Last day of the river season 2014

It's finally here....And I feel really sad to see the 2013/14 season go. It's been the best ever year I have spent of our river systems in the UK. Even though we have had one of the wettest and windiest winters in history, with torrential down pours leading to incredible levels of flooding never seen before. It's still produced some unbelievable fishing in the quieter times.

Stuart Andrews with his incredible 7lb 1oz Dorset Stour Chub!!

This last ten or so days has been no exception with the national captures of chub, barbel and pike soaring as the fish go on a last minute munch up before the close.  I first have to say a huge, mahoosive, congratulations to my best pal Stuart, who despite having a lot less hours to fish these last 2 years due to the added responsibility of his gorgeous young family and beautiful little daughter Millie, has managed to grab what little time he has to fish and grabbed himself a few great fish along the way.

The wonder Wye again fishable after a 6 month flood!

This week he saw the close out in style with a huge chub of 7lb 1oz from his ever faithful Dorset Stour. The winning tactics were a touch ledger set-up with CBS end tackle and a River Monster Boilie.

My last day on the river was a frantic one to say the least! Despite telling the wife that my last 3 trips out were going to be the last session of the year, I still managed to talk her into letting me grab the last few hours out to try and bag a nice barbel! I didn't get down the river until what I'd class as nearly the end of the day at 11am! This was due to taxi driving the family around from work, school etc.

7lb 10oz first of the session!

To my delight though there was only one other guy fishing our whole club section! Almost a mile and a bit to our selves! The swim choice was relatively easy as I've become accustomed now to which swims fish at particular times of the day.

I opted for a peg I've caught from regularly in the day before. It's a heavily fished swim but not everyone knows how to fish it correctly. The weather was decidedly cold due to a bout of extremely thick freezing fog which made visibility very low.

Fish no2 at 8lb 5oz

Two rods were set up with a feeder on the up stream rod and a straight bomb on the down stream. I coupled these up to our ever faithful CBS Gravel Leaders and 3oz of weight on both. I opted to fish a long 3 foot hook length with the ever reliable River Monster Boilie in tow on each rod!

Before casting out, I gently plopped around 20 medium sized bait droppers full of  halibuts, green betain and shrimp pellets, in 2mm, 4mm and 6mm sizes. This was all placed in an area the size of a dinner table and I then proceeded to place the upstream rod about 10 feet down stream from the initial baiting area and the left hand down stream rod about 20 yards further down stream.

And 1 makes three! 7lb 7oz of pure gold!

I then sat back to await the results. It took about an hour for the first reaction and as the sun started to finally break through the cold fog, I got my first take on my left hand rod. A few quick trembles and then a crashing, rod bending slammer! I was in! The center pin reel clicked away furiously as the fish headed out into the deeper water of the middle river.

This made for a really awesome scrap on the lightweight 10lb main line to 8lb hooklength! The river still had a pretty good flow to it and 5oz was just enough to hold bottom mid river! This fish was hell bent on seeing the far margin and I had to pile on the pressure as a few canoeists headed down river towards my hooked fish.

Fun on the pin for JB

Eventually the fish tired and I was able to get her under control and into the awaiting net. On the scales she went 7lb 10oz. I was over the moon as it's the first time i've ever caught a barbel on the final day of the river season! More was to follow though and within half an hour i was again away on the downstream rod. This time a stunning barbel of 8lb 5oz graced the net. To say I was excited was an understatement.....what a way to end the season. Last week, 3 twenty pound plus pike and an 8lb 15oz barbel and now I'd had two more stunning Wye barbel too.

With Joel turning up at 2.15pm I wanted to get him a fish as quickly as possible as he only had about 3.5 hours to fish after work. The baited swim seemed the best probable option for him, so I proceeded to put about 10 droppers full more of the pellet mix into the swim before his arrival. Within minutes the tips were starting to twitch and it was only a few more minutes before the down stream rod was once again saying good bye to a good deal of line!

Joel Biddle and his 9lb 2oz Zoo Creature!!!

The rod was almost pulled from the rest through the violence of the take! I grabbed the rod and watched the fish tail walk clear of the water! Not something I have ever witnessed with hooked barbel before but this fish acted more like a wild salmon than a barbel!

