The Sessions - October 2015

A cancelled holiday turns into a red letter month!

If you’ve been following my diary pieces you’ll know I was due to fly to Spain for 19 days fishing at the end of Sept, but due to circumstances out of my control I had to unpack my bag and cancel the trip the day before leaving.

Now these things happen and I always try to find a positive out of a bad situation, in this case I had almost three weeks off work and no plans to cancel my annual leave so a plan was formulated and what a month it turned out to be……..

I decided to finish Sept with a couple of nights Eel fishing on my Fenland syndicate lake, I caught both nights but nothing big and finished with 6 Eels to 3-02, the big one will have to wait till next season.

01 Oct – River Derwent

I was dying to get back on the Derwent so made plans for a 4 day trip and arranged to meet my pal Jerry Gleeson on the Friday for a night.

I got to the river for 16:00 hours, the weather was clear, warm and sunny at 20 degrees with high pressure, not ideal conditions. My plan was to start in a swim I knew and then try a different swim each night to learn the river. I had a long walk to the spot I fished in early Sept and eventually got the rods out for 18:00 hours.

It was soon very evident it was going to be tough, the weed was slowly dying off and the family of 7 swans was making it worse by feeding in the shallow runs and pulling the weed up and it was all coming down in the flow.

To try to keep the baits out for two hours I set the rods up high to keep the line out the water and used 5oz leads, this worked and I was able to re-bait every two hours. Once I was happy they would stay put I broke up 20 of my MAD baits Pandemic boilies and put them over the area.

A real highlight of the trip happened just on dusk when a Barn Owl swooped over and landed on a branch really close to me, after a few minutes it left but continued to hunt in the field behind me, really good to see them about as they are a stunning bird.

21:25 hours – It had started to get really cold with thick fog rolling across the field when the downstream rod crashed over and I was attached to the first fish of the session, a good one at 11-14.

02 Oct

The weed was becoming a real problem and I was recasting every hour as the baits were getting dragged of the spots. Jerry had phoned to say he’d arrived and had set up on “the other” section.

01:30 hours – the same rod went again and quickly found a snag and wouldn’t move, I tried all the usual tricks and no movement at all. After 25-30 mins things got worse as a huge ball of weed went through the top rod and snapped the line, the weed then went into the line attached to the fish. I had no choice but to try a straight pull and quickly, so I wound down, pointed the rod at the fish and walked very slowly back. The trick is to allow the stretch in the line to put pressure on the fish, it will either come out or the line will eventually break.

Luck was on my side and the fish came out but by now the ball of weed was attached and was a big problem. Some how I managed to get it all in the net and retrieved my lost rig, it was well worth all the effort and Jerry arrived to help weigh and photograph a big Barbel at 13-06.

After returning the fish I tried to fish on but the weed was terrible so I wound in and got my head down before moving up to fish with Jerry.

After a few hours sleep I packed the swim down and walked to “the other” section to find Jerry sitting behind his rods as normal. I’ve introduced Jerry in my features before but those that don’t know Jerry he never sleeps!! He will sit behind his rods no matter what the weather under a brolly with a chair and doesn’t sleep apart from the odd dose off…..incredible and always makes me smile when I’m all warm in my bag watching the rods.

Jerry was set up I the big fish swim so after walking the section I settled in another new swim for me “the sandbanks”. I had a feel around with a bare lead and found a nice deep far margin running up to an over hanging tree, perfect.

I got rigs in position for 17:30 hours and put 10 broken boilies over the spots with the intention of recasting with a pva bag every two hours. The day had been warm at 18 degrees but by evening it was cold and foggy again but I was feeling confident.
19:55 hours – the rod positioned under the tree went over and I soon had a nice Derwent Chub of 5-05 on the mat. The rig was put back in position with another 6 broken boilies.
21:00 hours – the same rod went again resulting in another Chub but bigger at 5-10.

22:05 hours – the same rod went again and I felt the fight of another Chub but this one came off and as is quite common when this happens it spooked the swim and I didn’t get another bite.

3 Oct

The night was very cold and foggy, I rebaited in hope more than expectation first thing and then had breakfast and the usual laughs with Jerry before he packed up and headed home.
I packed my swim down for another move, I can’t stress enough, the only way to learn a new river / section is to fish different spots yourself. We are all guilty of going back to the same swim time and time again and relying on others to tell us where the next pot of gold is, there is only one way to find out and it has been paying of in spades for me this season.

I’d looked at the new spot the day before and had already run a lead through it, so I waded out onto an island and set up in an old swans nest amongst the reeds. The spot was a deep pool following a shallow run, the pool was a 20 yard cast downstream and I had two rigs in position for 14:30 hours with a few broken boilies over the spot.

