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,

A quick fix

The beauty of lure fishing is its simplicity. A few items and you're out and fishing and that was the logic behind my latest trip. With the rivers clearing and returning to normal levels the 'barbel' window was closing so my thoughts returned to drop-shotting. A few weeks a go, I managed to break my drop shot rod by folding the car seat on it. After I had got over the initial stupidity of my actions, my attention switched to a new rod which duly arrived just as the rain did. Therefore, it's spent the last 10 days untouched as I pursued Barbel instead. However, with this being the final week before the clocks go back, I was keen to try the rod out so I managed to squeeze in about 90 minutes of fishing on a marina after work.

With gale force winds sweeping the nation, I couldn't have chosen a worse time to be fishing. The wind was freezing, taking all feeling from my exposed fingers. Add to that the loss of control every time the wind gathered strength and you get the picture. But if I'm anything then it's determined and I was adamant that I would not be going home without christening the new rod. Eventually, a cast into open water finally provoked a take and I was able to reel in a small fish. It didn't have the dogged fight of a Perch and at first sight I could see it was no Pike. The culprit in fact was a small Zander,
my first on the method.

As night draw closer, the wind dropped a bit and there were plenty of fish topping but none of them suggested the bigger Perch were on a feeding rampage. I did manage a chunky looking Perch in near darkness but that fish pretty much signalled the end of the session. It was short and sweet and I managed to get the rod some action although I'm sure there will be better to come.

Perseverance pays off

The lower Severn can be something of an enigma. A huge expanse of water that doesn't give up its secrets too easily. I have not had a really good go at Barbel this season for a variety of reasons but with autumn upon us I felt compelled to give the 'lower' every opportunity to reward my enthusiasm. I fished three evening sessions over the space of the week and unsurprisingly it wasn't plain sailing.

Session 1

I arrived last Sunday around 3.30pm to a stale looking river. Like rivers all over the country, the Severn was in desperate need of rain. However, fish still need to eat so as far as I was concerned I had a chance. My plan was to deposit some bait into a swim, then fish for Zander for a while before settling down for a couple of hours into dark. The first part of my plan went well. I fished a standard float set up with a dead roach mounted onto a homemade trace sporting a size 2 barbless hook. After around 20 minutes, the float started to move downstream with purpose before disappearing.  A few turns of the reel and a strike connected me with my quarry. It was only a small Zander of a few pounds but it saved a blank and meant I could target Barbel without worrying about going home empty handed. Unfortunately, the second part of my plan, well, didn't go to plan. There was little activity until around 7.45pm when the rod tip showed a series of indications but none were positive enough to warrant action. Then twenty minutes later all activity ceased. By 8.30pm I had decided to call it quits and return later in the week. 

Session 2

I returned on Friday to be presented with a completely different river. Gone had the stale slow moving Severn to be replaced with a beautifully coloured Severn with a nice flow. It looked very promising and the air temperature was unseasonlly mild. I fished two rods - the downstream rod was a simple running ledger set up baited with meat. The upstream rod was an identical rig except it was baited with a boilie and cast over a modest bed of bait. I had one reservation and I am sure it contributed to what happened, or didn't happen over the next few hours. With the influx of water it was bound to knock the river's temperature. Whilst it would still be in the range that Barbel feed, a sudden drop often knocks your chances, and so it did. Despite a great looking river, the rod tips remained montionless from 6pm until 10pm when I called it a day. I wasn't too despondent though since I was sure the Barbel would find my bait and that once temperatures stabilised they would be catchable and hopefully in the area looking for more. Therefore, I vowed to return 48 hours later. There was one highlight however. A tawny owl, seemingly oblivious to my presence, was on the hunt just above my rods. Had I not been looking I would have had no idea it was there such was the silent movement of its wings. It even returned moments later for another survey of the bankside vegetation. It was a real treat.