After a few more aerial acrobatics and twisting the living daylights out of my mainline, I eventually gained the upper hand and bagged another stunning bar of Wye gold. 7lb 7oz this time round.
I set the rods back up and got ready for Joels arrival. When he finally got there I immediately told him to get into my seat and concentrate on the two rods already in the swim. Things had quietened down somewhat but I was adamant there was a good chance of another fish from the peg.

Back you go my beautiful!

Joel sat there patiently watching the tips with intent. It wasn't long before we both spotted a few trembles on the right hand tip. Suddenly it sprang into life and Joel jumped up into action. Never having played a fish on a center pin before made for an extremely exciting chain of events for him and despite a first few initial fumbles, it wasn't long before he was playing the fish like a true master!

This fish acted totally differently to the others of the day so far and hung tightly to the bottom of the river bed. I knew then it was likely to be a better fish. The fight ensued for a good 10 minutes before Joel managed to grab the upper hand over his prize. The net was eventually sunk under what looked a great fish. Joel was clearly very excited and having only caught a handful of barbel on 2 other trips, this also being the first in daylight hours, it made for a great few minutes. The scales pinged round to a delightful 9lb 2oz. Joel's second biggest of the species. Well done mate!

Stunning gold bullion!

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and despite me landing a smaller barbel of 4lb 14oz on a maggot madussa rig, very little else happened before Joel had to leave. Unfortunately this was when the swim again woke up and after a good pasting of mixed pellets with the bait dropper I was sat with a pair of rods that trembled and wobbled with anticipation of a real good bite. It took around an hour before my first real solid wrap around on the right hand rod. This led to yet another arm wrenching battle with what appeared to be yet another great fish. The reel screamed and I sat back for a hard slog! The 1 3/4 lb tc rod buckling under the load! The fish had clocked a few downstream snags and was relying on them to rid itself of the hook and of course seeing my ugly face!

9lb

It took a lot of patience and effort to shift its efforts from the snag and eventually I grabbed the opportunity to slip the net under her. The best fish of the day sat looking up at me.....9lb 7oz to be precise! What a result, 5 in the bag for the day!

With that I started to pack away as the light had pretty much gone. I slowly packed away all non essential kit and had one last cup of coffee. It was then that the left hand rod pulled over like it was attached to a U-boat!!! This fish felt again heavier than the last and was on the same course for the marginal snags! Immense side strain was applied and she diverted her route to the center of the river and then the far bank some 50 yards over!!!! There was no stopping this mutha! She was going an that was that!

The sun setting on the final day of the river season

The fight seemed to last for what seemed like an eternity! I just couldn't make headway on her. I was beginning to think that maybe I'd hooked a carp? The fish did a quick fly though the swim up in the water and I took the opportunity to flick on the head lamp and see if it really was Moby Dick I was attached to or if I was being the 'Dick?' It was a big old barbel! No 6, I couldn't believe my luck.... The fish battled on for another few minutes before succumbing to tiredness.

To be honest it was him or me and he caved first! As it was the last cast of the day, I cut the line above the net and rested the fish in the water for a few minutes while I readied the scales and camera etc.

BOOOOOOOOMMMM A double to end the season! 10lb 3oz!!!

Could this last fish of the 2013/14 river season be a double???? That would be an incredible way to see it out I thought??? Well, on the scales she tipped around to a magical 10lb 3oz! Just doing the double!!! I couldn't believe it! What an end to the season. Thank you River Wye.....I'll be back in earnest in June to plunder more of your wonderful delights! But for now I bid you fair well!

Tight lines all and I hope your end to the river season was as delightful as mine and Joels!

Keith x

More end of season success

Still smashing through and very murky!

Hi guys! Well, what a result in the change of weather this last week! Who could have believed that less than 3-4 weeks ago many of us were sat under water in lots of the UK and cold wet and weather seemed like it would be with us forever! At last though there seems to be a bit of respite from it all and a little bit of springtime warmth from a watery sun!

Business is brisk with lots of bait orders and plenty of new CBS Tackle flying out the door which is great as it means you lovely lot are getting out there and living the dream!

