The Sessions - Aug 2024 — Julian Barnes Angling

Summer Barbel

My difficult start to the river season continued in July with the bigger fish eluding me again, I had a good Crucian guiding session with Steve Dawe where he broke his PB four times during the trip which was the highlight of the month. I was looking forward the Barbel trips planned for August which included another session on the stunning Kings Weir.

01 August 2024 – River Trent, Gunthorpe.

I planned to fish a section on the middle Trent for a very special fish I’ve been trying to catch for two years now, but when I pulled onto the section after going through the gate it was packed with at least a dozen bivvies, camper vans, chimineas, BBQ’s, kids playing football, just too busy!!! So I turned round and left, there was a large Sturgeon caught along that section recently that had certainly pulled in the crowds, so I’d have to leave that for a while until it quietened down.

It was getting late as I’d driven up after work so I had to think quickly where to go, I had a few options and was going to go to the tidal but dropped in at Gunthorpe for a quick look to find a good swim free so I set up there. I got the shelter up just as it started to pour with rain, and then got the rods out on single BBB 15mm hard hookers and put some Asbo and BBB over both spots and was fishing by 21:45.

The first take came 80 minutes later on the rod on the weir sill, it got into a snag so I went through my usual routine of holding the rod with minimal tension and waiting for a little movement, it didn’t take long and it came out and was played into the net at 10-03 for a good start to the session.

02 August 2024.

The rain stopped and it was a warm cloudy night and over the next four hours I had a Chub and four more Barbel, all singles.

I reeled in at 09:30, had some food and a look at the swim I like for rolling meat, the level was a little high at .42m but it worth a try so I spent the next 30-40 mins trimming back the brambles to give me access and started rolling at midday.

It started well with a Chub and two Barbel in the first four casts but then the level started rise after the rain the previous evening, by 16:00 it was too high to control the rig properly, I’d had one more bite, a Barbel at 10-08 but with Colwick rising I knew from experience I’d have to move so packed the swim down for a move to the tidal.

River Trent, Cromwell

I got into one of my favourite swims for 19:30, I hadn’t fished it since last summer so checked it with the Deeper and then a bare lead and found the feature had moved in last winters flooding and the deeper channel was closer to my bank, I’ve said this before but always check if you are fishing a swim you haven’t fished for a while as flooding will change what’s down below, sometimes quite significantly.

I planned to bait heavily to try to hold the fish as they came downstream and put approx. 200 Asbo / BBB through the swim and both rods were cast out with BBB hookbaits and I was fishing again.

It was soon evident that the Mitten Crabs were active as the rod tops were trembling constantly, I had a take at 22:45 and it was a good fish, I carefully played it in and it rolled on the surface under the rod top and the bloody hook pulled and I knew I’d be sore about that one for a while. I checked the other rod to find a Crabs leg on the hook so rebaited both and planned to check the baits hourly.

The next take all went well with a nice fish at 11-00.

3 August 2024

I had one more take and landed a fish at 10-09 and the Crabs had made it a very frustrating night, when they are on the bait it is difficult to know how to stop them as heavy baiting seems to attract more….

As soon as the lock opened at 08:00 I reeled in as the boats come so close to the bank and it started to rain heavily and was well set in so I got a few hours sleep. I spent the rest of the day doing some writing, sorting my van and tackle bag and relaxing, I love being outside so it never feels like wasted time.

I got the rods back out for 18:30 and baited with a lot less bait approx. 50 Asbo / BBB. I had two takes before midnight with fish at 11-14 and 10-01 and topped up the bait after each fish, but the Crabs were driving me mad and sure enough I landed a PB Mitten.

I carried on until morning and had three more with two being 10-14 and 10-10 to finish a difficult but good session.

09-11 August 2024 – River Lea, Kings Weir

My next trip had arrived, and I was really looking forward to it and arrived at 17:30 after work, it was warm and sunny at 26 degrees and the river looked gorgeous and there didn’t appear to be much weed in the back eddy as in my previous two sessions this season.

I tried a different baiting strategy this trip by spoppering out pellets as well as my usual 50-60 boilies through the swim and put one rod on 15mm BBB and the other on a Pandemic wafter.

The first night passed without a touch and then shortly after an early morning recast I had a two-tone Bream at exactly 10-00 on the wafter. The rest of the day and night passed without any action with everyone else on the fishery blanking as well.

It’s a tough nutt to crack but the rewards are there with some massive fish in the section, it’s a lovely fishery and I’ll be back again in Sept to try again.

14-16 August 2024

We had another lovely three days in the Peak District and walked the Derwent Valley, Mam Tor and Rushup Edge, a B&B the first night and camping the second, lots of laughs, walking, rest, food and drink, a brilliant way to get away and spend time in our beautiful countryside and we even found the perfect pub, the Anglers Rest 😊 and the funny thing about that was the landlord knew nothing about fishing but tried to blag it, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was a fisherman 🤣

17 August 20245 – River Trent, Gunthorpe

We came home a day earlier than planned so I took the opportunity for a couple of days rolling meat and drove up for a lunchtime start. It was cloudy with sunny spells, and warm at 23 degrees, the river was a little high at .45m but well worth a go.