This was an area that clearly doesn’t get fished so I was hoping the big Barbel would drop into the pool for safety and feed without caution.

The move turned out to be a good one although not for Barbel this time, the pool was full of good Chub and they loved the Pandemic boilies.

I had a take 10 minutes after casting in and caught steadily through the evening and night, after each fish I topped up with 5 broken boilies, I think I would have caught more but fell asleep for a while so didn’t bait up during this period.
I had one hook pull and then landed Chub at 3+, 3-08, 4-01, 4-07, 4-12, 4-15, 5-02, 5-13, 6-03….brilliant fishing that I wouldn’t of had if I didn’t make the effort to wade across to the island.

4 Oct

I packed the swim down for another move in the morning, it was clear and sunny at 18 degrees and the water was clear. This made it ideal for looking at new areas so I spent a few hours with the leading rod walking along the section identifying the deeper pools and likely areas.

I set up in another new swim and got baits out for 14:30 hours. I’ve covered my rig in earlier pieces this year, it works and I see no reason to change it. The weed was bad in this swim so I put on a 5oz lead to try to hold bottom for two hours if possible. This proved another inspired move and as it got dark I started to get takes, the first two were Barbel at 6+ and 7+. I continued to recast every two hours and put in 10 broken boilies after each fish.

22:40 hours – the rod crashed over and this was clearly a bigger fish that put up a strong fight resulting in another good Barbel at 12-07.

5 Oct

00:50 hours – the same rod crashed over again resulting in another strong Barbel at 11-13.

02:50 hours – the same rod again and I landed yet another double at 11-15, this one looked a lot bigger and I did a recheck but it remained the same but I wasn’t complaining.

03:35 hours – the rod went again, this one was a Chub at 5-03, the first Chub I’d caught this far down the section.
04:40 hours – the rod went again and unbelievably I landed another double at 11-08.

It had been raining and the conditions looked perfect for more fish but I was out of food, bait and to be honest needed a recharge in my own bed so I packed up at 09:00 hours and headed back down the M1…..what a session, I was still pinching myself writing this piece 5 weeks later.

7 Oct – River Trent

I arranged to meet Andy Loble for a nights fishing and arrived at 17:00 hours on a new section for me and one I’d been wanting to fish for a while. Following two days of low pressure and rain the weather was due to change again but it was still cloudy with light showers when I arrived.
I got the pegs that I was hoping to fish and had a feel around with a lead, the bottom was clean gravel and gently dropped down to a nice depth only 15 yards out.
I soon had a rig in position while I was setting the other gear up.

Andy arrived and set up two swims upstream of me which gave us both plenty of room but also close enough for a social.
While we were chatting my rod smashed over straight away resulting in an 8+ Barbel so I quickly got the second rod set up and put a third rod out for Zander with a 4” dead Roach as bait. There were some good Zander caught last season so I had planned to fish a rod for them during this winter.
Bites came regularly to our rods despite it going cold and clear, I had Barbel at 7+, 7-14, 8+, 8-10, 9-05 and 10-06.
Andy had three at 9-14, 10-06 and the best of the session at 11-06.

8 Oct

Andy left for work in the morning and I carried on for another night. The morning was cold and clear and the sun stayed out all day, not ideal conditions.

I carried on re-baiting every hour with just my pva bags and was rewarded with enough takes to keep it interesting, I had 3 Bream and Barbel at 8-02, 8-09, 9-09 and 10-11.

9 Oct

I carried on for another night against my better judgement as it went cold and remained clear. I managed 2 more Bream and Barbel at 7-02 and 8-00.

The one disappointing thing was a take on the Zander rod on the second night, the fish was hooked but my lead snagged up and wouldn’t come free no matter what I tried. In the end I had to pull for a break and lost the lot, this was entirely my fault as the rig wasn’t right…..lesson learnt.

12 Oct – River Derwent

I had all week with no plans so drove up with enough food and bait for 3-5 nights with the intention of fishing more new swims.

I thought I’d start in the swim where I caught the four doubles for the first night to give me a hopeful good start so I made the long walk and set up for 16:00 hours. Although high pressure, it was warm and cloudy with a light wind but it soon became evident the weed was going to be a real problem. I had to set the rods up on storm rods to keep as much line out the water as possible and use 5oz leads. It helped but the weed was disrupting presentation and I was having to recast more often than I wanted. The barbell were not playing ball either and I had two singles at 6 & 7+.

13 Oct

It was obvious I’d have to move as planned so I went looking for a deep margin where I could literally lower baits in. The leading around I’d done the week before paid off as I had a spot identified and made the long walk and set the swim up for 15:45 hours.

