A lower Severn session....

A fine looking Lower Severn

With the Avon having dropped down a fair bit this week, my choice of venue for my afternoon off work wasn't a difficult one. The mid-severn, was about 4ft on, but the lower was well up, almost 7 feet on. Folk that know me are aware of how much I like the Lower Severn, despite it almost certainly not liking me anywhere near as much. Severn Stoke, was the venue of choice, and upon arrival on the car park, I have to say, the river looked the absolute nuts.....well coloured, bombing through in the middle, and spot on for a few fish. I spent 20 minutes wandering around looking at a few swims, eventually deciding on a swim with a decent crease, and also one I've fished before, back in the summer, so I knew it was snag free. It was also safe, easy to climb the bank, and a shallow ledge close in, always good should you slip and fall. I started on a feeder with 12mm pellet on the upstream rod, and a straight lead with a lump of garlic spam. It took about an hour for a bite, a big solid whack on the pellet rod, and a fish was on. A good scrap ensued, but I never thought I'd lose it, and I netted a fine looking lower Severn barbel, not big but a lovely fish. 

Best of the day

Unusually, for a coloured river, the meat remained untouched, so I swapped it around for a boilie with a paste wrap....which also failed to produce. Things went slowly for a few hours, with others also struggling, but a an hour or so before sunset, I managed another, again on the pellet rod, only a small fish though, for the Lower Severn especially, only about 3lb. The next chuck produced another one, again a small one, and that proved to be the last fish of the day.

I was a little disappointed not to have bigger fish, but three fish in a session in November is fine by me.

See the video to this session here:-

Lady luck is with me.....

Saturday saw me pondering about the planned trip on Sunday afternoon, with lots of rain falling, and rivers everywhere on the rise. The Severn seemed to be rising more so than the others, and by the end of Saturday, I'd already decided to give the Severn a miss, as I was pretty sure that the amount of debris and autumn leaves would make the river a very tricky proposition indeed, and I've made the mistake before.....nothing worse than casting in, only to be wiped by rubbish after a few minutes.

The Avon had seen a much slower rise, and with previous results being very good, I decided to go there, to the same stretch as my last trip.

Upon arrival, the river was probably around 18 inches on, with plenty of colour, a lot more than I thought it would have, and a good flow to boot. My first thought was to fish meat, but I stuck to my guns to begin with, and fished a dubby boilie on the downstream rod, and a 12mm pellet complete with paste wrap on the upstream setup, following a few pints of hemp going in via the dropper.

Once again, a cup of tea was dispensed as I settled back in my chair.

a lovely 12.4

Things proved slow, as I've found they often do in these cirumstances when we've been waiting for good conditions....many a time they've proved to be an anti-climax. Nothing transpired after an hour, with just leaves being the only thing I could attract, so I decided to drop the boilie setup, in favour of a lump of garlic spam, mounted on a size 2 pallatrax hook. Despite this change, still no action, and I began to think the session might prove a blank one.  I reeled in the pellet/paste rod, and recast it, just with a pellet, no paste, just a rod out or so. After a few minutes, I had a small knock, and then another, which seemed to be just chub knocks, but then a big wrap over, obviously a barbel run, and a fish was on. Straightaway, it was evident that this was a big fish, a bottom hugger this one, as some big fish are. It was quite a tussle, certainly more powerful than last weeks double, and I was worried about losing it, but eventually sustained pressure brought the fish to the surface....obviously a double, I carefully slipped the net under her, and left her to rest as I arranged the camera and scales and the like.

On first glance, I thought around 11lb, but she proved to be bigger, coming in at 12.4, my third double this season, and my second 12!!!  

I drove home with a huge smile on my face!!!

It's raining.....hurrah!!!!

Well, finally, and it's been a very long wait this year, some rain has fallen, Friday morning saw lots of it, and although I knew it wouldn't have made much difference so early, I made the trip back down to the WA following an early finish from work. The plan was to fish my usual pellet approach, and also to debut my new Three Foot Twitch boilies that Richard Easom has sent me earlier in the week. 

Upon arrival, it was obvious the rain had made little difference, with maybe a couple of inches on it,

The river at dusk

but still no colour. This was as I expected though, and as the two previous trips to the river had produced, I was confident of a fish. I found a peg which looked deeper than those further upstream, which proved to be 10-11ft when I was baiting up, and those extra few inches of water provided a nice bit of flow, all good stuff. I put about three pints of hemp in, about twenty feet from the bank, and started the session with the upstream rod fishing a 12mm crab pellet hair rigged on a size 12 pallatrax hook, and the downstream with a 'dubby' boilie, rigged on a size 10. Both rods had straight 1.5oz leads. I settled back with a cup of tea, and awaited events.