Session 3

The Severn still looked very fishy when I arrived at 4.30pm on Sunday. It had crossed my mind to stay at home and watch the England game but instead both rods were cast out as the match kicked off on my radio. My tactics were identical to the previous session. A temperature check showed the river was 10.5°C which was encouraging as I am sure the last few days would have given the fish a chance to acclimatise to any recent drops. Almost immediately there were tell tale signs that fish were present in my swim. In fact I felt it was almost inevitable that a bite would result at any moment. Despite some sharp snatches nothing positive occurred and as dusk arrived the swim had gone dead. I have to admit my confidence had started to wane as dark always offers the best chances but all signs of fish had disappeared. Then, just before 7.30pm and completely out of the blue, the downstream rod was away. The fish felt good. There were no rip roaring runs; instead the fish stubbornly held station. Over the next few minutes I was able to inch it up river before I was finally able to draw it over the waiting net. I was convinced my first lower Severn Barbel of the season was a double as it looked a very stocky fish but the scales showed 9lb 13oz, not that the weight is all that important. More important to me was the fact I had managed to hook and land a Barbel after dedicating three sessions to them. It was a fantastic looking fish that I'm sure will be over 10lb if our paths cross again between now and the season's end. I gave it another hour but with no more bites forthcoming, I left the Severn safe in the knowledge that I'd been right in not staying home to watch England.

The reward for perseverance: 9lb 13oz

September over, what next?

It has been a while since I last posted and with good reason, I've not had much to write about. September seems to have flown by and as far as fishing has been concerned it has been rather disappointing on a couple of fronts. Firstly, I've not managed to get out as often as I would have liked and secondly, the fishing as only been a notch or two above dire.

A misty evening on the Avon

I have seen a dedicated deadbait session for Pike on the Warks Avon abandoned mid-session in favour of a move to the lower Severn. The result, one 3lb zander. I have had three attempts at netting a barbel yielding two small chub and two minnows. Barbel have been conspicuous by their absence despite one of these sessions being on the so called barbel mecca of the middle Severn. Sunday evening saw a last ditch attempt on to keep my hopes of catching a barbel in every calendar month of the season                                                                  end prematurely.

Will I beat my river PB?

A better stamp of chub

So what now? Well, today is the 1st October, the pike angler's official opener. If the rivers remain clear then I see this as my best option. I would dearly love to catch a 20lb river pike after managing an 18lb 3oz two winters ago on the Warks Avon. A double figure zander would also be most welcome. If we do manage to see a rise in river levels then it would be nice to catch a barbel again having not managed one since the end of August.

A new direction?

Sunday evening saw me looking to do something new: a zander trip on the lower Severn. The zander is about the only coarse species I have never managed to catch despite flirting with pike most winters. With reports of plenty of zander biting, off I went to break my duck.

Having read many opinions in addition to chatting with fellow anglers the consensus is that zander are shy biters, able to sense resistance and drop baits at will. With this in mind I decided to order some items of tackle to aid me in my quest including supple trace wire, crimping equipment, etc. However, Saturday's post failed to unite me with my ordered items, but still determined to start my quest I took my pike gear in an attempt to net my first zander. I appreciated that my set up was probably over-gunned but I thought it would be a useful experiment. Would my heavier gear put the zander off or would it make little difference to my catch rates?

My set up was a simple running ledger rig complete with a trace using two size 8 trebles. Bite indication was via an alarm and a bobbin. Bait was a headless roach, which was cast a few rod lengths out. Over the next 20 mins I experienced several single bleeps on the alarm when completely out of the blue the alarm recorded a screaming run. I struck immediately and was greeted with a firm fish. The bite was not what I expected from the shy biting zander and it put up a reasonable fight despite not being renowned for its battling qualities. The fish made a few lunges for some near bank rocks but was safely netted and unhooked. I estimated the fish at about 6lb, which I was more than pleased with. I hoped to take a photograph but a combination of a lively fish and an unfortunate incident involving my mobile phone meant that the fish was returned, its image consigned to my memory.

Zander - the start of a new challenge?

Out went another bait and again single bleeps resulted. I had another screaming run but my strike met with thin air. Another run, later on, saw a different approach. This time I felt the line for a positive reply but the bait must have been dropped. By about 9pm all the knocks and indications stopped just when the articles tell you zander start feeding. I packed up at about 10pm pleased with my first zander and with plenty of food for thought. I will definitely return with a more sensitive approach and see if I can turn some of those runs in to more fish. I had better stock up on deadbaits too.