Tales from the lower Severn

Having found a consistent supply of barbel this summer, I was keen to try and up the average size. Therefore, a trip to the lower Severn was the order of the day. I planned to fish two days. With conditions less than perfect I figured that darkness would give me my best chance of sport. I have already managed a couple of evening sessions on the lower Severn this summer packing up around 11.30pm and both have resulted in blanks. Would staying a night improve my chances?

I arrived at the river mid-afternoon and chose a swim that provided comfortable access to the water's edge. I was mindful I could be on the bank in the middle of the night and I didn't want any unwelcome surprises. With base camp set up, I finally started to bait up around 6pm. Out went 4 pints of mixed hemp and pellet around a third of the way out. I also catapulted a few pouches of boilies. It's a big river with a lot of hungry mouths to feed and I am certain the barbel are quite nomadic at times so I needed to give them a reason to stop if they passed.

The first barbel of the trip

By 7.30pm, I had two rods in position. To be honest the evening was quiet like my previous sessions. I had a few runs which I suspect were from chub with one fish dragging me to a snag around midnight. Tackling up is so much fun under a headtorch!!! With action slow I tried to get some sleep but found it difficult. An otter then appeared in my swim, it's piercing eyes staring straight at me as they reflected my torch light. At about 2.15am I had a screaming run which woke me from my slumber. Surely a double figure barbel? Not quite. A chub of about 3lb was the culprit but at least I was off the mark. It was just over an hour later when I was woken up by the alarm screaming as line peeled off the reel. My first barbel was on. Welcome as it was it was not a huge fish at around 6lb. And that was that. I didn't see anymore action for almost three hours. Another screaming run saw me connected to another barbel. It put up a good scrap but again it was not the big fish I had come for. It was a better fish though and was probably edging towards the 8lb mark. It was well built and has obviously been feeding well in recent times. I put the kettle on and took in my surroundings. Dawn is a great time to be out in the English countryside and fishing affords us an excuse to experience what many people ignore as they rush around failing to see what surrounds them. The next hour proved to be quite entertaining too as the fish began to move. I hooked and landed a couple of skimmers, and a beautiful looking roach, or was it a roach hybrid? At around a pound it certainly had lots of roach genes.

An early morning barbel

The mouth isn't quite roach enough for me

The downstream rod began nodding. Not enough to strike at but there was some interest. This intensified briefly prompting me to lift the rod. There was a small fish attached. As I reeled in a roach of around 6oz came into view. It had a gash on its flank and a number of scales were missing. It had obviously been attacked by one of the river's many predators. Unfortunately, on returning it to the water it became apparent that this fish was not going to survive. Therefore, I used it to try and catch the culprit. I cast it out on a trace attached to a single size 2 hook. It was picked up almost immediately but the hook failed to connect. This happened again next cast so I decided to use a set of trebles instead. There was no mistake this time as a fish was hooked. Was it a huge zander? It took line and gave a spirited account of itself. The resultant fish however was a pike. It was probably the same one that had attacked the roach originally. It was a lovely looking fish that again was well built with it taking advantage of the many juvenile fish that inhabit the river at this time of the year. It was carefully returned where it sulked for ten minutes before shooting off to leave a cloud of silt.

A welcome distraction

Most of the second day was spent sleeping and sorting out bits of tackle as the daytime fishing was pretty chronic. As evening approached I carried out the same plan as the previous day. I planned to fish till around midnight and then return to the comforts of my own bed. That evening saw a bream and a chub, both around the 4lb mark landed, but as with my other evening sessions on this river recently the barbel failed to show before midnight. As I packed away, a mouse appeared in my swim to take advantage of the grains of hemp that had been dropped. It was more than happy for me to approach it with my torch where I sat for 5 minutes no more than a foot away watching it go about its business. And that was that. An enjoyable 36 hours or so even if my search for the big barbel this summer continues.  

