Wye Not.

 

 Yes, Wye not indeed, I can't think of many places that I have fished that look so good whatever the time of year. This time around I didn't have long available. On my way over to the river I swung into the Drennan HQ to pilfer some goodies and chew the fat with Peter and the boys for a couple of hours, always great to hear Peter's stories of an era long before I was conceived! During my time there we also did a product launch video for the new collapsable specimen nets ( 28", 32" & 36" ), these will be available in all good outlets imminently.

 With my time in Oxford up I hit the A40 toward Wales. A quick swing around to Brian's to collect him and we were Wye bound, full of excitement at the prospect of a bumper day we got ourselves ready quickly...however, for me at least things didn't quite happen. I spent the first couple of hours scratching around for a nibble, it really was slow going with the Chub action even being eerily quiet, normally I'm cursing them but I wasn't on this trip.

Mmmm meat!

 Think my first Barbel came around 2-3pm to which a couple more followed but not big enough for weighing and pics but estimated them to be between 5&6lbs. Not bad fighting size and boy did they give it but I wanted something more substantial. Slightly more substantial I got, a couple of hours later I found another pod of Barbel which all weighed over 7lb ( 7.03, 7.10 & 7.15 ), the fish were better but a feeling suddenly came over me that my time on this particular section is coming to an end, as picturesque as it is, safe and secure and night fishing access it ticks all the boxes, I just don't know if I'm going to get that 10lb+ specimen. 

7.15

7.10

Brian latched into a fish that went 9.04

 I think a move is on the cards soon...however I planned to stay the night but as the temperature tumbled toward 4c I thought better of it and kindly Brian's folks allowed me to stay at their place. Cheers!!!

River Soar Double, That's A Wrap!!

 

 When I slipped the net under my 12lb 8oz R.Nene Barbel it bought an end to that campaign, immediately my sights were set on a change of scenery to begin another campaign, such is the design of my 40 Rivers Challenge.

 I had a pukka nights kip at my mate Ross' and after a freshen up and cooked breakfast I made the relatively short journey across to the R.Soar, another river I'd never seen, let or lone fished. I had done a bit of research on the Soar over the closed season and two clubs seemed to stand out above the rest, I chose one in particular and planned to fish it when the time came and stick with it.

 An hour or so after leaving Castor I arrived on the Soar to find a wide and slow stretch of river, treelined and navigable, it looked great. I opted to have a walk of all the water available to me first before choosing a swim to settle down in but the conditions were far from ideal with blazing sunshine and 26c, I had a sneaky feeling it was boom or bust from dusk onwards where I planned to stay to around 1 / 2am then make my way home. 

Ratcliffe Power Station.

And a bit closer, our last remaining coal fired power 
station which goes offline end of the month after
56 years of service.

 There were some great looking spots on both the main river and lock backwaters, but given the time of year and the better flow on the backwater that was my main focus, I thought if there were Barbel around they would be there. I know of a few anglers who have plied their trade on the Soar have all suggested the river isn't what it was for a number of reasons, the very same reasons that are hampering many other rivers, something that as a nation should be embarrassed about, the natural world that we are guests in should be respected more, but enough of that little tangent.

Not as toned as I was in my teens and 20's :)
I blame the kids 😝

  I spent most of the afternoon topless in the field laying on my landing mat as I thought my time would better spent adding another coat of suntan! As the clock ticked closer to 7pm and the suns power began to wane and drop closer to the horizon I got loaded up and made my way to where I thought I stood a chance. By 1915 I had both rods out, one rod out on my ever faithful meat and the other rod with a new test bait from Baitworks which myself and a couple of other anglers are trialing and twenty minutes later that rod began to nod and then pull round, my first Soar fish was a.....

...around 5lbs.

 Not what I was after, however one thing I've learned over the years is that Bream and Barbel often feed together, with this crucial piece of info I was happy to endure the constant taps and bangs as the Bream fed around my boilie rod, my meat rod remained dormant, that was until a couple of minutes before 9pm when my meat rod slammed round with no prior indication, I knew immediately what it was and from the off played it quite hard as there was a row of near side fallen willows which may have given me big problems, so I didn't give the chance to do me, a risky tactic but with total faith in my tackle selection I was happy to put more pressure behind it and it worked, soon enough in the torchlight I could make out a large frame, it was certainly the one I was after, my task was now just to get it closer in, enough to scoop it up in the net but she wasn't quite done, two more very strong lunges for an upstream willow were made but I was okay and soon enough I got this view 😮.

no:26!!!!

