Wye PB for Ryan!

4lb 2oz stripey for Magoo! Well done bro!

Hi Guys!

It's been a week or two of PB's all round for friends and family and despite the continued low water conditions that are leaving the fishing very hard on the rivers, we've managed to locate an odd fish willing to snaffle a hookbait!

Stuey and I were talking on the phone the other morning and he was feeling the pressure of the little fish activity on his favoured venue too. The Dorset Stour has suffered many blights in recent years, floods, droughts, otter predation, cormorants and many other problems too. But all in all and despite these issues it's still a river that holds a few surprises up its sleeve!

2lb 5oz stunner for Stuey!

A few minutes after we'd finished chatting on the phone I got a Whatsapp message from Stu. 'Check this Perch out bro'! Was the wording.....I checked it out and my word!

What a monster! Stu had seen a group of fish mooching around under his feet by an over hanging bush and one of them was a rather large perch. Stu did his usual and approached with caution and set up a very simple single split shot ledger rig and a worm on a size 4 hook.

He gently lowered the bait down into the area and the perch looked at the bait with dis-contempt and turned away, leaving Stu perplexed.....Minutes later the tip flew around and he was into something rather powerful.

A bit of stripey success for Tash

The fish went under the nearside roots, out into weed and finally rolled on top ready for netting. It was at this point Stu knew he had something a little special. At 4lb 2oz, it was very bloody special!

The perch was a fantastic capture, a PB for Stu and of course much conversation was to be had post capture. I took the mickey and said he'd need a big bloody chub to better that perch...Well, the chub didn't show but an awesome 2lb 5oz roach did and made his day even more successful! He followed the two chunks up with a couple more roach to one pound and a few more nice smaller perch to just under 2lbs. Well done matey!

I took Natasha out that same afternoon after school as she was gagging at the bit to try and catch an alternative species. She liked the look of Stueys perch, so we grabbed a few worms, red maggots and some prawns and headed to our club water to see if we could find a nice stripey for her. Things started well with a nice pound roach and a skimmer. The bites were finicky to say the least and despite the swim being full of silvers, the perch really didn't want to show themselves. We had to wait until the sun was dropping behind the trees before she got her chance at a perch and finally the float darted under and she was into a nice fish.

Wye PB for Ryan at 9lb 5oz

Sunday night I had a nice invite to fish with good friend Ryan. We didn't get away until rather late, so time was a little limited and we had to make the most of what little light we had. Most of the better swims were taken but again, no one was catching a thing....We dropped into one of the shallower pegs and if I'm honest.....it was feeling very unlikely we'd catch a thing.

The usual approaches were adopted by the pair of us. I went for a straight lead and pva bag approach and Ryan went for two feeders with ground bait and pellets inside. It was some time before I got the first bite of the evening and despite playing the fish with kid gloves, it failed to see the mesh of the net due to a hook pull. On later inspection it was visible that the hook point had been blunted on the bottom.

9lb 4oz for me!

I felt there was a good chance that that fish was my only likely bite all evening. I was rather surprised to see Ryans rod fly into action a few minutes later. A really good first run signaled a good fish was on. I reeled in my rods to make room for the great scrap and after a few minutes she was in the net!

Thank god we hadn't blanked! At 9lb 5oz it was a Wye personal best for Ryan! Not happy at being left out, I had to wait until packing up time but I finally got myself into a nice chubby barbel of 9lb 4oz as well. A good end to what seemed a very stale evening!

JD's First!

Last night Joel and I grabbed a quick couple of hours on the River Wye in search of the usual suspects. I chose a swim I thought may produce on our club stretch. It's been fishing terribly throughout the summer in my opinion and it's only down to the low levels and painfully clear conditions.

 At last JD had a Wye Barbel under his belt of 6lb

With a tiny bit of water on top and some colour it is a completely different river to fish and you can find barbel in just about any swim on the stretch. This year has been very different though and as yet I've struggled to locate any particular holding areas as such. The fish just seem to dissipate or magically disappear into thin air???

