The Sessions - March 2025 — Julian Barnes Angling

End of Season Bonanza!!

Last month was more about my dear mum than the fishing but I did get out a couple of times which certainly helped manage the stress and upset, I simply love being outside whatever the weather, it just makes you feel so alive and long may that continue.

My mum’s funeral was arranged for 4 March, but I had planned some fishing and taken leave for the last few days of the river season and was looking forward to that.

1 March 2025 – River Trent, Tidal

After some rain earlier in the week it had cleared with sunny days and cold nights down to -2 degrees, with the funeral all arranged I drove up for two nights fishing planning to fish for Zander in the day and Barbel at night and arrived to find the river level at 1.15m with a bit of colour and looking great.

I planned to fish an area that would involve a long barrow walk but called into another area first for a look, I found two swims free but not the ones I would have chosen in the conditions, however another angler arrived that I hadn’t seen for a year and we were having a catch up and he was saying he’d caught some Zander along the section over the last few days, so I decided to stay and we chose our swims and set up.

It was 14:00 so I started fishing for Zander and put a Lamprey section by a tree to my right and a dead Roach slightly further out on the crease line to my left and sat back watching the rod tips for twitches.

It normally happens quickly if Zeds are in the area and in the first hour I had a dropped run and a small Pike.

With it being so cold and clear I decided to stay with the deadbaits into dark and through the night, it had not long been dark when the Roach rod tapped once, I picked it up and could feel the fish mouthing the bait through the braid mainline so struck and was rewarded with a lovely Zander at 11-06.

It got very cold down to -2 degrees again and amazingly the Mitten Crabs were active and smashing the deadbaits, especially the Roach, by midnight I’d had enough so changed over to Barbel.

2 March 2025

I did have one take on two 10mm Pandemic hard hookers, it was screaming away but nothing was on when I picked up the rod, I can only assume it was a line bite or lightly foul hooked.

I was awake at 06:30, it was freezing and all the gear white with frost, the Crabs had eaten the boilies on both rods, so much for the theory they go back to sea in winter, and I do wonder how things will pan out over the coming seasons as they are growing rapidly in numbers and eat everything.

I swapped back to deadbaits and lay back in the sleeping bag and watched the sun come up and it was a stunning sunrise.

The sun came up and dried all the gear and the river level had dropped to 1.10m, while that may not seem much it did make another more favourable swim fishable, so I moved at midday.

I fished with deadbaits all afternoon and into the evening, I had three dropped takes but the Crabs were still active and taking the heads and stomach of the Roach making bait presentation a nightmare.

By 20:30 I’d had enough and changed back to Barbel and baited a spot further out in the flow with Pandemic and put both rods on double 10mm Pandemic hard hookers and had an 8 pounder quite quickly.

3 March 2025

I didn’t get another bite until well into the night when it was very cold and frosty, the left-hand rod went both times, and I landed two doubles at 13-03 and 10-06.

I changed back to Zander at first light and stayed until the gear had dried out and headed home.

4 March 2025 – Taking Mum for her final ride.

Julie and I, my daughter Taylor and her partner Ben drove up to Cheshire for my mum’s funeral later in the afternoon. We met at my sisters, and all got changed and busy with the final bits before it was time to drive to the funeral directors, the reason for us driving there and them not coming to us was I was driving the hearse to the crematorium 😊

They are small local company and were excellent in every way and offered me the choice of driving my mum on her final journey. There was only room in the hearse for me and my sister and the two undertakers and it was a 30-minute drive to the crematorium which took 40 minutes as I didn’t go above 30 mph. It was a lovely gesture and something I’ll treasure forever. When we got to the crematorium everyone got out and I drove mum through the grounds to the door on my own with the undertaker walking in front, it was tough and upsetting but gave me the chance to talk to her on my own for the final time, I told her I loved her and wished her a safe and peaceful journey.

The service and wake went as we planned and were lovely and then our close family had a proper booze up at my sisters, I think we drank 9 bottles of Cava and then onto Brandy and Gin, it was a lovely way to send mum on her way ❤️

6 March 2025 – River Lea, Kings Weir

The weather conditions were great with a warm day and evening and the river looked perfect with a bit of colour, but the river Lea is tough even in the best conditions…

I baited with hemp / caster and fished with meat from 17:00 – midnight without a touch. It was quite busy with everyone blanking apart from one angler who had my New Years Day fish just before midnight.

10 March 2025 – River Trent, Gunthorpe

I had the last few days of the season off work and planned to fish for Barbel and Zander on the tidal but on looking at the river level and condition I decided to start on the middle at Gunthorpe.

I set up in one swim and planned to move on dark into a better swim when it became free as the level was a bit high to stay in the first swim. I started with both rods on 8oz leads and double 10mm Pandemic hard hookers and catapulted 30 Pandemic over each spot.

I had two fish in the afternoon, an 8 pounder and a 10-12 to start the session but it was difficult keeping the rigs in place, so I moved as planned at 19:00.

I put one rod on the 10mm Pandemic and baited the spot with 50 Pandemic, the second rod I set up with a large maggot feeder made by my pal Craig Pennell, black, 170g and holds plenty of maggots😊. I started with my usual combi-rig, but I replaced the braid section with a short piece of 13lb fluorocarbon with a size 8 Talon Tip hook and 10 white maggots with a fake red one put on last to keep the point and barb exposed. The reason I changed the braid to fluorocarbon is because the maggots tangle the braid section up, either from their movement or small fish plucking at them. I finished the rig of with a pva bag of maggots as well as the feeder. I started by spoppering 8 loads of maggots onto the spot.