Bream, Bass and Barbel

What with holidays and other things my fishing has taken a bit of a back seat. I have managed a few outings which have brought about a mixed bag of results.

Bream, bream and more bream

My first session was an overnighter on the lower Severn. Of course, the target was a big barbel. Following setting up camp for the evening, I lost a zander almost immediately. I later managed a bream around 6lb but as darkness approached all attention turned to snaring a big barbel. A few taps and bleeps of the alarm did occur in that first hour of darkness but soon ceased. Then silence. Not a thing all through the night. As dawn approached the bream moved in. In about 90 minutes I probably managed a dozen or so with several knocking on the door of 7lb. The sun rose and with it a very hot day began, which killed sport so I called a premature end to proceedings.

Dusk approaches on the estuary

With a week in Devon planned, I met up with an old friend who lives that way. He's been desperately been trying to get me to join me on a bass sessions so I finally gave in. We met at an estuary as the tide was going out. Donned with chest waders, I gingerly proceeded out to about waist deep. Tactics were soft lures to imitate a sand eel. It was only a short evening session but not much happened for the most part. Adam missed a take when finally I connected with my first bass. It was only a small fish but rewarding all the same. As darkness fell, Adam then connected with a better fish. At just over 2lb it was a nice looking bass. I immediately had a take which failed to connect and shortly we packed up shortly after. It's definitely something I will try again now I have a taste for it.

The third and final session saw me on the Warks Avon for an evening. Barbel were most definitely the target. I'm hoping to catch one every calendar month of the season (weather permitting) and I needed an August fish to keep this going. The river is low and clear so I knew fading light was my only real hope. I baited with hemp and a few pellets and boilies. As dark approached, some larger chub gave their presence away. Eventually, the tip went round. A slow start to the fight made me believe it was a chub I had connected with. It soon changed my mind with some good runs. It's final run tried to take me under the near bank but only succeeded in swimming into the net. I didn't weigh the fish but it was a good 8lb, maybe a 9lb at a push. The fish was returned when soon after I heard something approaching downstream. With my head torch still on following the fish an otter surfaced beneath my feet. To say we were both surprised was an understatement. I'm still not sure who jumped the most as it turned tail rapidly creating a large bow wave. I managed to add a 3lb chub right at the end of the session but that was that.

My August barbel

We desperately need a flush though on the rivers to freshen things up but there are fish to be caught if you choose your species and timings carefully.

Slowly ticking over

A couple of recent trips to the Avon and lower Seven haven't exactly had the fish crawling up the rod. The first session on the Avon saw me bait a bit more heavily than usual. It certainly attracted fish with plenty of rod taps. A small skimmer fell off at the net before a proper bream of around 5lb did make the bank. It had a relatively fresh pike wound across its back. Of course, this had me

wondering what size pike is willing to take on a 5lb bream? One for the autumn perhaps. That was all I could muster as the barbel and chub failed to make an appearance.

Yesterday evening saw me steal a few hours on the Severn. I anticipated fishing could be slow on the barbel front. With that in mind, I packed the predator gear in the hope that some of the many resident zander would provide some sport. A barbel rig was cast out with a boilie hookbait downstream with a dead roach mounted on one treble and cast upstream for the zander.

One thing I have noticed on the two visits to the lower this season is the increase in irresponsible boat owners. The huge vessels come steaming down river well over the speed limit with no comprehension of the danger and damage caused by the wake. It was after one of these idiots had

passed that the dead roach was picked up and a zander was on. A decent fish of about 5lb. It had been hooked deeply but with the correct gear I was able to cut the hooks and the fish went back strongly. I was able to add a smaller zander later on and add an eel which took the spam intended for what turned out to be, yet again, the elusive barbel,

In search of specimen perch

The best carp was around 4lb

After blanking on a perfect looking Warwickshire Avon at the weekend, a change of plan was the order of the day. So a return to the pool that gave me a personal best perch a few weeks ago beckoned [here] and with a cloudy albeit a very windy day, conditions looked promising.