 There was no doubt at all about its weight, built like a breeze block and not a particularly long fish in truth but it didn't matter.

 

12lbs 9ozs, River Number 26 completed! ✅

 Oh I was one happy chappy, what a 24hrs fishing I had experienced, it was that good when I released her I packed up, drove home and in bed just after midnight, BOSH!!!!

 Next week I am back on the R.Wye for two days and a night, I sure hope that this purple patch continues, that would be bloody epic, I think I deserve at least one more river to be chalked off before New Year given the effort put in so far this season. Not being greedy, promise. 

River Nene Double, That's A Wrap!!

 

 Well well well, I wondered if I was ever going to crack this one, there seems to be enough in the river to target but somehow I couldn't manage it. Whether it be luck, timing or whatever I simply could not engineer that moment that mattered most, that was until Thursday evening, I got that bite, that mattered.

 I started my journey on the Nene back in the 2021/22 season where I got off to a flyer with an 8.7 Barbel on my first visit, I thought it was only a matter of time that summer before I got another Barbel with the hope it would be over 10lb. Fast forward 3 whole years, 6 trips spanning nearly 100 hours, it turned out to be a river that would be a thorn in my side.

 On Thursday morning I had a leisurely drive up to Peterborough and opted to cover similar ground that I have over the previous years. I started by rolling meat to try and find fish amongst the enormous amounts of weed that is present, so many places for them to hide. For the first couple of hours all I could muster was a few Chub to 3lb. As I worked my way down I also fed a handful of pellet and broken boilies into areas that I liked with the view to turn to static fishing and spend 30/40 mins per swim. Soon enough I found myself dropping into to those pegs as the rolling meat offered no more action, unfortunately nor did the static fishing which I gave a good crack. So I opted to change venue again and head upstream.

 Met by a couple mates we made bit of a social of it and the plan was to fish up until kicking off time which was around 2130. During the evening I was plagued by small Chub and constant knocks on both boilie and meat, often the meat getting whittled off which was frustrating. As the sun had dipped beyond the horizon the regularity of knocks and taps eased off and around 2000 I had a bang on the meat rod out of nowhere and had my suspicions that it was a Barbel coming into investigate it. 

 Ten minutes after that I decided to bring it in and check my meat was on, to which it was, just whittled down a little by the hoards of hungry little mouths but big enough for me to be happy with flinging it back out. An accurate cast once again got the bait and lead onto a nice clear gravel patch amongst a sea of cabbages. Around 2045, BANG!!! The rod slammed round violently and I was on it in a flash and that still didn't enable me to keep the Barbel out of the cabbages! she was straight in there and immediately could feel the fish getting more and more solid which gave me nightmares, no way was I going to let this one go! I used all my experience to keep this fish from really doing me in.

 I walked through the thick marginal vegetation downstream and got some side-strain on the fish to try and bring its head out the cabbages backward, I released tension and put it back on and slowly but surely over 6/7min period my perseverance paid off as she slowly but surely became heavier and heavier on the rod and knew I almost had her out and then the line pinged a final couple of times and she was out, with that she realised she was out and no sooner had I got her out she ploughed, unavoidably straight into another set of cabbages to which I had to do the same all over again as I could feel less and less of the fish on the rod and it was only very faint vibrations through the line which told me she was still on, honestly this fight was incredible as it was a war of attrition, this fish had met its match and more. Many get lost in the cabbages but I was not going to become one of that negative statistic, once again I got below it and put more side-strain to again, slowly work it out, this time around she had used up a lot of her strength on the last bid for freedom and now I was winning a bit faster and within a minute or so she had come free and heading toward the net which I cocked up three times, I couldn't work out in the torch light where the fish was in relation to the cord of the net, thankfully I didn't knock it off and third time around she was at last in the net, this time I had finally caught and landed a River Nene double figure Barbel! 

Blooooody BINGO!

