The Sessions - August 2015

The sessions August 2015 – The Army Benevolent Fund Charity Barbel Challenge

04 August – River Ouse

When I arrived the river at 16:30 hours it was still 27 degrees, cloudy with a strong south westerly wind. I went in the weir swim, the river levels were back to normal and it looked perfect.

I set up for the night and had one re-bait at 18:30 hours. I’d already broken up and put out 20 Pandemic boilies (MAD Baits) so just recast with my special PVA bag mix.

Sometimes it all just goes right and this night was one of those, at 19:55 hours the left hand rod smashed over and I was into a heavy fish that fought really hard but eventually slipped over the net cord, a big Barbel and a season best at 13-07.

I couldn’t see me catching two in a session on the Ouse twice in a season so I packed up happily at 22:00 hours and headed home.

06 August – River Ouse

I went down for another night as I was on a roll after the last few sessions. I went back in the weir swim for 19:45 hours and got the rigs out with 20 broken boilies over the spot. It was still warm at 25 degrees and cloudy so looked promising.

The night proved to be one to forget, had a good take at 20:55 hours only to be bitten off above my little “O” ring, next I had a Pike go through the line and bite me off on the mainline.
Then at 23:10 hours I had an Eel at approx. 2 pound followed by another that snagged me up losing all my end tackle.
I packed up at 05:30 hours for work with my tail right between my legs.

09 August – River Trent.

This would be my final practice session prior to the Charity Barbel Challenge and I wanted to fish the new area I’d identified in July.

It was a lovely weekend and still 27 degrees when I arrived at 18:00 hours, the sunny weather had certainly brought the fair weather boys out in force!!

The spot I wanted was taken by an angler drowning maggots who wasn’t staying long so I went far enough downstream to be able to see him go.

I was on the inside of a bend but with the water being so low I could walk out onto the “beach” and simply drop my baits over the drop off that would normally be a good cast out. 20 minutes after casting in I had a take and landed a Barbel at 9-01, this seemed to have the right effect as the angler packed up in disgust and went home without even a goodbye. I quickly got my stuff in the swim and set up for the night super confident of some fish.

21:30 hours – 30 minutes later I had my first take, a small Chub.

22:20 hours – the right hand rod smashed over and the move was justified with a good fish at 10-10.

00:40 hours – after getting bitten off by an Eel and landing another Chub the right hand rod went over again, this one was a Barbel at 8-01.

03:05 hours – the right hand rod went but didn’t really rip off so I wasn’t expecting the heavy thud when I struck, the fish just hung in the flow but didn’t really fight, I was starting to think it may be a Carp when a good Barbel popped up and into the net, it was another good fish at 12-04, a long fish that I’d like to see again in the winter.

I packed up at 06:00 hours for the drive home to work very happy and ready for the Charity Challenge.

The Army Benevolent Fund Charity Barbel Challenge 15-20 August

The Barbel Challenge had finally arrived and for those that read my monthly diary piece you’ll know that I was really looking forward to it. This was the third year and the challenge tougher than ever. Well known Barbel angler Jerry Gleeson had organised the challenge and invited me to be an adopted Northerner for a week and fish for the Northern Team.
The challenge was for two teams, one from the North the other from the South to fish five rivers over six days. Each team member had to catch a Barbel from every river and each team had to catch 3 doubles from every river.

The teams were made up of five anglers each plus a guest angler for each river.

The Northern Team consisted of the captain Jerry Gleeson, Phil Smith, Matt Marlow, Paul “gadget” Floyd and me. Our guest anglers included Paul Bennett, Dave Parr and Terry Theobold.
The Northern Monkies were to fish the rivers Nene, Trent, Derwent, Dove and Wye.

The Southern Fairies were to fish the rivers Thames, Colne, Kennet, Severn and Wye.

My personal goal was to employ my tried and tested tactics and catch from each river to justify my “call up”.

There has been some brilliant summaries from most of the lads from the ABF Barbel Challenge, so mine is an overview of the trip.

What a totally awesome week it was and I loved every minute, travelling to new rivers, meeting new friends and all of us catching good fish.

First I’d like to thank the fishery owners for letting us on to fish their great waters, some were that good I’ve since joined.

Thanks must go to the guest anglers, some of whom I didn’t get to meet, for giving up their spare time to help us try to achieve our targets.

Big thanks for the delicious cakes made for us by Teresa Parr and Mark Smith’s wife.

Huge thanks to Mark Leonard of MAD Baits for making such a brilliant bait and asking me to test it, Barbel love it, get on it.