Tench in December!

A mixed bag

The first job was to set up and catch some live bait. As my last visit proved, this was not easy as a string of lovely roach, some of which were around the pound mark, came to the net. I did manage a handful of suitable baits so set up a perch rig and continued to fish maggots for whatever turned up. Apart from the roach, a few skimmers, a rudd, three inevitable carp and a December tench all put in an appearance in the mild conditions. However my target, a specimen perch, proved elusive. I did manage a few on large lobworms, the biggest going 1lb 3oz but with fish over 3lb present I fished on in hope as the light began to fade. As dark fast approached, I had no choice but to call an end to the day. The big perch had not been tempted and my live bait was no doubt please about that as it swam away. It was an enjoyable few hours spent catching several species with the only negative being I clumsily managed to step on a pole section.

It will probably be after Christmas before I am out again so Merry Christmas and thank you to all those that have visited this year.

Perch to 1lb 3oz but no biggie this time

Lower Seven Barbel and some good news

After managing two double figure barbel in my last two Avon sessions, I was keen to see if I could complete the hat-trick. However, although it would be tempting to return to scene of my recent success I do like a challenge. With that in mind, the enigma that is the lower Severn was my chosen venue.

I arrived just after 6pm with the plan to stay out until midnight or when I got too tired, whichever came first. Tactics were an upstream groundbait feeder with pellet together with the downstream meat rod over some droppered pellet and hemp. About 60 minutes in, the upstream rod started nodding with a 4lb bream banked. With the blank averted, it was a case of plodding on. As 9pm approached, the downstream rod showed some signs of life. By 9pm, it had wrapped around and I was into a barbel. It started slowly but woke up as it came closer to the bank. Was it going to be my third double in a row? Well, it was a decent fish as it lay in the net. I had doubts however that it would be double and so it proved. The scales read 9lb 4oz of pristinely conditioned barbel. Whilst it wasn't the double I had hoped, it was hard to be disappointed at such a great looking fish. I added a bream of between 5-6lb at around 10pm but it then went very quiet so I ended the session twenty minutes earlier than planned.

Not quite the double but a great fish anyway

An enjoyable afternoon

Before my Severn trip, my 3 year old son had asked to go fishing. I explained he couldn't come on this occasion due to it being a late night and promised him a trip another day. He replied stating it had to be 'fishing with maggots'. So the following, we visited the B'ham-Worcs canal with 'the maggots' and a 2m whip to fish the inside. A string of perch, with a smattering of gudgeon and a rudd kept us busy throughout the afternoon. It was a pleasure to share a fishing session with my son. We even lost two better fish, one to a snap so perhaps I need to return with some stouter tackle.

Finally, the reason this blog is a little late being published is because of the eventful weekend. Early Sunday morning saw the arrival of my second child, a little girl. So we are all back at home with the family complete. I'm guessing my big fish sessions may be a little thin on the ground whilst the dust settles but please continue to visit and look at the other posts that I've published since my blog started. Thanks.

Back with a bang with an Avon double

After breaking something of a mini barbel drought on the middle Severn earlier this week, I visited the Warks Avon hoping my fortunes had indeed changed for the better. I arrived at my chosen venue at around 5pm to find it surprisingly busy. The area I had hoped to fish had three anglers fishing it so I was forced several pegs upstream. I set up two rods - the first was a straight lead with a PVA bag cast to a far bank tree; the second a cage feeder with a pellet hookbait. This was to be recast every ten minutes initially cast downstream.

A decent bream

The first hour was quiet. The boilie rod on the far bank remained unnoticed while only a few nudges on the pellet rod maintained interest. I then decided to change the bait. Instead of pellets, I nicked several maggots onto the size 10 hook and recast. The result was a positive bite soon after with a bream of about 4lb the culprit. The clear conditions meant I was able to see the fish clearly battling and with it a blank had been averted. It just goes to show how a simple change can make a big difference to a otherwise lean spell in a session. Unsurprisingly, the swim then went quiet.