The session started really well with three Barbel in the first seven casts, two 9’s and an 11-05, but the level then came up a bit and made it difficult to control the rig and the fishing died apart from one small fish that came off.

I dropped into another swim for the night and baited up two spots with Asbo and BBB and cast two rigs out at 19:00 both baited with BBB.

18 August 2024

The night was very quiet with no bites for me or my pal Liam, in the morning I had one take at 05:40 that resulted in an 8 pounder.

The level had dropped through the night so I packed the swim down and moved back to the rolling meat spot, it looked spot on as I flicked the rig out at 08:30. The first trot through was too quick so I added plastercine to increase the weight and flicked it out again and it was perfect, within a minute I had the subtlest of plucks on the line and struck and hit a solid weight that tried it’s best to get under the weir sill, the tackle stood up to the test and I eased it away and slowly to the net after a strong fight, it was a season best and a rolling meat PB at 16-08.

I carried on until 15:00 taking regular food and drinks breaks and had another six fish with doubles at 10-04, 10-11 and 11-07 to finish a brilliant bonus trip.

23 August 2024 – River Derwent

I was visiting my Mum in the nursing home on Saturday so I drove up and did the Friday night on the Derwent to break the journey up. I’ve had some great memories on the section with my first 16+ and lots of lovely doubles and still say this is my favourite river, the coffee coloured water gives the Barbel a deep bronze colour that is stunning. The coffee colour goes right up to the source in the Peak District and is very distinct to see.

You may remember I did one trip last year in similar circumstances and found the river infested with Crayfish so I had a plan to avoid them this trip and bait mainly with Garlic Hemp and only a few boilies. I spopped out two pints of hemp and 20 boilies, and baited both rods with 18mm BBB hard hookers so if the Crays were active, it would take a while to whittle them down.

It didn’t work….the Crays were a nightmare and didn’t leave me alone all night and were the size of small lobsters as I was swinging them in. To totally finish a poor night it started to rain at 04:00 and didn’t stop and I walked to the car in the morning with water dripping out of my underwear, but on a positive note, my Mum looked really well and it was a nice visit.

25 August 2024 – River Trent, Cromwell

It was our 8-year anniversary and Julie wanted to go fishing, I wasn’t going to turn that down so loaded the van and we headed up the A1. I didn’t get the swim I wanted but got one where we had easy access to the van and I could set up a bigger bivvy with the Nash Emperor bedchair, whilst I wanted to catch, I also wanted Julie to be comfortable and enjoy the night away so swim choice had to tick both boxes, but that being said I was in a good area.

I hadn’t fished the swim since the floods last winter so checked it again with the Deeper, it had changed a little with the deeper channel a lot closer in than before, once I had the spot sorted I started baiting up. I had some hemp left over so with the Crabs being active I wanted to try the same tactic and spoppered out four pints of Garlic Hemp and a mixture of Asbo and BBB and started fishing at 18:30 with both rods on 18mm BBB.

We had a lovely evening, Potty popped round for a chat and then I cooked a steak dinner on the stove, and we relaxed in the bivvy as it got dark, we both love the outdoors and it was a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

With the river very low and the high pressure the fishing was slow, I had two Barbel and lost one with a low double being the best so Julie had a photo with the smaller one, and then at first light the rod crashed over but the culprit was a Carp at approx. 15 pound. But we had a great time and finished the trip with a breakfast at my regular stop off place on the way home.

30 August 2024 – River Trent, Collingham

I had a guide tip booked for the Saturday so drove up after work on Friday to get prepped and didn’t arrive until 22:00. It was still very warm when I arrived but was forecast to get cooler through the night, the river was very low at .81m almost as low as I’d seen it and I set the bivvy up where I’d be casting too in winter.

I baited both rods with 15mm BBB and flicked them out and put a mixture of Asbo and BBB through the swim. After a lot of rushing round since leaving work at 15:00 I could finally relax and got the kettle on and ate some food.

Over the next two hours I had four singles and a hook pull and topped the spot up with a few boilies after each fish.

31 August 2024.

The better fish moved over the area and over the next two hours I had five more with the best ones going 10-10, 11-05, 11-14 and 12-14.

The bites stopped and I got some sleep and was up again at 08:00 before my client arrived to start his session. I’ve guided John before so he knew my tactics and had some rigs made from our last trip so we got him set up and fishing and we sat catching up and enjoying a brew.

The day was very slow but we had a window of opportunity at 17:30 when the people on the weir left early, I quickly got the mat and weighing gear together, a bucket of bait and two rods and we went up to the weir for the last two hours. It was well worth the effort and we had five fish each both catching doubles to start the evening off nicely.

We went back to our swim and got the rods out for 20:00 and I baited heavily through both swims with Asbo and BBB in the hope I would stop fish as they came through, the Crabs had not been very active so I hoped that would continue.

It took a couple of hours but then we both had a take, mine was a 9+ and John’s a very pleasing 11-00, the same thing happened an hour later with me catching the double this time at 11-01 to finish a really good months fishing.

Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊

Big thanks to my sponsors for their continued support,

The Sessions - Aug 2024