A very wiry 6.1

As I knew it would be, it proved to be a slow start, and other anglers seemed to be suffering the same fate, but I stuck to my guns and waited. After a biteless 90 minutes, I had a wrap around on the boilie rod, and a fish was on, and what a great account of itself that this fish gave. Its first run saw line screaming off the reel, and even after I gained some line on it, it was off once more.

It also fought very deep, and I thought it was a good fish until it surfaced, when I realised it was an average sized fish. It was very long and wiry, and I've had fish of similar length that have gone 8 plus. Still it was a barbel, and proof that it's not necessarily the biggest fish that pull your string the most. On the scales, it came in at just 6.1, but my third successive trip that has produced for me, and a good start for the dubby!!!

That was only fish, despite fishing into darkness, none of the other anglers caught, so I must be doing something right!!!  Today, more rain has fallen, which means I'll be doing only one thing tomorrow afternoon, I'm already feeling confident about it!!!

A successful trip back on the Avon

Here comes the fog

Well, following on from my last session on the new stretch I tried, Sunday afternoon found me travelling there once more, and with the drive down the M5 bathed in glorious autumn sunshine, I did question my chances in such bright conditions. When I arrived at the river though, it was quite misty, not much sunlight getting through, and the river was up a couple of inches since the last visit, although sadly still with no colour at all, very, very clear indeed.

But still, this is a deeper stretch, and the extra few inches offered a bit more flow, so I settled for a swim a few swims further upstream than Fridays session. With deep water close in, I droppered three or four pints of hemp in, just a rod length out, I decided to keep hookbaits the same, a 12mm crab pellet on one rod, and double elips on the other. I settled back and awaited events.

First hour proved very slow, and I began to get concerned about the fog which was descending,

A lovely autumn double

it was getting quite thick, and I didn't really fancy driving back in a pea souper very much. As the light began to fade, a few tweaks and pulls began to happen, mostly on the crab pellet rod, and sure enough, a good tug saw me in touch with a chub, only around 6oz, but a fish nevertheless. With the light fading and the fog worsening, I decided on another 20 minutes fishing. A few more tugs and twitches on the 12mm rod, and then finally a decent wrapover happened, which I first thought was a chub. It sooned proved it wasn't though, and off it went into mid river, hugging the bottom, as the better barbel seem to do.

After a few powerful runs, including a couple where I might lose the fish, I managed to slip the net under it, and she proved to be my second double of the season, coming in at 10.8.

I opted to pack up after that, with the fog, and the fact my landing net fell apart, but I drove home a happy angler!

Back on the Avon.....

Clear as gin

Well, I didn't get the chance to fish last weekend, due to one thing and another, and with every river in the land still low and crystal clear, it was never going to be easy. I opted to leave work early, and spend the last few hours of daylight, and the first hour of darkness on the river. Venue of choice was a new stretch on the WA, below Pershore, which offered deeper water, which I feel offers a better bet in clear conditions.....and clear it most certainly was, probably the clearest I've ever seen it.

A walk along the first few swims and I could see the cabbages three or four foot down.

I found a swim with a bit of extra flow close in, about ten feet deep, and comfortable too, so I chose to drop in there. I droppered about three pints of hemp in, spread over two areas of the swim. Hookbaits were pellets on straight leads, just 1.5oz was all I needed, elips on one rod, and a single 12mm crab pellet on the other.

An autumn gold bar

Twenty minutes in, and still on the first cast...a screamer on the upstream rod, a fish that gave a good account of itself for such a small fish, it was probably somewhere between six and seven pounds, I didn't weigh it, but it was a stunning fish, beautful bronze flanks and perfect fins, one of the best looking fish I've taken this season, beautiful.

No other fish decided to put in an appearance, although I got a few twitches on meat as the light faded, I think the river is just too clear right now. I'll be back to this stretch though, I know for a fact it holds some very good fish indeed, and once it's coloured I'll be after them!

A quick update....

