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!