 I was in dreamland and after a pretty awful season for Barbel so far I had finally landed a double Barbel, my first since mid-February when I managed to catch an Itchen monster. This fish was not that big but an extremely pleasing 12lb 8ozs, the smile on my face told you all you needed to know about this capture. I had finally done it and shared the moment with one of the bailiffs Ulvis and my good mate Ross it was a great way to end my Nene campaign for a double figure specimen.

River no:25 - R.Nene - 12.08 Complete ✅

 7 Trips, 107 Hours, blazing sun, torrential rain and lightning, I've been through it all there but the conclusion of my campaign could not have been sweeter and with that I packed up and went to the pub for a pint and cigar!

I'm Still Alive.

 

 Well, I honestly can't say I have had a less satisfying start to a season than this one, barring my successes with that massive Rudd brace on the 17th of June it has been terrible. Now I know that would for many anglers make their season and it was a great accomplishment for me given my attempts to catch a 3lb Fenland Rudd.

 But, over the past three seasons of the 40 Rivers Challenge I have made good use of the warmer conditions and successfully chalked off a few rivers before the cooler weather inevitably makes things slightly more tricky. Now I may have covered this in previous posts this season but the unseasonably and longer cold spring had certainly put the kybosh on a fast start and subsequent visits to the Nene, Wye, Bourne and most recently a return to the Wharfe and a debut visit to the Aire also ended up with big fat 0 in the Barbel caught column ( doubles that is ). 

 On rivers I have little knowledge of, I get it that the slow starts will likely happen as I gather information and fish areas to locate Barbel, nevertheless I have fished rivers and areas I am quite familiar with - with equally poor results. I can only hope as the nights draw in a little and the Barbel finally drag themselves out of their comas that results improve. I have a few plans afoot and hope one or two of them come good as my target to reach 30 rivers completed by March 14th 2025. If I don't reach 27/28 rivers completed by New Years I think my target will be in tatters, that said I am in no rush to finish this challenge and it happens when it happens...that said I am an impatient git at times :) 

 Below are a couple of images from my venture across the Pennines as I holiday'd up in the Lake District with the family, a full day away North Yorkshire was a nice little treat with the rods.

 

A flooded R.Wharfe.

The Aire in Leeds.

Ditto, upstream from the weir.

Nene Drought.

 

 I had high hopes for my first proper outing of the season for Barbel. Thursday's trip up is my seventh visit and to be honest I felt I should have chalked it off by now but thats not the way angling works and this challenge has highlighted that time and time again. I'm doing the right things just not getting the fortune that I've been afforded elsewhere.

 After work on Thursday I made the 120mile journey north, battling the endless queues for Dartford tunnel and hold-ups on the M11 and A14, a 2hr 10min trip took over 3hrs, doesn't everyone realise I had fishing to do! How inconsiderate. 

Most of the spots that looked good, real stealth required.

 I had a few ideas as to where to target and opted to start at the end and work my way back up to where the car was parked, I only 4hrs on the Thursday to fish so got to business quickly by sending out my sleeper rod whilst setting up my proper rods. I unpacked both rods and began to line the eyes when out the corner of my eye my sleeper rod jumped up out of the vegetation and was headed for the bloody river! Talk about caught totally off-guard, I dropped my other rod and scrambled down the bank to fetch my rod and hoped what I am certain was a Barbel was still on but it became immediately apparent the hook had not set and this was a timely reminder that anything can happen at anytime!!! 

 I was so pissed with myself not being switched on and not to ruin the rest of the guff I was left to rue that mistake for the next day of angling. A take inside ten minutes and would spend the next 24hrs (minus 6hours that no fishing is allowed) searching for another opportunity, one chance at redemption which simply never came and wasn't through the lack of trying, I covered 10.62miles in 20hrs of fishing, an effort on 4hrs sleep which was broken up by the pain I've been recently suffering with a broken tooth and I've procrastinated in dealing with it and now it's clear with the pain being what it is that I need to do something! 

A healthy brood of Small Torts.

 Yesterday evening I packed up and heading to the car I made the decision call time, the plan was to stay until lunchtime on Saturday but my tooth was just too much to deal with and couldn't focus. I made the 120 mile journey back home with another Nene blank under my belt, I'm kinda hoping this one falls on my next trip or two. Watch this space.