Well, it's October already, four months into the season and it's gone very quickly indeed. For various reasons, mainly not having much to blog about, I haven't really had much to report on the barbel front, it's been a very difficult season indeed. A number of factors have led to this, the first being the usual summer problem of not having much water around, infact, the only significant rainfall we've had was in August, which put just two or three feet of extra water on the rivers I fish, which quickly ran back off. As I write this, both the Severn and the W.Avon are running at summer lows, with the water clarity being that of Gordon's Finest.

A Lower Severn 9.4

The second reason has been the amount of time I've spent fishing the Lower Severn, which at the best of times is a tough nut to crack,

I've put a few on the bank here and there, mostly at Pixham Ferry, with the best coming from Severn Stoke(see pic), but it still wasn't a double, and still now, a Lower Severn double eludes me after umpteen trips at both venues. The Lower Severn still captivates me though, it has a mystery all of its own, remains underfished compared to the middle river, and you never know when a huge fish is going to smash that rod tip over.

Seasons best, 12.11

For the same reasons that I've already mentioned, I haven't published any YouTube videos either, something which lots of people keep asking me about. I've been surprised at their popularity, and my dozen or so videos now have more than 40,000 views, something which I never would have expected. I must try and do some more!

In between my various Severn trips, I've managed a couple of Avon sessions too, with various levels of success/failure, infact, an impromptu session on the Avon just last week on the strength of the river being up a bit, led to my best fish of the season, an absolutely stunning fish of 12.11, which i took on pellet shortly before dusk.

I still think the best fishing is to come, November can be very good indeed, and surely (I hope), we will get some significant rain to lead to some feeding fish. I shall mainly be concentrating on the Wavon and Lower Severn when the rain finally arrives, and maybe even a Wye trip if I get time....I'll also try and keep this blog a bit more up to date!!

The good start continues.....sort of.

After a nice start to the season on Wednesday 17th, I returned to Knowle again on the following day, intending to fish a peg I'd walked past the previous day. On closer inspection though, I didn't really fancy it much, there wasn't much flow close in. So, it was a toss up between the same peg as the previous day, or the first peg in the second meadow. I chose the same peg again, and settled on it in the same fashion, with pellet and boilie. Things proved to be slow, as it was a brighter day than the previous one, and various changes and tweaks brought no action. Fish were porpoising all over the river, jumping clear, rolling etc, I can only assume they're still spawning, which explains the lack of action in a usually prolific area. A change to a big lump of meat on a size 2 pallatrax hook close in, brought an absolute screamer of a take, and a fish was on. A decent scrap and a fine looking barbel of 7.8 was in the net, another lovely fish from this lovely swim. That proved to be it though, and the next 90 minutes the swim seemed to be dead, so I upped sticks, and moved to the first peg in the meadow. This swim is pacier and shallower, and has a tree that overhangs slightly. I put out a pellet rod mid-river, and meat under the trees.

7lb 8oz

A fish fell to pellet straight away, another nice looking fish of 6.13, but the very bright sunshine was slowing sport. After an hour of so, I began to get taps on the meat rod, and sure enough, it wasn't long before a fish was hooked, another of about 6lb. This was followed by another one of the same size, and then another one which I lost. I had a problem though, I only had one piece of meat left, such are the perils of taking only one tin! Luckily, a barbel took a fancy to the last piece, a smaller fish of 5lb, so I finished the day with five barbel.

6lb 13oz

The following evening I visited a new stretch below Worcester, for just two bream, but fish were moving there too, and good ones at that. I shall be sneaking there again, especially when it rains, keep an eye on this blog for future visits!!

The wait is over......

Well, it's been a long wait, and I had intended to wait until Friday before my first new season foray, but I found myself unable to wait beyond the 16th, so was out on day 2, the 17th. With the river at normal level, and quite clear, I imagined it might be a tad tricky, so a visit to one of my banker swims at Knowle Sands on the mid-Severn was my place of choice. With only one car on the car park, I was confident of getting a decent swim, and the swim I wanted was available.

My attack plan was boilies. This is something I'm looking to work on this season, in the hope of

First of the season

picking up some better fish, so two rods, with boilies, and PVA bags with boilie bits in was what I started on. Things proved slow though, and after an hour, I was back on old faithful elips!

This proved a good switch though, as fish number one was hooked, and landed, and it was a decent one for early season, 7lb 1oz, which I was more than happy with. A quiet spell saw me switch back to boilie on the downstream rod, and straightaway, a bite, which I thought was a chub at first, and quite a dogged scrap led to another barbel, this one going 8lb 4oz. Amazing. Last year it was August before I has an '8'!