Last night was no different and despite catching fish from the area in recent weeks, it appeared like the fish had again moved on to locate alternative areas to feel comfortable or were just not interested in feeding whatsoever. The other thing that has become clear in the recent fortnight is the feeding activity and subsequent methods for capturing these torpid fish. Usually the open ended feeder with pellets trapped with ground bait is a killer method, but recently it hasn't seemed to work at all. The fish favouring a boilie only approach presented with a shortish hooklink and a small pva bag of half baits.

Below par for the stretch but at least a fish of 6lb 12oz!

There was no exception to the rule last night and despite being there early, bites weren't forthcoming until JD had the first bit of activity around 8pm. The light was just flailing and his left hand rod bounced a few times. A quick strike saw the rod envelop a good healthy fighting curve. At last Joel had a Wye barbel attached. The guys been very unlucky on the Wye and to date he's struggled to get one on the bank. I just hoped this one would stay on long enough for him to at last conquer the venue!

After a couple of minutes I crawled down the steep bankside to net the fish for him and finally he'd actually managed it, a Wye barbel in the net! A huge sigh of relief was felt from both of us as it had been about 4 or 5 trips where the fishing had been poor or he'd just been plain unlucky!

As the fish was resting in the net, I readied the mat, camera and scales and just as we were thinking about removing the fish from the water, my rod sprung into life too. A slow bit on the upstream rod and a good first run left me in no doubt that I too was attached to a barbel at last.....A short but hard fight was performed and I netted her first time.

Always nice to get a brace pic when you get the chance! 6lb 12oz and 6lbs exactly.

We weighed each fish separately, did the obligatory pictures of each then for one final hoorah I took a brace photo for the album of us both holding our catch. The fish were a little bit below average par size for the stretch at 6lb for JD and 6lb 12oz for mine but in all honesty with the lack of bites for the rest of the evening we were bloody chuffed to have at least caught one each in such dastardly conditions.

Bobs new PB!

Good Day!!

The new Nuts about Carp Popstickles are born!

Hope your all enjoying this last fleeting glance of summer? I sure am....it's bloody great to be out side enjoying the suns rays late in September. It's about perfect now in my opinion. Not too hot or cold.

This week in particular has been really nice and I've enjoyed moments of freedom related to the return of the dearest wife from her working away for 10 days. Albeit she's returned with the lurgy from hell, which she's acquired from her brother! GIT! Another week of house work for me! lol

Well, with Natasha and Tom back at school I wanted to try and find a bit of time for some web works and product design etc but in all honesty it's been late getting sorted and it wasn't until today that I finally got around to doing some preparatory works. With a fairly full diary for the next few weeks I really need to start getting on with stuff or I'll find myself even further behind.

A possible option for using a couple of sticks together??

A product I have wanted to release now for some time has finally had the chance to see the light of day and for the first time this evening I aired its release on our FB Page. The all new Popstickle....Basically a pop up stick rolled in 16,18 or 20 mm and 100mm long. The product is steamed and then packaged in rolls of 5.

The idea being that it gives the angler the opportunity to cut off a section to the size they require for using on its own or combined with another colour/flavour or of course as a topper for a snowman etc. The combinations are many and we hope that it will be a good seller in the many guises and flavours we have in stock.

Sunday saw the opportunity for me to meet up with my good mate Bob Willcockson. He drives up from Newbury to meet me occasionally on the Wye at numerous different venues. Bob and I have been mates for many years on FB, but only really got the chance to actually meet each other in the flesh last year. I'm so pleased we did as he has become a true and loyal friend, who's company I cherish. This Sundays meeting was a little special though and one that I will remember for ever!

We met up in Hereford at 6am on Sunday morning, just as the sun was peering over the hills. The air was fairly warm and a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees around us. We unloaded the car and headed for our chosen swim for the day. After a bit of classic banter and a cup of Bob's finest coffee, we made our first casts of the day. Bob using the FSG and myself on the ever faithful River Monster .

Finally a fish for all our hard work! 9lb 4oz!