Two hours later and just after a recast I had a take on the maggot rod, it was clearly a big heavy fish and stayed low with slow thuds on the rod, I walked it to the end of the pontoon and round the post and guided it back into the slacker water in the lock and all was going well. I slowly got it to the surface and it was huge, I squatted down for the net and that slight drop in pressure gave the fish a chance to dive under the pontoon and round the middle post. I kept getting it back to the post but it wouldn’t come back round, the flow was strong and not helping and all the line pressure was on the post and it became a stalemate. This went on for 90 minutes, I tried everything I could think of and was trying to work out how to get the rod under the pontoon without losing it, I thought if I walked to the end I may have a chance of passing the rod under and as I got there the change of angle made the fish pop out and back into the lock. I thought I’d got it and carefully got it to the surface again and it was absolutely huge, I bent down for the net and it made one last lunge for the pontoon and cut me off…..I couldn’t believe it, 90 minutes and I’d lost it, I’ll never know how big it was but that one will hurt for a while.

An hour later and again after a recast I had another take on maggots and landed a fish at 12-00.

11 March 2025

I had nothing through the night and got up at 05:00, rebaited the rods and put another 8 spoppers of maggots out. It wasn’t long before I had another take on maggots and lost it to a hook pull, although not a big fish, two losses was very disappointing.

I decided to stay for another night and recast the maggot rod every two hours. It was warm and sunny with a chilly northerly wind.

I started getting bites on the boilie rod and had three through the afternoon at 11-14, 12-01 and 10-14, and topped up the spot after every fish with 20 Pandemic.

I baited the maggot spot just into dark with a big hit of bait and put 20 spoppers of hemp / pellet / crushed boilie / maggots. It was cold and clear and all I got was a good nights sleep.

12 March 2025

I recast the rods at 03:00 and the first bite came just before 05:00 on the maggot rod and was a good fish at 15-09.

An hour later the boilie rod went over with a big single but then it went quiet again. It was cold at 3 degrees and cloudy and after having the 15 I decided to stay for the rest of the session and what a good decision that was. I popped to Angling Direct for a gallon of maggots and was back in the swim mid-morning and put 6 spoppers on the spot, and 50 boilies on the other spot.

The afternoon wasn’t as productive but two fish came just before dark on boilie a single and a 10-09.

At 17:00 I put another 6 spoppers of maggot on the spot and recast the rod, 90 minutes later the rod smashed over with another big fish and a Trent PB at 17-15. The regular flow of maggots was working and I topped up twice more before midnight, it was very cold and raining so I got in the bag for some sleep.

13 March 2025

The maggot rod went again in the night with another good fish at 13-02, they were loving them and I was running out again. The boilie rod went shortly after a recast with a 12-03 before I reeled in and popped back to AD for another gallon of maggots, and to the supermarket for food, I was back by midday and put more maggots on the spot.

It was a very cold day with heavy showers and a cold easterly wind and someone had been doing some pruning as there was large branches coming down in the flow pulling the rigs off the spots, fortunately I didn’t lose any gear.

It was a quiet day with only one more single on the boilie rod.

14 March 2025

I had nothing through the night but did get up at 01:30 and gave the swim another big hit of maggots, that had the right effect as the fish moved in at first light and I had fish at 10-06 and 11-13 on maggots and two big singles on the boilie rod.

I decided to go mid-morning and made the last cast at 09:00, 25 minutes later the maggot rod went again with another monster to finish the season in style at 17-09. I did carry on for another hour with no more takes but what a session to finish the season in total I used 26 pints of maggots but well worth it with two 17’s!!😊

I was well down on numbers this season with 136 Barbel / 60 doubles but by fishing different areas and KW I had much bigger fish with x3 14’s, x2 15’s, x2 16’s, x2 17’s and a KW monster at 19-14, what a season and I can’t wait for the next one.

29 March 2025 – Walthamstow Reservoirs

This was my fourth trip to Walthamstow in the month, I did a night on the 15th and two-day sessions on 22nd and 23rd trying different swims at opposite ends of the Reservoir, no one was catching many, so I tried areas that don’t get fished as much to see if the fish were there or just hadn’t switched on properly yet. I blanked on all three trips, some of it down to no fish in the area and some bad angling, you know when you haven’t fished well and on one occasion, I did have fish in the swim but over baited with too many food items and didn’t get a bite.

On this trip there was only two of us waiting at the gate and we got the swims we wanted, it had been a cool night but was forecast to be 18 degrees and sunny through the day with a westerly wind and felt very warm. I put 10 spombs of groundbait with dead maggots at 11 wraps and made slight changes to the rigs.

I had one on a 70g method feeder with a yellow wafter, one on a 70g method feeder with four maggots on a size 12 hook and the third on a maggot feeder with same rig and four maggots, as I’m still tinkering with the rigs I’ll write in more detail next month when I’ve hopefully had a few.

The morning past without any bites but the wind was getting stronger creating a lovely big ripple on the water and we just felt it was going to start happening. The first bite came early afternoon and was an Eel on the maggot feeder, that was quickly followed by a bite on the wafter and my first spring Bream at 14-09. I swapped one of the method / maggot rod to a wafter and topped the spot up with another six spombs of mix and topped up again at 17:00 as fish started to roll with regularity.

In the last two hours I had three more with a 9plus, 9-15 and a 12-05 all on the little yellow wafters to finish a good session and bring my March angling to a close.

I’ll be targeting Bream for most of April with perhaps one Crucian trip fitted in before Johnsons closes on the 15th, and hopefully I’ll trip up my dream Bream and be able to tell you about it next month.

Until then, tight lines and be lucky 😊

Big thanks to my sponsors for their continued support,

The Sessions - March 2025