As sunset came, the light faded. The witching hour had begun. With it came the sound of foxes frolicking nearby whilst I caught the silhouette of an owl hunting above the far bank. I then heard an angler a few pegs upstream battling with a barbel, at least they were feeding albeit not in my swim. As dusk gave way to dark, I heard the three anglers downstream depart. I continued with my traps set. Bait was now my dusk time favourite: Spam. However, time was running out in order to abide by club rules. I heard a sizeable chub crash downstream while my peg remained devoid of action. I remember thinking why would the fish be in my peg when they could be in that downstream area, eating all that bait deposited by the three anglers and with it be completely undisturbed? I then made another decision which changed my fortunes. I packed up all my gear except the essentials. I then wondered downstream in torchlight with just a rod, landing net, mat and rest. I had about 10-15 minutes to make it count. It was now or never. I settled in the middle of the three previously occupied swims and cast my bait mid-river. Without any rod tip indication, I set the baitrunner as my only means of detection in the now dark conditions. I stood at the rod butt and waited. Around 5 minutes elapsed when the sound of line peeling from my reel had me jumping into action. The strike resulted in one of the most scintillating first runs I can remember from a barbel. It powered off downstream at an alarming rate. Fortunately, Avon barbel tend to stick to the main channel so I was happy to let it go in an area I know is free of snags. Then out of the blue it turned and moved upstream so quickly I struggled to regain line in order to keep in contact. By now I had the fish under the rod tip and after several more runs it was ready for the net. It was a stocky fish that went 10lb 3oz. It looked heavier in the dark but it was, on reflection, quite short in comparison to its bulk. So a second change had resulted in a fish meaning I felt pretty pleased with myself. I have no doubt had I stayed in my original peg I had have gone home with just the bream to show for my efforts.

A stocky 10lb 3oz Warks Avon barbel

If you enjoy fishing the Avon and Severn then my barbel guides may be helpful. Take a look at the Severn guide here and the Warwickshire Avon version can be viewed by clicking here. As always, comments are most welcomed as are visits to my Facebook page which can be viewed by clicking the Facebook tab on the right side of the page.

It's tough out there

Despite the showers, I spent the afternoon and evening on two rivers. First stop was a visit to the Warks Avon. With all the rain you might have expected a bit of colour and extra water. However, it was still gin clear and had risen all of a few inches. With this in mind my attack consisted of rolling meat in a fast glide. This method normally throws up a fish quickly if it's actually going to work so after 20 uneventful minutes I allowed the bait to settle and got the lure rod out the bag. There were no follows on the lure rod but the line did start peeling off my other setup. A strike hit a fish, well an eel! I then cast a pellet into a likely looking area and waited. Eventually, a chub of about 3lb rewarded my patience. I then chatted to a chap who was carrying out repairs following acts of vandalism by anglers at the weekend: broken trees, loads of litter and the remains of a fire. I wish such people would do us a favour and stay at home.

I then relocated to the lower Severn. I was still hoping I could tempt a barbel. I put a bed of bait down and was willing to sit it out until about 11pm. I had a few chucks of the lure and had a small pike hit but I failed to hook it. Then I settled into my peg. The downstream rod was placed over the bed of bait. Apart from a few taps, it remained unmolested for 5 hours. I used a groundbait feeder upstream and this at least gave me some sport with several bream of about 4lb adding to my Avon fish.

A pretty rare sighting but this is exactly what I saw

It wasn't the result I had dreamed of but it's pretty tough at the moment with low and clear rivers in these parts. Perhaps if I stayed longer into dark then a barbel may have appeared but I was knackered so had to call it quits. I did see a badger at close quarters, which makes a change from only seeing them lying at the roadside. I also had a pair of strange looking birds make their way across the sky on the far bank. They turned out to be Great White Egrets and their sighting represented a first for me. I won't be fishing for around a week so hopefully my absence will see a bit of water in our rivers and some better catches to report.