I've had a few stressful days with some crappy ongoing health issues and lots of stuff in the diary which has meant I've basically over cooked my brain yet again! Not that I ever had one! I have however managed a couple of trips up the river in Monmouthshire and caught a few very special fish....I decided that despite the river Wye still being fairly high, I'd chance what I thought would probably be my last trip of the 2013/14 season up there last week.

The Monnow looked a lot less fearsome!

I ventured up on the Thursday with the sole intention of trying to bag myself a big old snapper! I've not tried hard for them this year but I've certainly fished for them more than I ever have in past seasons. I have to confess that I'm rather enjoying being an 'ALL ROUNDER' style of angler rather than just a carp crazed bloke.

It's meant that I have had the opportunity to meet many varied people and fish a lot of new venues I would probably have never even looked at before? It's been quite enlightening and certainly very enjoyable! I think I've probably learnt a hell of a lot too!

21lb 11oz and happy as a pig in the proverbial!

Well, the first of my two sessions from last week started up on the wonderful little River Monnow. A tributary of the mighty River Wye. The reason for opting to fish the Monnow was simple in that it had a vast quantity less of water piling through it than the still very high Wye. There was a particular spot that took my fancy and after finding a couple of slack water eddy's near the inside margin. I chucked out a couple of ledgered dead baits.

I chose to fish a Herring on my right hand rod and a larger 2/3rds of a whole Mackerel on the left hand one. The Herring had a syringe full of one of our new CBS Predator oils directly slammed into it and i left the Mack to do its own thing....

I still had to use around 4-5 oz of weight to get the baits to sit remotely still and with a good bit of colour in the water and heavy silty crap coming down all the time, it wasn't likely to be the easiest of days fishing! By 12.30pm I had been sat patiently for around 2 hours with nothing to show for my efforts. That was until suddenly my left hand rod awoke and a few bleeps sounded from the dormant Delkim alarm. I picked the rod up off the rests and payed out some slack and awaited further bite registration....A few seconds later there was the obviously tell tale signs of a pike having a good nibble at the Herring bait. I gave it a couple of seconds, tightened the clutch and set the hooks home.

Instantly I was met with a very solid weight of fish and a very powerful surge of speed as she ramped off over the other side of the river. The fight was short but sweet and I quickly got the fish into the back of the net. I set up the camera for a self take and zeroed the Ruebens ready for her. On the scales she went around to a magic 21lb 11oz!

Pike no 2 and another twenty...... This one was 22lb 6oz!

I couldn't believe my luck as it was the fish I was really after to end the season on! I slipped her back and recast the rig with a new Herring attached to the snap tackle. About an hour slipped by before the same rod was once again twitching and then a small amount of line was taken from the spool. I approached the rod and payed out a little more  line before eventually setting home the hooks.

Again I was met with a solid resistance and yet another very powerful fish! This one came in a little less easily and after a really solid fight i was once again the proud captor of a really fat looking hen fish! On the scales she went 22lb 6oz! Another twenty in less than an hour! What a day!

My luck was to end there and despite loosing another monster to a hook pull, the rest of the day passed without so much as a sniff!

The Monnow looked stunning in the morning mist and sun!

My next session which came around quickly, was on the Sunday. After a really hectic two days of bait rolling, kids birthday parties, helping out in my mates reptile shop and 2 nights of almost no sleep.

I was about ready to drop to the floor with tiredness....I got to bed on the Saturday night around 12am and found myself awake again around 2.15am. I lay there thinking about the fishing and eventually the pull was too strong.

I just had to be out there! I loaded the car, had a bit of breakfast and made a flask up before making the 60 mile journey up to the river. I found myself setting up on the lovely little Monnow again around 4.30am in the dark. There were a couple of guys fishing the swim I had fished the couple of days before and much to my disgust they left a ton of litter, shitty tissues and general angling crap behind them when they left! Disgraceful !!!!!!

First ever Monnow Barbel and first of 2014 at 8lb 15oz!