I expected us to get a few fish quite early on and it looked great for a bite despite the ridiculously low and clear water. Well, no bites came and by midday we were both feeling very down and rather dismayed at the lack of action from the ailing River Wye.....it just doesn't fish in the summer months with no water in it. You really have to get lucky to find a spot where you get a few in daylight hours.

We sat it out all afternoon, drinking coffee, taking the piss out of each other and the odd passing rowing club member that looked a tad incapable behind the oars! Finally at 7.15pm after hundreds of cups of coffee and total boredom my right hand upstream rod tore off signalling a barbel in tow! Thanks god we thought as it had been such a slow day up until then. The fish kited hard down stream and across in front of us and it wasn't long before we had to get the other rods out of its way!

At last a double..... A season best for me of 10lb 5oz and only my second of this season. Get in there!!!

After a few hairy minutes, Bob sunk the net under a prime Wye Barbel for me of 9lb 4oz. Well chuffed with that on such a hard day but it was Bob that I wanted to catch the most.....My next cast was greeted with much the same activity after about 10 minutes and it wasn't long before another big Wye Barbel was pulling my string! This one was hell bent on using the entire river as a pathway to trying to shake the hook out! Bob gracefully netted her for me after the epic battle and a quick look into the mesh told the whole story! It was a big old chunk of fish!

I prayed that Bob would catch one and what a fish it was... 11lbs of Wye magic and a new PB! Well done Bob!

On the scales she went 10lb 5oz. Well happy with that as only my second double of the season and my biggest for this year so far. The day was looking a lot less crap after these two beauties!
Bob and I sat talking about baits and then Bob clocked that his rods were not set up correctly!!!! I questioned his bizarre comment and he told me he had terrible superstitions about the rod alarm being on the right and how he only ever caught when they were set up in that manner! A quick change around and the obvious piss taking from my side saw him happy again! As we chatted his right hand rod then flew into action and Bob was happy to announce he was now happy as that had been the reason he'd not caught all day!!!  The bait runner reel screamed as the fish tore yards of line from the spool. YES!!!! Bob had one on at last albeit through his superstitions! !

Another nine pounder and my last bite of the day

The fight was brutal and from the word go the fish was really giving Bob a hard time....Up and down and right across the entire river she went. After a few torrid minutes Bob made some headway and I sunk the net under a very fat looking barbel. Bob and I were both relieved. The day was saved! I set the scales up and got the camera ready for the fish. Bob unhooked her and I lifted her into the weigh sling. The needle of the Reubens swung around and I hid the weight from Bob to start with. 'What weight would you like it to be Bob?' I asked him amusingly! 'A ten would be nice!' he replied. 'Well, it's bigger than that bro!' I hinted! In fact it was a new PB for Bob at exactly 11lbs on the nail! A proper chunk of a Barbel and only the second time I've seen one from the Wye breaking the 11lb barrier! The only other time being my PB from late last summer!

The smallest of the day at 7lb 4oz but who cares???

We were both ecstatic to say the least and even if the evening had ended there we would have been happy! But it didn't end there and we were due a few more chances yet! My right hand rod was away again shortly after Bob returned his beast. This one did the same as all the rest and tore off down stream and across the flow. Another break neck scrap ensued and after a few mental runs she was mine. Another 9lb specimen bagged and I was happy with my 3 quality fish for this session.

Bobs swim had other ideas and shortly after my kipper he was in yet again! Another lovely barbel quickly found the mesh and at 7lb 4oz a little less exciting than the previous few big fish but of course very welcome all the same! With two in the bag for Bob and 3 for myself it was a real game changer of an evening for us and as we started to think about packing away, Bobs rod was again away with yet another very powerful fish.

9lb 8oz cracker and no 3 for Bob

This was the Porsche of the fish world and Bob could only sit and watch as a bystander as the fish hightailed it across the river to the other side and cover of the over hanging trees! A good bit of arm pressure and a bit of solid rod applying saw him gain a bit back and then she came full flow across the river to the inside. She then made a few manic attempts to shed the hook in nearside vegetation and a localized weed bed sat just in front of us.