The swim featured a deep pool on the outside of a slow bend with a shallow run upstream, it looked a perfect holding spot before the river shallowed up again 300 yards downstream. I wanted to fish the deepest part so walked the length lowering a lead in the margin until I found the spot I wanted. Once identified I set the rods up pointing downstream on the steep bank so hopefully any weed would not catch on the line. Rigs were lowered in place and the rods walked back to the rests and 10 broken boilies put over the spot. I then broke up another 10 boilies and walked downstream dropping a piece in every 5 yards until I reached the end of the pool.
22:50 hours – the tactics paid off as the rod crashed over and I was playing another strong Derwent Barbel, this went a pleasing 11-05.

00:15 hours – the same rod went again and I had another at 9-03.

14 Oct

I woke up really satisfied that the tactics had worked, the weed was a real problem but I’d found a way to overcome it and caught.
As planned I moved again to another club section to a swim I’d wanted to try for a while. It featured a very deep pool under my feet with over hanging trees on the far margin. After leading around it was clear I’d need to set up well back from the edge and fish tight to the near margin, this had the added advantage of less line in the water for the weed problem.
I decided on a slight change as I was fishing so close to the near margin, to keep disturbance to a minimum and lowered my rigs in and put 30 broken boilies on the spot with the intention of leaving them until I had a take.
Again this tactic seemed to work as I only had the one take but it was from a good Chub at a season best and PB of 6-04.

15 Oct

I caught up on some sleep had a good breakfast and packed up for another move. It was still quite warm with a blustery wind but my main concern was the weed problems which was making swim choice hard.

With this in mind I went back to the long deep pool still convinced the big fish I was after would be there. I set up in the swim for 14:30 hours and re-baited every two hours. As it got dark I employed the same tactic as before and put half a boilie in every 5 yards down the length of the pool.
21:00 hours – the downstream rod crashed over and as I struck it swam upstream, this made me think it was a Chub until I really connected and then it was clear it was a big Barbel. This one fought really hard and I was thinking I may have my target fish at last but it wasn’t to be, but I couldn’t be happier when I weighed her at 14-01, a big fish, my tactics had worked and the pool definitely held the bigger fish.

After catching that fish I decided to call it a trip and packed up first thing in the morning for the long drive home, the Derwent had been really kind to me again and I will be returning hoping for the big girl.

21 & 23 Oct – River Ouse

An evening and a night were spent Zander fishing in two different areas with Roach dead baits with very little to show for the effort other than an acrobatic 9 pound Pike that for a while had us thinking it was a good Zander.

27 Oct – River Trent

I arranged a meet up with my good pal Glen Patterson and arrived just before dark. We had a stroke of luck and were able to join two lads in a “well known” area that we hadn’t fished before. I did my normal feel around with a lead and found a nice clean gravel bottom but the deeper area was cast of about 40 yards. Two pva bags and my Zander rod were in position by 18:00 hours.

We both had takes within an hour of starting mine being 9-13 and Glen’s at 9-15, I then experienced only my third loss of the season with a hook pull.

What happened next was funny looking back but shows the need for care on tidal rivers. We experienced a big tide that peaked at 23:00 hours but by then the tripod and rods were well out of reach. This meant I had to wade out bare foot and trouserless up to my thighs to retrieve the gear in very cold conditions. I’m experienced on the tidal Trent but haven’t seen anything like that before.

28 Oct

01:45 hours – as the tide was going out I had a double take, one being a Bream the other a Barbel at 10-12, both landed in the rain.

03:15 hours – the downstream rod went resulting in another Barbel at 7+.
07:25 hours – another double take resulting in a Bream and another double at 10-13.

It started to rain in the morning and rained all day until 15:00 when the sky cleared and it became quite cold. The Zander rod wasn’t doing anything so I wound it in and put a Barbel rig on with the intention of trying a large lump of Garlic Spam.

I set it up with an 8oz lead and cast it upstream at 17:10 hours.

17:30 hours – we were standing chatting by the rod and Glen was laughing at the size of the bait I used when the rod smashed over, “you jammy so and so” or something like that could be heard. The Barbel went a pleasing 11-02.

19:00 hours – we had a double take with Glen’s being a Barbel at 10-05 and mine at 11-06.
I carried on through the night and had two more takes resulting in Barbel at 10-13 and a fantastic 13-05.

We packed up for home at 07:30 hours just before the heavens opened again.

What a fantastic month I’d had, the missed holiday had turned out to be a blessing in disguise and this was an October I won’t forget in a hurry.

Barbel – 34 fish / 16 doubles – 5 nights on the Trent 1 night on the Ouse 8 nights on the Derwent

Tight Lines

Julian Barnes