8lb 4oz

Shortly afterwards, another fish on the pellet rod, led to another decent fish, this one 7lb 5oz. Three good barbel, so early in the season, unusual, and one happy angler.

Sadly, the afternoon proved to be rock hard, not a bite, but I walked back to the car chuffed to bits, fantastic stuff!

I'll be looking to tweak my boilie fishing, I'm making them myself, following recipes from well known bait gurus, I'll be trying lots of different things I think, although I'm sure pellet will still play a part, and meat too.

Watch this space.


Watch the video to this session here:-

The Last Hurrah, Fladbury - 14th March 2015

After two blanks on Severn Stoke, I decided a change was in order for the final day of the 2014/15 season. Heavy rain on Friday morning had meant every midlands river had risen considerably by Saturday. After much deliberation, I decided on the Warwickshire Avon at Fladbury, a venue I haven't fished in a while. I opted to fish below the bridge, as the river is less pacey and deeper there, and also, you can drive across the field and park behind the pegs.

This is where the problems started. Just ten yards into the field, I got stuck. And stuck good and proper. After spending twenty minutes trying to get free using bits of tree and bush, I conceded that I needed a hand. Fortunately for me, a couple of anglers who were fishing lended me their services, and gave me a push and I was free of the mud. If you're one of those anglers and you're reading this, I owe you big time!!

The final fish of the season

Anyway, to the fishing. I ended up above the bridge, on a peg above the mill race, fishing meat and pellet. In short, it wasn't good, river two foot up and looking fine, but a very cold wind made fishing uncomfortable. I didn't blank though, and I ended up with a barbel to finish the season. Not a big one, maybe 3lb or so, but a fish nevertheless. The backend of the season has been poor....with the weather
playing a huge part in it, water temps not much more than 7c, cold winds and frosts have all affected things.

So, that's the end of the season, a mixed one for me. I've had some nice sessions, with three doubles, including a new PB barbel of 14.1, taken at Harvington in August. Sadly, I missed some of the prime weeks of the season in October and November due to my dad being ill, and passing away. As much as I love my fishing, some things in life are far more important. It was a sad time, but dad was an angler too, and I think he was proud of my angling achievements, both barbel, and also match fishing wise, another thing I've had some success in.

This season  I have learnt a lot though, and can't wait for the new season in June. Bring it on!

Severn Stoke - 12th March 2015

This stretch of river continues to fascinate me. After much deliberating the evening before, I decided on another visit, with a warm night, and 12c forecast. I was fishing by 9.30am, settling on a different peg this time around, thirty or forty yards below the one I fished previously.

Around 3lb

I was reasonably confident of catching, and sure enough, after an hour or so, I had a bite. Not a barbel though, unfortunately, but a chub, this one taking the spicy crab boilie that was on the downstream rod. A nice looking fish though, at least it was a start. This proved to be the only action for a while though, so just after midday, I went for a wander to stretch my legs. The guy in the peg upstream was also having a 'bad day'. He'd only had six fish.....including a 6lb chub, a 7lb bream, a few smaller bream, and a 7lb barbel...all one one rod. His mate had netted a 10lb barbel. Of course, I'm no stranger to BS, but this chap must have thought I was a pork pie short of a picnic or something!

Anyway, a bit bemused, I returned to my peg, and a change to Pellet O's brought another chub around the same size as the first. Interestingly, the elips rod had produced nothing (I do wonder whether they aren't as effective as they are on the middle river), so I decided to switch to meat. A scout through my

The best fish of the session

bag revealed I'd left my meat at home, so I swapped the elips rod to boilie for the remainder of the session. Another chub followed, but this time a half decent one, about 3lb or so, and lots of tugs and twitches ensued.

No barbel though - again.

Just before packing up, another bite on the pellet O's, and chub number four, best one of the day though, 3lb+.

Another session on the lower though, without a barbel. The lower river is a tough gig, very difficult indeed, but she continues to call me back.

Northwood - 10th March 2015

I hadn't visited Northwood since the end of October, and as I've had good sessions here, I decided to give it a go. Bad traffic meant it took 90 minutes to do the 22 mile journey, so I arrived at about 9.15am, with one other angler on the stretch, who was, unsurprisingly, on the bridge peg, which I fancied myself.