 A little release video and a fighting video of some Chub.

Chub Release  (----- vid 1     Chub Battle  (----- vid 2

 Yes, I blanked for Barbel but did have some cracking Chub into the 3-4lb range and it is a wonderful place to spend time, watching young Red Kites taking flight, Kestrels hunting the fields, the odd Pike drifting around, one of them was pretty big ( Easily mid-double ).

Blackwater Returns.

 

 Throughout my teenage years I spent many thousands of hours targeting Barbel in low gin clear rivers and really hammered home my love for fishing stealthily, so when I do make those journeys back to the Blackwater in search of a double figure Barbel its like going back 20+ years to those days of my well-spent youth.

 Last week I restarted my 40 Rivers Challenge on the diminutive Blackwater in search of a fish a pound bigger than what I have previously managed (9lb 1oz), now I haven't seen anything bigger than that, in fact I have seen very little for that matter, part of that maybe due to the fact in the summer it is heavily choked with ribbon weed and ranunculus so there is plenty of room to hide, but also I am not entirely sure the stocks are vast, in fact I do feel I am searching for isolated pockets of fish across a few miles of river.

 It really is a difficult conundrum to solve as I can't tell most of the time whether I'm in the right place or not! Last Wednesday I spent 12hrs down there, roving around and then static fishing toward the evening in a spot that looked like it should be holding Barbel but I left at nearly 11pm without a touch.

 Fast forward to yesterday. I had a few jobs booked in in the morning and had the roving gear in the motor, so when I finished in West London I shot out to Berkshire to try my hand once again at a Blackwater Barbel, or maybe just a fish! to get the confidence up a little bit. After a nights rain I thought the river would be a poor state but it wasn't too bad and I could still sight fish, but only just as the humidity was soooooooo bad that I couldn't regulate my body temp at times and sweated from pores I didn't even I know I had! So there were times I couldn't see into the water given the glare.

 Now, sometimes the Barbel can give you a little hint as to where they are and when one randomly flashes on a set of narrow gravels the radar kicks into gear very quickly and once I saw one I saw five! Over the next couple of hours I managed to catch two of them both of which were around the 5lb mark and those that I saw remaining on the gravels were of similar size, that double still elusive, I spent a couple more hours wandering around trying to find something a bit bigger but found nothing other than a few Pike, one of which was certainly a double, just hanging off the back of small Chub and Roach.

1st Barbel

2nd Barbel marginally bigger.

 It was great to finally catch another Barbel off the Blackwater but really need to find more prolific grounds, not sure I'm where I need to, or am I in the right place and the bigger fish just aren't showing themselves.. only time will tell.

Jungle warfare Barbel ready to go back.

Barbel Society 2024.

 A few weeks back I had a slot at the annual Barbel Society Show which was held at Notts County Football Ground in the heart of Nottingham on the banks of the mighty Trent. I was asked early in the year if I wanted to take to the stage to waffle on about all things 40 Rivers Challenge.

 Yes, you guys here know all about it but many anglers out there on the banks of the rivers don't even realise that there forty rivers across England, Wales and Scotland that hold Barbel, let or lone double figure specimens! For me it's some of the unknowns or catching specimens from rivers that don't usually produce them or not rivers anglers would typically venture onto to target Barbel of any size.

A section of the seating that would become filled for the talkers.

 In every region there is a big river ( Thames, Trent, Severn, Wye, Ribble, Yorkshire Ouse or Hampshire Avon ) those rivers are quite well spread out and offering vast amounts of water to tackle with good heads of fish throughout of all sizes, so why would anglers target lesser know rivers and areas when "easier angling" is available. That's one of the reasons I really love this journey so far, it has taken me to many different places, from urban settings like the Tame, Wandle and soon to be the Aire to paradises like the Wye, Hants Avon and Wharfe. 

 Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but for me natural settings do it for me but once again, the rough and ready areas need the attention too. These are some of the things I touched on during my talk and for my first effort I think I did okay but I was nervous and was all totally off the cuff, I was supposed to write up some bullet points and expand upon those, but went out for curry and beers instead :) 

 My challenge has just restarted with a visit to the Blackwater which I will touch on shortly.