When being there's enough

I have to be honest, it's probably been the slowest start to a river season that I can remember. My opening three sessions have only seen me snare a chub and an eel while the barbel have been elusive, well at least for me they have.

One of the bream to find its way to the bank

It was time for a change of scenery so I arrived on the banks of lower Severn at around 4.30pm. I settled into my chosen swim and set about putting some feed into the swim via a baitdropper. I then proceeded to fish a swimfeeder over the top with another isolated bait further downstream, my usual tactics on the lower. A strong upstream wind was causing sizeable waves but I could still see the odd fish topping. After 90 minutes my first bite arrived, a skimmer bream of about a pound. By now better fish were topping but identifying the culprits was tough due to the waves. I suspected bream so it was no surprise when a better bream found it's way to the bank. At about 4lb it put a decent bend into the rod. A few more quickly followed and I saw a barbel break surface not too far away when suddenly the wind vanished. The waves dispersed and gave way to a mirror like surface. The early evening sky was clear and already the moon was visible casting its reflection on the slow moving current.

A tough day

It ended up being a tough, daytime assignment on the Warks Avon today. In all honesty, I knew I was a day or so too late as a cooler night together with a misty start were bound to send the temperatures dipping slightly. But having a family means that you take your chances when they are presented and the sunshine that appeared mid-morning certainly made for a pleasant stay on the riverbank.

One for the Christmas card

The river itself was dropping and had that milky colour to it but with a temperature reading of 8.5°C, I was still mildly optimistic. A meat rod was cast downstream with the upstream rod baited with boilie. It wasn't long before the latter showed signs of fishy activity. The culprits were almost certainly Chub and none of them would commit themselves enough to make a mistake. I tried another spot, slightly downstream, but this also proved fruitless so I settled back in to the original swim and decided to sit it out. My boredom was relieved when a robin decided to pay me a visit. It's always fascinating how tame they can be in return for a bit of food. At one stage it sat on my wellington boot as we shared lunch. I had also been tidying my rig wallet and and the robin was almost fooled by the hooklink carrying fake maggots. After 3 hours of inactivity, something had to change. I decided that f the robin could be fooled then perhaps a fish would follow suit. So on went a 6" length of flouro complete with three hair rigged fake maggots. I wasn't fishing maggots but anything was worth a try.

Mixed Fortunes

Following the disappointment of my recent match exploits, I decided a bit of lure fishing would get me out and about. I arrived on the banks of the Warks Avon after work with the intention of throwing various lures into likely places for a Pike and perhaps a decent Perch. After about 15 minutes and two lost lures I managed to connect with a small Pike. A lovely little fish and a promising start. However in keeping with my performance in Evesham the previous weekend, more disappointment was to follow.


A promising start failed to materialise

Over the next 90 minutes I managed to hook and subsequently lose four more Pike. None of them were big although one of them did feel a bit heavier. It was terribly frustrating as I had obviously found the Pike willing to have a go and I was using the correct approach to provoke a response but I must have run over someone's cat on the way home from work.

 So moving to the weekend I had another match although this was a friendly affair for charity. I was on the Severn, fishing a stretch belonging to a private group. I was fortunate to be invited to join almost two years ago and I have gone on to meet some great people with access to a super stretch of river. It's a far cry from the draconian approach employed by the BAA. We have no rules since there's no need. The thirty or so members value what we have enough to look after it in a responsible manner so you'll see no litter, theft or other misuse. There's also a great bunch of people involved who are only too happy to help others in any way they can. Anyway, enough of me waffling on and onto the friendly match.