Congratulations to the Southern Fairies on a good week and good fish caught, great to meet you all and let’s not leave it to long before we meet up again.

Now a little on each Northern Monkey:

Jerry Gleeson – team captain, organiser of the event and an all-round infectious guy, finds the funny side in everything and nothing is a problem. A genuine nice bloke I have got to know over the last two years and a good friend. He did well and weighed in with a 10-06 from the Nene and a brilliant 10-00 from the Wye.

Matt Marlow – here’s a guy I’ve been a FB friend with for ages but didn’t meet until we arrived on the Nene on Friday. We clicked immediately and shared a lot of laughs on past experiences from our younger days where we had lots in common, All round nice guy and now a good friend, He had two great river PB’s of 13-10 from the Derwent and 12-06 from the Dove.

Paul “Gadget” Floyd – again Paul and I have been FB friends for ages but when we sat chatting on the Nene for hours it was like we’d been friends years. The guy is a wizard with technology hence why I christened him “Gadget”. He weighed in with a 9-14 from the Dove, but the underwater filming he produced from attaching a camera to a feeder was outstanding and as good as any you will see…..it was the first time he’d tried it!!

Phil Smith – I’d met Phil a few times over the last two years but after spending a week with him its incredible, the guy is 71 and yomped around the fields with us without complaint and accepting any help with tackle. He is a Barbel machine and caught on every river with the highlight being his Nene fish at 14-06 and doubles from the Trent and Dove. I kept him up all night on the Derwent and he was more than happy to keep coming to my aid with photos which were brilliant. I’m already looking forward to the next trip.

Four good mates, great company, all great anglers and we are already arranging further adventures…..with Europe a big possibility.

As for me it was a great trip with an unfortunate end that didn’t spoil it for me. My target was a fish from each river and I achieved that so was real happy:

Nene – 3 fish to 8-09
Trent – 2 fish to 9-11
Derwent – 4 fish, best 11-09, 12-08, 13-01
Dove – 1 fish 8-11
Wye – 3 fish to high 7’s

Another highlight was the Wednesday night in the White Lion, we all met up, had loads of laughs, loads of drink before retiring to the back gardens after closing for more drinking and laughter. It was one of those nights that puts life in perspective, we were hammered, Rachel the bar lady kept the drink flowing and was a great host and then the legend Terry Theobald gets up and does an impromptu sing song……brilliant!!

A fantastic event for a great charity The Army Benevolent Fund.

23 doubles 10 rivers 5 days the lads did well.

It’s still not too late to donate www.justgiving.com/jerry-gleeson2

20-21 August – River Derwent

Jerry and I had a few more days off work so headed back across country to the River Derwent to fish the Earl of Harrington section. We arrived at 17:00 hours and picked our swims, it was warm and cloudy and the forecast good so we were hoping to finish on a high.

Unfortunately this trip didn’t go as planned, although I caught Barbel both days it ended on a sour note.
As has been well documented in the Angling Press and social media my car was broken into on the Saturday night. It was in a secure compound and locked in but the thieves had cut through the gate and smashed my back window and stole a lot of tackle. The police were as helpful as normal and didn’t attend…..

When I got home I found someone had tried to break into my house as well, this one could only have been someone that knew me as it was well advertised on FB that I was away all week, very disappointing to think people stoop that low.

With the tackle loss, damage to the house and car it cost me a lot of money. But the Angling world helped soften the blow by donating £100 and two Shimano reels. I’d like to thank those people concerned, it was a lovely gesture and much appreciated.

27 August – River Ouse

Following a week of rain the river levels were up with a lot of weed in the flow. The day had been cloudy and warm at 22 degrees with a light wind, good conditions and worth a go despite the weed problems.

I got into the weir swim for 22:30 hours after work, it was starting to get a bit of pressure now so I hoped the night would be best for a bite. I put the rigs out and a mixture of 10 and broken 18 mm Pandemic out and had to re-cast more than I wanted due to the weed problems.

01:20 hours – it was worth the effort as the left hand rod nearly got ripped in the take was so vicious, the fight was the usual tug of war before a good fish slipped into the net, another good Ouse double at 12-09, this one had a split tail and will be easy to recognise in the future.

That was it and I packed up at 08:30 hours.
I went back for a quick over nighter before work on the 29 August but didn’t get a bleep.

That completed another brilliant months fishing with Barbel from 6 rivers and an awesome first session on the Derwent.

Barbel – 20 fish / 7 doubles – 2 trips to the Trent, 4 trips to the Ouse, 1 trip to the Wye, 1 trip to the Dove, 2 trips to the Derwent, 1 trip to the Nene

Tight Lines

Julian Barnes