The Sessions - Feb 2025
Twists & Turns of Life
Last month was all about one huge fish, a Kings Weir monster Barbel at 19-14, a PB I’ll struggle to beat but with three fish in the section bigger than that I’ve got a chance if I fish it regularly enough in the right conditions.
With the weather changing constantly with warm wet periods with lots of flooding, and then cold snaps with temps into the minus I had to get out when I could around work and family life and then life took another twist and turn in early Feb….
31 January 2025 – River Trent, Tidal
It had been warmer for a few days earlier in the week with lots of rain bringing the level back up, the temp dropped again as it has throughout winter with two very cold nights but I felt it was worth a go for a Zander / Barbel session, as you don’t catch them at home….
I drove up arriving in the evening, it was raining, 6.5 degrees and thick cloud, the river level was 1.46m so perfect for the area I wanted to target and I wasn’t surprised to find the section empty and got the swim I wanted. I felt there was a chance of one good fish so decided against baiting up and fished both rods on big lumps of meat, so if the bait was taken it would be the hook bait. I put them out at 20:30 and knew I’d be able to leave them all night as the area I was fishing was slack on the inside so no chance of the lines getting caught up with rubbish.
1 February 2025
Well I needed a good sleep after a tough week at work and I certainly got one, no takes and a very quiet night. I reeled the rods in at 07:00 to change over to the Zed rods, the baits were marked up from Crab activity but they were ok, still crazy that the Crabs are still active in winter.
I got both Zed rods in place on dead Roach, got the kettle on and sat glued to the rod tips. It was a nice morning, thick cloud, 4 degrees and the river level was steady with a bit of colour and there were bits flipping over in the slack water, it all looked perfect.
The day passed quietly without a single tap on the rods, it got to 17:10 and I was stood next to them when the left bent round with a classic Zed take, I picked the rod up, put my fingers on the braid and could feel the fish on and struck into nothing……the joys and frustrations of Zander fishing!! I got the rod back out with a fresh bait but nothing else happened and I changed back to Barbel at 19:00.
It was still very cold so I continued with the hook bait only approach with both on meat.
2 February 2025
I had one take at 00:40, it wasn’t the monster I was hoping for but a double at 10-10, a nice fish but it was too cold for photos so I slipped her straight back.
I changed back to Zeds at sunrise, the crabs had been more active, one bait was whittled down the other gone, so much for some people’s theory that they go back to sea in winter. I’ve always felt they bury themselves in the silt / sand and wait for warmer temps before feeding again, it could be now there are so many of them they have to feed more often due to the competition in numbers?
It was a stunning frosty morning, something I’ll never tire of waking up to, I love sleeping outside especially in winter, I got a brew on and watched the red and orange sky slowly disappear as the sun came up and started to dry the kit out, fantastic.
I packed up at 11:00 and drove home not realising what life was throwing at me coming next.
4 February 2025
Regular readers will know the situation with my mum, it’s been a tough two years for her and our family, I’ve mostly kept the situation out of my writing until know as I’m not looking for any sympathy, and my dear mum wouldn’t want that, but it feels right to talk about it now as we’ve said our goodbyes after she sadly passed.
My mum had a serious stroke on 27 January 2023 and was very close to passing away but she was so tough and resilient, she overcome covid and pneumonia while being in hospital and made a remarkable recovery, but was left with little movement in her right side so we had no choice but to find a suitable nursing home. She moved into St Catherines in Nantwich around October 2023 and has been there since.
It was mums worst nightmare having been totally self-sufficient until 87 years old but she got on with it and made the best of it making some lovely friends in the home. We had another near miss with Cellulitis in summer 2024 but again she battled though and beat that only to be diagnosed with bowel cancer late last year, life can be so cruel.
Mum was a soldier, she was so resilient and got on with it and I’m extremely proud of her.
My sister called me on 4 Feb saying mum had been rushed to A&E, so I dropped everything and drove up to Crewe, there were a few issues but Sepsis was the main one and I was told to expect the worst so called the family to come in. Mum was so tough and her body would not let her give in, I sat with her for the next three days, she was in so much pain it was awful. There was nothing more they could do and she was put on end of life care on the Friday and we were told it may take up to two weeks. My sister took over for the weekend and I went back up on the Monday and we sat with mum every day until she passed at 02:00 on 13 Feb 2025. We sat with mum for three hours after she passed, she looked peaceful and pain free and it was a nice time together for the final time not seeing her suffering anymore and finally at peace. I kissed her forehead and said “see you mum” as I always had done and we left her for the final time.
My mum was strong, proud lady and did the best for my brother, two sisters and I, I’m so proud of the way she battled on and toughed it out despite some very dark days, I love you mum, see you soon.
Look out for and appreciate your loved ones, say how you feel and treasure the time you have together as you never know what tomorrow is going to bring ❤
21 February 2025 – River Trent, Gunthorpe
I’d gone back to work for two days and wanted to fish the weekend, I just needed some normality back in my life again after a very difficult period and it gave me time to sit and reflect and think about my dear mum.
After another cold period the weather had turned warm again with temps up to 16 degrees on the Thursday and I drove to the river in strong south westerly winds, thick cloud and showers, great conditions for both my winter targets but as expected the river was busy. The three sections on the tidal I wanted to look at were all busy with people in the areas I would have chosen so I changed plan and went for a Barbel only session on the middle Trent and drove over to Gunthorpe where I knew the swims were all free.
The level on the Tidal was 1.12m and at Gunthorpe was .80m so I knew which swim I needed to fish before arriving, I’ve written before about prep and this is where it all helps, knowing the river levels, tide times and heights and watching the weather fronts all build the knowledge when it comes to swim choice and fish location in winter.
I got set up for 18:30 and went for the meat only approach for the first night as I wasn’t sure the fish would have moved back up towards the weir area just yet, so didn’t want to much bait in the swim straight away.
22 February 2025
Well I wanted peace and quiet but I didn’t get it unfortunately. There were people walking around with search lamps down my side of the river which at first I thought were over cautious dog walkers, however they appeared on the other side of the river as well lighting up the whole area, including in my shelter. I sat on my chair watching and eventually I heard people walking across the lock and then a tap on my bivvy top, I stood up to find two policemen and a fire man with high viz gear on and search lamps, it turned out a man in his 40’s had gone missing, they had found his coat near the river but not him, it wasn’t long before the helicopter was up with search lamps and this went on for hours, I think I eventually dropped off to sleep about 04:00 and left them to it.
The morning was a lot cooler and I’d laid in until 08:00 but in reality I’d only slept for four hours, I heard nothing more about the search so I hoped it all ended well for the family concerned. I’d had no takes so decided on a change to BBB boilies and put 15mm hard hookers on both rods and baited up with a mixture of 60 BBB / Pandemic.
I had two takes within an hour, a high single and this one at 12-07, I rebaited both rods and put some more bait in hoping for a busy day but the bites stopped as quickly as they started. It was a very quiet day, cool, clear and sunny.
12-07
Early evening I changed one rod over to Pandemic on the hair and had two quick bites with doubles at 10-15 and 11-10 so put both rods on Pandemic.
10-15
11-10
After another quiet five hours I had another double at 10-08 and then nothing more all night other than a PB weed rake which took some landing!!
PB weed rake
I fished until 09:00 and after checking my phone and seeing the weather front coming in I quickly packed up while all the kit was dry.
That was it for my February fishing this year, a difficult month in many ways and with the funeral planning for 4 March I didn’t get out much before then.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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