Anyway, I set up two ledger rods with a CBS River Monster Boilie on each and gently swung a 4oz feeder into the middle of the stream. I sat for about 2 hours and as the sun started to lift up into the sky, gently clearing the early morning mist, my right hand right suddenly pinged back violently. A good drop back bite! I lifted the rod up and struck into fresh air??? I reeled down to find that I had hooked a fish but it had traveled on a slack line towards me!

11lbs of Jack!

She then powered away and it was apparent from the word go that this was more than likely going to be my first Monnow Barbel and first of the year!  After about 5 minutes of tussling around and fighting to see who was boss, I netted a stunning and perfect Monnow Barbel of 8lb 15oz! I was so chuffed!

Another 12lb 3oz Pike

The fishing then died a death big style! I couldn't have bought a bite???? As the sun arose high in the sky and the day raced by, my angling partners for the afternoon arrived. Ryan and Mike setup next to me and we all spent the afternoon chasing pike. The lads struggled in the bright light and it was left for me to get all the action with two small doubles of 11lb and 12lb 3oz before a repeat capture of the 21lb fish I had caught on the previous Thursday. This time a little down in weight at 21lb 5oz.

The lads tried really hard to get a fish, moving several times and trying all manner of baits and spots before eventually calling time at around 6pm.  I sat it out for another hour in search of that final Barbel but only managed a small chub around 3lb for my efforts. I eventually called it a day and with a very tired head on my shoulders, headed home to bed!

A repeat and down in weight to 21lb 5oz ....but who cares!!!

I'm out with Joel on Friday afternoon to try and tempt one last Barbel before the season ends! Wish us luck and I wish you luck with your final few days of the River season too. Lets hope its a blindingly good end to it!

Tight lines all
Keith
x

Starting March with a bang!

A good start!

Well, the end of the official 2013 fishing season is almost upon us! And I feel rotten about the whole thing....I can't believe we've had such a bloody awful few months of high water making the majority of rivers totally unfishable and now we have to wait another 3 months before we can again enjoy the true pleasures of wild fishing again!

Joel and I have both been chomping on the bit for a few weeks now to get back on the wonderful river Wye.

11lb 4oz snapper

We decided this weekend we'd try a bit of trotting on a small river called the Trothy. Now, it's only 6-8 feet wide in places and for most only 3-4 feet deep in high water conditions. This didn't put us off though as the main river Wye was yet again sitting at around 3m and lapping the bank again.

Joel had hardly ever float fished a river and certainly never with a center pin reel. I gave him an hour long master class and within an hour of trying it himself, he looked like a true master of the fine art!

13lb 3oz end to the season!

I opted to fish a little further upstream and try the feeder in the deeper water. We spent 3 hours flogging a dead horse. The fish just weren't there or really weren't interested.

The owner of the beat told us that there had been a major amount of mink on the beat throughout the season and that the EA had spent some time there doing drainage and also a collection of mink to lower the quantities. Whether this had any effect on the angling we won't know for the moment but I'm sure time will tell.

Around 12pm we decided it just wasn't going to happen for us on the Trothy, so we hit the Wye with our Pike gear in an attempt to bag a final nice snapper each before the season end....Joel and I found a nice back eddy with some surrounding heavy tree encroachment and opted to place a couple of rods each into the boils. Joel went for an oiled up Herring dead bait and I fished half a Mackerel, both on a leger rig.

Awesome 17lb 4oz PB River Wye Pike for Joel Biddle!

Joels was first to go and he struck into a hard pulling fish which almost immediately shook the hooks out. Joel rebaited his rig and flicked the rod back into place. It was then my turn to bag a small jack pike around 7lbs. As I was returning the Jack, Joels rod ripped off again and he hastily netted a stunning PB Pike of 17lb 4oz! A wonderful winter coloured river chunk that took a liking to his prototype oil glugged Herring hookbait and prototype snap tackle.

As time passed so did a few more fish! Joels rod sat strangely quiet but I was to follow on with some great sport, bagging 2 more stunning low doubles of 11lb 4oz and then a lovely 13lb 3oz pike to finish the session off. Hopefully I'll get the chance to get back out again this week as I still have visions of a big Perch whilst the weather is still fairly cool out there!