SS Rudd.

 So Brian and I set off yesterday morning for a couple days in the boat, boy was I excited, a new engine, new battery held much promise and it didn't disappoint, much more powerful, for much longer. I was having so much fun and the Rudd didn't disappoint as we both found good fish early on to 1lb 11oz but we were really hoping to find bigger fish, with plenty of smaller fish showing and long dead patches where no fish were present, the task was to try and find the small pods of big Rudd and once found to get them confident into taking the bread before the smaller ones could intercept it, a tough task as you couldn't get too close as it would put them on edge so it was a gamble each time as to whether the big fish stuck around or shot off downstream beyond our trotting capabilities (which happened often). 

Upper 1 in the bag :)

 But, a five minute spell unfolded that we have both dreamt about. We found some good fish rising at crust but we didn't see anything much over 2lb, but a couple of the swirls seemed to be made from decent fish, so we both trotted down to the "hot zone" where my float slipped away after the crust was steamrollered.

 Initially I thought it was a good fish but when it rolled about 20m from the boat as it headed for some lily pads I got a glimpse and I knew it was a very big fish and she wasn't coming in easily as I played her in and out of pads and thick eel grass before finally succumbing to the net and I breathed a deep sigh of relief, my best Rudd in years and a river PB weighing a superb 2lb 11ozs, that will certainly do.

EPIC!!! my best Rudd in 27 years!
And river PB.

 But that 5-minute spell wasn't just mine, Brian also got in on the act with a beautiful specimen of his own Brian' Report. It is these moments we make all this effort for. 

 We fished on for the remainder of the day up to 10pm where we still had a little light on the horizon but the mozzy activity meant we had to call it a night, by which point we were planning on doing Sunday (today) but the weather was not what was predicted and heavy rain / thunder and lightning storms meant we had a decision to make, either risk it and stay out for Rudd until it got to risky or wrap it up last night and back home which reluctantly we decided upon, somethings are not worth risking and yes there was no guarantees it was going to be terrible weather, however I think we made the right call and will go back up in a couple weeks in search of more!!!

Counting Down the Days!

 

 Spare time has been very hard to come by this spring, so much to do and money to be earned. However with June 16th fast approaching now I can forget about all that and go catch fish. I must be honest I do miss the rivers, a lot! Yes we do have canals and stillwaters to target big fish, for some reason they just don't have the same appeal and never have to me. 

 Yes, there are certain aspects of stillwater fishing I enjoy but boy does pitting your whits against weary river monsters is an altogether different proposition where your quarry could be 10/20 miles away and you just don't know it. The ever changing mystery of a river is what I believe separates the two types of water.

 With just a little over 2 days remaining before the starting gun sounds plans are afoot, Rudd are the target for the first few days and if the conditions improve for Barbel I will start targeting them as I look to resume my "40 Rivers Challenge" where I have currently completed Eighteen of the Forty rivers.

 By the end of the season I would (yes I know its 9 months away and no, I am not wishing it away already) like to reach a target of 25 completed rivers. For what rivers these maybe I have an inkling, some of it will be targeted ruthlessly to plough through numbers, other rivers will be angled acutely to winkle out individuals on the lower stock rivers which are a world away from the Wye, Severn, Trent etc where numbers are much healthier than the extremely low stock rivers such as the Sussex Rother and Itchen where a bite from a Barbel will most likely be an animal! Finding one however will and has been a huge challenge already where over 120hrs have been consumed with nothing more than a brief sighting across both rivers!

 So thats my plan, what might yours be? and what are your targets if any have been set?

 Tight Lines, 

One of just 26 Barbel caught over 25 trips last season.
This fish broke the River Don record by 15ozs!
15lb 4ozs.