The magical 16th and Eels. I arrived at the crack of dawn and walked round looking for signs of fish, when your day fishing it’s crucial to locate them before you start but not always easy and may take time.

Things don’t always go to plan. For people that haven’t read my April blog I was looking for a big English spring Carp and hopefully a good bonus Tench.

My plans for the close season were to dust off my English Carp rods and have a go at getting a biggie from this side of the pond.

After a week of nights I had 7 days off to hopefully get a double figure Barbel and complete my season long challenge.

Barbel or bust. After a week of snow, frost and cold weather it had started to warm up, was cloudy with wind and not forecast to freeze during the night so I fancied my chances and headed back up the A1.

Once xmas and the New Year festivities were out the way I was itching to get back out fishing. With work and bad weather I didn’t get the chance until the 10th.

I started fishing abroad in 1991, my fishing in England is very limited due to pressures of work and family so I try to get a few weeks abroad every year.

I had the Friday of work and was hoping to get the Dec double in early so loaded up the car and drove up to the Trent which was fast becoming my second home.

I was feeling pretty tired after travelling back from Spain the previous day and wasn’t feeling too well but this could have been my only window for a November double so it was load up the car, suck it up and drive to the magical Trent.

After a month of mixed success I was looking forward to a trip to Spain in October but in the back of my mind I was a little concerned as I wouldn’t get many Barbel sessions in for a chance for a double figure Barbel for my challenge.

After a fantastic August I was really looking forward to getting back on the Trent and continuing my quest for a double figure Barbel for every month of the season.

After a long week of 7 eleven hour nights at work I had a week of rest days to do what I wanted and with no other plans it was fishing all the way.

I drove back up for another session full of confidence after a great start in June. I spent a bit of time driving around looking at other sections of the tidal and after a chat with the bailiff Kye I decided to try a new stretch further down stream.

During the close season I didn’t get to fish much due to other commitments, my fishing amounted to a tough two week trip to Spain in March after Catfish where I caught 12.

A Magical French Carp Session At Etang Meunier. I arrived at Limoges station in central France at 17:00 hours and met my long time friend and fishing partner Colin Bunn, the owner of Catmaster Tours, for a weeks carping on Etang Meunier.

Drove up for my first visit of the season to the River Trent arriving at 16:30 hours, it was quite warm at 15 degrees, cloudy with sunny spells.

Many of you will recognise me from the Catmaster Tours stand at the various shows we do around the country, where I stand promoting the fantastic fishing in Spain.