The Sessions - January 2026
Blanks & Planning for 2026/27
December was a tough one, where despite a lot of effort I pretty much blanked all month with a last gasp 12-05 Barbel saving the day…
Xmas and new year came and went and unfortunately this year it was filled with illness and a lot of sadness with Julie’s dear mum passing away at home with her family on 7 Jan.
Fishing understandably took a big back seat, and Julie and I had some nice walks and reflective time together. I did get out a couple of times later in the month.
16-18 January 2026 – Brasenose 1, Linear Fisheries
Plans for this trip didn’t start well, I took my trusty Caddy van for an MOT after only having it serviced in November and while I was waiting got called out to the ramp, the back passenger side spring had broken and the anti-roll bar was very loose, in short, I was very lucky the back wheel hadn’t come off while driving. I needed new springs both sides and the anti-roll bar replacing, all for a very cool £956 😒. I was told it was unusual and likely caused by the very cold weather, a pot hole or both. Straight away I thought about my first B1 trip in December where it was so frosty it was like Oxfordshire had a different climate and, in my rush to get to Kings Weir I very likely broke the spring driving out of Linear…
I’m not one to give in easily so loaded up the Mercedes getting the gear in quite easily without the barrow and drove down. With the rivers being trashed with flooding I expected a few more people there and although busier I did get the swim next door to my first choice. The angler next door was someone I knew and hadn’t seen for three years, and he was Roaching too so we had a good catch up and talked tactics between the blanking hours.
In short it was another tough session with another missed chance on the first night, the bobbin hit the rod, and line was taken before the bobbin dropped back, on inspection two maggots were gone and the third crushed so a definite take and very disappointing the hook bounced out.
Roaching on B1 is tough with a very low stock of big fish, but if I do catch one it could break the British record, so I do plan on one more trip this winter.
The angler on the far side had a bloody search light not a head torch!!
24-26 January 2026 – River Trent, Cromwell
The rain and sleet continued to fall and the rivers were up and down on a daily basis, I checked the Linear FB page where they publish how busy the lakes are each day and found B1 was busy and to be honest I needed a bite or two so I opted for a Barbel a session in my favourite flood area. It was slightly warmer with day temps of 9 degrees and night at 5 degrees, but the easterly wind was bitterly cold, still with the river up and coloured I did fancy my chances.
I went to look at a section on the middle Trent that I hadn’t fished before and when I arrived it was very high and tanking through, it would put most people of, but with a bit of thought and a leading rod there will always be somewhere worth trying. I walked the section and leaded a few spots and found what I was looking for, a slightly deeper, slacker spot sheltered by an over hanging tree, it looked good, but I have to admit the easterly wind was whipping across the river straight into the swim and was freezing. So, I decided to check the tidal in my flood area that is more sheltered and if it was busy I would come back and fish the swim.
I arrived on the tidal at 16:00, the level was right up at 2.13m making most areas unfishable, but I knew I’d be ok if I got the right swim. Driving up on a Sat afternoon is risky as it’s generally busy but there was one angler on and the swim I fancied was free, so I set up full of confidence.
Very high at 2.13m
That’s where my luck ended, I did a night in one swim and moved to another for the second night and blanked without a tap. An angler dropped into a swim between the two I fished and had a 14-13 within an hour and then nothing for the rest of his session, it was like the river was asleep.
Dropped 40cm over the two nights but still blanked 😒
Recce’s & Planning for the year ahead
If fishing for specimen fish is your thing, one of the most essential ingredients to being successful is planning. I have written plenty before on my thoughts and tactics on planning and preparation on sections of river or a lake so won’t go over it again here, but in this piece, I’m talking about season and or longer-term plans.
As I’m sure many of you do I think about fishing a lot, especially when I’m on my own, and this includes chatting to friends, social media, reading and watching fishing videos, and this is all fishing, and helps plan my year ahead.
At the turn of every season I reflect on the previous one and ask myself, did I achieve what I wanted from a certain venue or with a particular species, did I want to carry on with a venue or move on, do I want to focus more on another species, did I get things right, can I change anything to make the next year more successful. Just using this thought process and asking myself these questions helped hugely with my Crucian fishing through a number of springs, and more recently the last few seasons with Tench and I’m starting to get it together with big Bream. For me that’s one of the great things about being a multi species angler, you are always learning and that helps you become a better angler and maintains the drive to keep going out in all weather conditions at all times of the year.
Once I’ve looked at the previous season I start planning for the upcoming one and I simply start this by writing a monthly calendar of species targets, below is my 2022/23 plan going into 2023/24, my primary target is listed first and I give myself options should conditions change or I achieve a certain target early, certainly not ground breaking stuff but part but my process that works for me.
I’ll then think about venues, and this does involve longer term planning in some cases due to waiting lists for some venues, particularly after the Covid years when fishing went crazy. I love fishing certain venues and would never drop the ticket, but I’d go mad if I didn’t fish new venues for new challenges, and most seasons I will fish a new venue or two.
So, with all this in mind I have started planning for 2026 and into 2027. I’ve really enjoyed my Tench fishing in recent Springs and want to catch a really big one, a 12 pound plus, and I’d love a big Rudd over 3 pound so have been looking at potential venues for both. I still want my holy grail of a 20 pound plus Barbel, and I’ve been so close missing it by just 2oz, so I’ll continue trying at KW, and lastly, I find Zander fishing super frustrating but still with a lot of mystery so will keep having a few sessions each winter, again with a 20 pound plus being the dream.
Julie and I both love walking in any weather conditions and she is happy to go anywhere which is perfect when I want to do a recce, which is another essential part of my prep and planning. So, with the rivers being trashed and the weather very cold we spent a weekend in January walking.
Sywell
The Redmire of Tench fishing, and despite reading plenty about it I’ve never been there. I had planned to recce it a couple of times in the last two years but never got round to it, but this coming year I want another water with the chance of a big fish and I felt Sywell would be perfect, so we drove over for a look.
Doing a recce isn’t just about looking for swims and features you have to consider the whole package and straight away with Sywell you’ll find it’s a big walk and for the first time in my 60 years I am considering a power barrow as the better area in my opinion was a huge walk. The reservoir has a history of being very weedy so rakes will be required and another bit of kit to be barrowed round, so travelling lightly will be a must. People will be another issue, as it’s a public park and even on a cold January morning it was busy with people and dogs so the spring and summer will be crazy.
A very bright day blinding Julie in the sun
But all things considered I liked it and started planning ahead and chatting to people I know that have fished there and that’s when I found out plans are in place to drop the level this year to repair the dam wall. This will make the weed growth impossible and make it very difficult to fish so I may have to put it off for a year, but I will contact the rangers to see if they know when the work is due to start, as there may be a window of opportunity in spring.
The dam wall
Fenland
The next venues were out in the fens, and out of respect to the people fishing there and the low stocks of big Rudd present I won’t name the venues but suffice to say it was a trip well worth taking. The first venue was a difficult walk and the fishable areas very tight, so travelling light will be crucial but I found what I was looking for a will start there early spring.
The second venue was in flood, but I found the areas to target, they were very busy with people, so travelling light and no night fishing would be the way forward there.
The rest of my venues for 2026 I’m already a member and know reasonably well so I have plenty to look forward to, I have one other Tench venue I may look at, but that depends on the Sywell situation.
So a month of not a lot of fishing and nothing caught, but it still felt productive and gave me plenty to share with you.
Until next, tight lines and be lucky 😊
Big thanks to my sponsors for their continued support,