A nice looking fish

Never mind, there are plenty of other good swims there, and I ended up choosing a peg toward the top of the stretch, a nice looking peg, with slacker water on the inside, and comfortable to boot. A frost had lessened the chances of a barbel capture, and the weather too, wasn't ideal for the species, very bright indeed, not a cloud in the sky in fact. However, I'm not a barbel, so the weather was more than appreciated by myself, it really was a glorious morning to be out on the bank!

I had decided  for a change today too, after a text convo with a mate of mine, I was going to try boilies on one of the rods, as I've been struggling (and blanking) on pellets. So, a mainline spicy crab boilie furnished my downstream rod, and the ever faithful elips finished the upstream one, and I settled back to await events in the sunshine.

Not a barbel, but fine by me

Twenty minutes in, and a screamer....on the boilie rod....a bit of a surprise, and after a short scrap, a fine looking five pounder lay in the net. What a great start this was, so the rod went back out again, complete with a new boilie, in hope the same would happen.

It didn't. So I kept waiting....and nothing happened, until around midday, when I had a tap on the pellet rod, which I knew when it moved was a chub, and a chub it proved to be, around the 2lb mark.

It would have been nice to report the other barbel that graced my net later in the afternoon, but sadly those two fish were my only captures of the day, but never mind, it was great to be out on the bank on such a beautiful day.

The Danery - 7th March 2015

A good forecast was finally due on Saturday, and with time fast running out before the seasons end, I opted on the Danery, a venue I haven't fished since the summer months,  but I've had some decent sessions there in the past. I was joined on the bank by a couple of mates, who had their own hopes for a few back end barbel.

The only fish of a tough day

I've fished most of the pegs on this stretch, the top pegs are faster and shallow, and this is where the other lads headed, but I fished a few pegs into the second field, steadier water, between six and eight feet deep. The river was about 18 inches up, fining off following the previous week's heavy rain, with the colour beginning to drop out. It looked good though, although a water temperature of 6.4c was a little on the low side.

Two pellet setups started the session, maybe just a couple of rodlengths out, both with double elips.
Twenty minutes into the session, and a bite materialised, a bit unexpectedly if I'm honest, and a fish tore off into mid-river. It was soon under control though, and after maneuvering the fish through a snag, it was netted. Not massive, about 4lb, but very welcome indeed! I was concerned about the 'curse of the first cast fish' being a problem though, and the next few hours produced nothing. The weather brightened up too, and by 11am I was sat in glorious sunshine. The water temp was rising slowly, and by midday was 6.8c, and would in fact rise to 7.0c by the end of the session.

Just after midday I had another bite, and lifted into what felt a half decent fish, which annoying was lost a few seconds later. Closer examination revealed the hooklength had parted, presumably damaged by the snagging up of the first fish. It's something I should have spotted earlier, and it cost me.

That proved to be the only action of the day, although all three of us caught, only one fish each, but at least none of us blanked.

See the video to this session here:-

Severn Stoke - 28th February 2015

Well, it's been quite some time since my last trip out on the river, with the weather being all over the place over the last few months. I'm not really one for fishing in freezing conditions, and it's never usually conducive to good barbel fishing anyway.

A good looking Lower Severn

Saturday though, brought the promise of a better chance, so I trotted off to Severn Stoke once more. Severn Stoke, as those of you who are probably familiar, isn't an easy stretch of water, in fact it's very difficult indeed, but this length of river keeps calling me back. Big fish live here. And that's the reason I keep going back.....for the chance of a big Severn fish.

The river on the day was eight feet up, a good colour, and a promising temperature of 7.2c, not too bad considering the temperature was only 3c a few weeks previously. I opted to fish pellet on both rods, one with elips, and another with two 'Pellet O's' in spicy sausage. Unfortunately, as is often the case with this intriguing venue, my approach failed on both rods, and a four hour session ended in a blank.

I spoke to another two anglers later who were fishing above the car park, who also seemed to be on the way to their own blank sessions, I suspect the water isn't quite warm enough just yet, and as the angler I spoke to said, "you visit Severn Stoke more in hope than expectation", and that probably is a fair comment.

In hindsight, I should have fished the middle river after such a long break, perhaps the chance of shoal fish, or maybe the Warks Avon, which I always do well on in winter. Never mind.....luckily for me I have the last week of the season off work, so I shall look forward to telling tales of huge barbel on here then!