 I hope you enjoy the video, 37 mins of your life you won't get back but it's possibly better than the drivel on TV nowadays.... I hope you enjoy and possibly find something of benefit.

 ▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽

Barbel Society "My Chat". 

Summer Barbel on the Pin.

 

 After a busy day at work I had two options once I'd finished with my last client, either go home or have a go for a Barbel or two on the way home. With the thick cloud overhead and cooler temps over the last couple days I opted for the latter and glad I did.

Real jungle warfare, great conditions for stalking.

 Three quarters of a loaf to use I opted to fish dead simple, a size 8 ESP cryogen hook and a single AAA shot when needed and trundled the flake to fish I could see or in runs I expected Barbel to be and was not disappointed. 2hrs later I had ended my short visit with five Barbel with the best weighing 8lb 11oz and in fantastic condition, the others were between the 3-5lb mark, all gave great scraps on the light gear.

Chalkstream Barbel at their finest.

 That was fun and a nice little teaser on local pastures before I restart my Barbel Challenge as I look to chalk off river number 25. The Kentish Stour or Arun will hopefully get a bit of attention soon once the weather becomes favourable and time becomes available.

Carp Fix Part One.

 

 Something satisfying targeting Carp but glad I don't do it often as I feel I enjoy it more. Monday morning before work a dawn raid was planned and with the glorious weather we are at last experiencing I thought the timing was good!

 Minimal gear and a loaf of bread was all I needed, I rarely Carp fish with more! When I arrived I saw very little movement on the top which was a surprise to me as I was expecting to see plenty of cruising Carp patrolling the surface for grub. Chances it would seem would be at a premium and I wasn't wrong either, that said inevitably one or two would show and in the two hours I was mooching around one Carp did fall for the oldest trick in the book and gave a very good account of itself.

 When its shoulders broke the surface before the mouth I thought it was a decent, when it ambled over the cord I could see it was a linear! That will do nice and just a smidgen over the twenty pound barrier (20.02). 

 That was it for me and off to work I went. Stay tuned for part two.

8 Years in the Making.

 

 So we find ourselves finally able to get back on the rivers and thank god for it too. I don't mind stillwaters and canals now and again, running water however has no substitute. Before the season started I set myself a few of targets as I do every spring and my 15lb+ Bream target was achieved on my first trip so I was happy to graft, get plenty of money in and await the 16th of June.

 The targets I set myself were the following:

 - 15lb+ Bream

 - 3lb+ River Rudd

 - A double figure Barbel from 6 different rivers across the UK for my challenge to put me on 30!

 - 3lb+ Grayling

 - 1lb+ Dace

 - 8lb+ Chub

 That is some list above I grant you but certainly possible and given the time of year its only the Rudd and Barbel that I'd target. 

 I didn't fish the 16th for the first time in a while as I haven't been particularly well of late and didn't feel up to going out but was starting to feel a bit better for the first time in a month so I decided upon Rudd and loaded the car, ready for a trip deep into the Fens on the 17th (yesterday). 

 By 0630 the boat was already set and ready to let slip, the morning chorus had ended but the distant Cuckoo's could still be heard and watched on as a Hen Harrier glided across the reed beds in front of me, majestic creatures they most certainly are, but I sought something even more majestic.

My Rudd set-up.

 The Fens spanning across three counties I believe offer hundreds of miles of clear water of varying sizes and hold some wonderful fish and not just Rudd. Carp, Pike, Tench and various species call it home. After years of trying to catch a 3lb+ Rudd I set that as my summer target as I have done for the last seven years without getting too close.

After the last few weeks this was a joy!

 As I pootled along I could see scores of Rudd but nothing large, anything over 2lbs I would advance beyond the shoal and let them settle down whilst feeding copious amounts of bread crust, sometimes it took 15-20mins before the larger fish would start to take the bread but it was slow going. Knowing what was down there I didn't mind waiting and you always know when the bigger fish are moving around as the smaller fish don't come up as much as they get bullied off and the bigger fish begin to feed with gusto, I find its very important not to start fishing too quickly, catching the smaller ones often switches the bigger fish off but oddly if you wait and begin to fish and catch big ones you can do this with successive casts as is what played out around 9am.