Eight of us arrived on the bank. Well actually it was seven as the eighth and more importantly, the person in charge of the draw arrived late. He had spent most of the week preparing some beautifully coloured cards complete with numbers from 1 to a rather optimistic two-digit number. The idea was that whoever picked one out could pick their own peg and so on. My luck had changed since I manage to fluke number one. I have to be honest and say I am still coming to terms with the stretch and have yet to find a peg that has had me rushing back to fish it again. With this in mind I chose an unfancied area that has only recently been made fishable. My logic was that with the current clear conditions it was most probably going to be tricky so with that in mind I thought I might as well struggle somewhere new and learn about a different area. I always go for the challenge and the least obvious since it makes successes far more rewarding.

Some nice Perch were very welcome

With a fair depth of water in front of me I opted for two groundbait swimfeeder lines. One down the middle and another a couple of rod lengths out. I was expecting most action to arrive down the middle but the first indication came on the near side rod. Soon my double maggot hookbait resulted in a Skimmer Bream of about 6oz. My groundbait feeder approach seemed to be working as a string of Perch averaging around 4-6oz followed, especially after I changed my quivertip to the lightest one I owned. I was getting bites but not catching quickly enough so I reckon I had a couple of pounds when we met up for the agreed half time cup of tea. Unexpectedly, it turned out my catch was good going with most people struggling. Before the break I had baited up with 5 balls of groundbait on the near line in the hope that the fish would remain in the area for the second half.

A string of Skimmer boosted my net

The second session resumed with 2.5 hours to add to my catch. I had a good start as a string of Skimmers found the net via a worm/maggot hookbait. I probably doubled my weight in the first 40 minutes of the afternoon session so things were going well. By now I had brought my other rod close in too to maximise my chances. However the heavier tip meant less bites were forthcoming although a few bonus fish were welcomed to the bank. I continued catching Perch and Skimmers until bites dried up through the last hour and I only managed a fish or two.

The scales finally arrived and resulted in just under 6lb although a few shenanigans meant some fish had fallen in and missed the weigh in. I managed to find three that probably amounted to 8-10oz but since everyone thought I'd walked it we ploughed on unconcerned. About half way down the stretch another decent net of Skimmers were brought to the bank and looked rather threatening. It weighed 6lb 4oz and started to get our appointed man with the scales sweating following his earlier amateurish performance. The angler conceded defeat in lieu of my missing fish although I was more than happy with the more amicable draw verdict. It didn't really matter given the circumstances so we able to chew the fat on what had been a successful day regardless of some tough conditions. With some of the group staying on to fish over the following days there have been some decent catches so I'll be looking to have a few sessions down there in the coming weeks. and perhaps connect with some of its larger inhabitants.  

Making fishing a family affair

Although my son is only a little one, his enthusiasm for fishing is great to see. With a couple of hours spare, I decided we would have a little bash on the local stretch of the Avon. I rigged up a cane with a cardboard fish attached to a piece of string, which was all he needed to replicate his daddy.

 

 

My fishing was obviously not a serious affair with me ledgering a boilie bait in a river carrying a bit of colour and some extra water following the wet bank holiday. It was pretty slow to be honest and a move was called for but a combination of sheep, stones and Pooh sticks kept us entertained. With nothing to report I started to pack away with my next job being to reel in. As I turned, a fish obligingly took the bait. The result was a Bream of around 4 ½lb. This caused a lot of excitement for my son which in turn now has him playing fishing every bath time. Hopefully, this has secured a helper for when I'm old and decrepit and need a hand to go fishing.

 

 

Last chance for a Warks Avon Barbel?

With the promise of cold weather by the end of the week a final fling for a Warkwickshire Avon Barbel was not to be missed. Fishing the same swim that produced the 9lb 6oz fish, I opted to fish a boilie wrapped in paste since the river had dropped to almost normal and much of the colour had gone. Despite a slow start, I ended up with four fish which was not a bad result for three hours. However, there was no Barbel with three Chub and a Bream of about 4lb coming my way. With the cold snap now with us attentions will have to turn to other species. Even when the weather is cold, so long as it's settled there's always a chance. I will give it a few days so that the fish can acclimatise then see what happens.