Beautiful!

 First up was a smaller fish of 1lb 10oz which was followed by a warrior weighing at 2lb 10ozs and my second biggest river Rudd, so I was mega chuffed and couldn't believe what a start I'd had. She didn't behave like big Rudd usually do either, the bite was so subtle I almost missed it, a tiny slurp at 30 meters away, luckily for me my float started to veer off to the right which is when I knew it was on, the fight was very Rudd like and dived into every patch of pads, then down into the grass and marginal reeds. 

2.10! Yea man that epic :) 

 Wow, 0930 and already had caught a very big Rudd, I must admit I was happy with that and continued to fish the section without another rise so I moved on. I cruised on for about another mile and a half without seeing anything of note, there was a distinct lack of fish of any real size. Around 1130 I found a pod of Rudd maybe 10 strong that all looked to be upper 1's and low 2's so I opted to get some of those as I hadn't had a fish for a couple hours. As usual I got above the shoal and fed bread for a good 20 mins and fish were rising, then I started trotting down to the feeding fish could tell that some of the bow waves made as Rudd approached the bits of crust were pretty big, if you have fished for this species as much as myself you come to learn what sized bow waves can be made by certain fish, some of those were not of fish of mid-high 1's at all.

 I kept feeding the section until the regularity of crust being taken dwindled, I knew it was time to start fishing as the smaller fish should have had their fill but could still see the occasional bow wave of that / them big Rudd still, so I knew they were still active and in the run. My first cast down kissed the wind and sent it right into the marginal reed bed and set my hook in a reed stem, I was fuming at my luck and had to lift the drogue and drift down to the stem, the only fortunate thing was it was still a good 15-20 meters from where the fish were still moving around. I unhooked the stem, dropped the drogue and cast straight out in the middle channel and ran the crust down to the hot zone. It took a good 2-3 mins to get there and then a fish gently took the crust off the top, no gusto, no bow wave I thought no please don't be a pisspot Rudd, the float sailed away and struck into the fish and the round slammed over and line started to peel off my fairly slack clutch, this actually wasn't a bad fish at all and when it dived in every bit of vegetation on the way up I got a glimpse of it and I knew it was very big!

 I couldn't ship the net out fast enough, this surely had to batter my original river best of 2.11 that I had last year and when I lifted it out the water and on to the mat she looked immense! thick across the back, long and very deep... a solid gold bar! Could she go over the 3lb barrier? could, after eight years this be the very fish I wanted? I certainly didn't see any fish in that shoal when I passed over them of that calibre.

You bet it did, a fish I didn't think I'd ever get to catch!

What a special fish and very rare indeed!

 Yes it may have only just made that magical mark but that it did is all that matters. I was honestly lost for words and marvelled at her for ages as she rested in the net before letting her drift back into anonymity possibly never seeing an angler again! This was a long journey, but my god one I have enjoyed for the most part. The wasp stings, the mozzies, the unrelenting winds, the baking hot sun, the storms that build and dump in minutes, the lost fish, the endless rowing through rafts of vegetation was all worth it. 

 I can not overstate how rare Rudd of that size are and know many anglers who after decades of trying haven't managed it, on the 17th of June 2024, it was my day.

Just a fraction of what I have to deal with.

 Once I had released that Rudd my head wasn't really into it, I had achieved my goal! So I opted to slowly make my way back about 2.5 miles to where I had parked up. I cruised over numerous pods of Rudd but nothing of note and just wondered if I had passed over anything big in the morning that I had missed. 

 Something I didn't mention above was that I had a couple male Rudd milt as they were bought in and suspected both the 2.10 & 3.00 had not finished spawning and the water was still very cold, they must be quite far behind and the 3lber was pristine on both sides, no signs of spawning damage, odd...

 A few decent fish around the 1.12 - 2.3 were had on the way back up and were hitting the bread like I expected the bigger ones too, the two best offered up gentle slurps of the bread and then fought like demons. By 3/4pm I was ready to pack down, job was a good'en!!!!

My best of the way home, 2lb 3ozs.

 Target number two of my list achieved, Fens....over and out !!!!! for now at least, I do love the Fens, maybe a change of scenery for a while :)