Eventually another big old 9lb 8oz barbel was being hoisted up for the waiting camera and a jubilant Bob smiled away happily for his 3rd awesome fish of the day. Finally after putting the fish back and packing most of the gear away, Bobs rod was away for one last time! Yet more continuous arm wrenching runs and about 8 minutes of heavy breathing and slippery footwork saw the pair of us ready to net our final one of the day. At 9lb 1oz a very very nice way to end an epic days fishing with some of the finest scenery in the country and the best company of two good mates!

Great work Bob no4 and 9lb 1oz! Bloody brilliant!

I'm out again Tuesday evening for a few hours all being well with Joel and I hope we can finally get him his first Wye Barbel! Not one for not trying I hope we get him some luck at last....

Next Monday sees me having a trip to the glorious River Severn to catch up with one of my field testers and another great fella Nick. Looking forward to banging out a few of the Rivers monster boris's!

Tight lines all xxxx
Keith

More action for Natasha

Enjoy yourself, cook,eat & drink well, but take it all home after!

Hi all. Well Natasha has certainly had a great end to her summer holidays and the start back to school albeit a tough endurance test when it came to getting out of bed early, was done amicably and all in good manner.

The weekend soon arrived so the few days back at it didn't feel quite so enduring! I have to confess to feeling a little deflated now due to the wife being away for a fortnight.

At this point I will confess that I'm not great at household chores and I hate all that stuff....Fortunately the wife is amazing and cares for all the family! Her cooking is second to none, she works long hours, but still manages to support us all in whatever we do from day to day, even if she doesn't always agree with it.

 Hugely frustrating angling at times!

For that and all else she does for us, I commend her and thank her dearly with all my heart! Despite a few ups and downs we've coped without her and in some circumstances it's probably done everyone bloody good! Especially me! I now appreciate more what she does for us and I'm going to trey and find more time and energy to help her more.....

Low & clear conditions

With regards to my fishing.....I have to be honest and say that I personally haven't really felt much of a pull to go out there. I don't know why but I'm just not feeling it??? Don't get me wrong I have found the 2 sessions I've spent with my daughter Natasha recently, very very rewarding and something I will treasure in the memory banks forever.

But I confess that the weekend I just found it all a bit of a chore. Getting the gear ready, driving to the venue, setting up etc. Just found it hard bloody work. Whether it's down to tiredness or just lack of fish activity at times which has had me lacking enthusiasm I have no idea.

Typical smaller stamp of middle to upper river Barbel

What ever is causing it I hope does one and buggers off soon though as the season is gradually ebbing away into Autumn and the obvious apocalypse of December and winter!

I've found the barbel fishing a little tougher this year, probably down to the tough conditions of high summer. Low water, lack of flow and crappy D.O levels. Albeit I've caught 46 since June 16th which I suppose many would class as pretty darn good. The only down side being that the fish have generally been a lot smaller average than that of last years stamp.

Typically better stamp from the lower club section

There was a double in ever 5 fish I caught last year but this year I've seen 2 out the whole lot??? I can only put this aspect down to the venues I've been fishing and the fact that as a rule of thumb, the Wye in it's middle to upper stretches does generally throw up smaller fish.

My club section however has a great average stamp of fish when they can be found. Last year as I say was a double in every 5 fish caught and sometimes a couple in one evening could be taken. Why this section produces bigger than average fish is a further mystery.

The only good reason I can see for the size variation is possibly down to angling pressure, water flow, feed levels, poaching etc. I think the river there sees a heck of a lot more action than it probably ought to and often gets fished all night by many local lads.

Round 2 commenced and no change! Into them straight away!!

Not that it seems to do the fishing or the fish any real harm. The obvious issues to me are the levels of litter left behind which is not only a shame to see but also tins and such like are potential problem areas for others and animals to hurt themselves on and possibly breeding grounds for bacterial issues like Weils Disease etc.

I had a good mate cut himself on his finger from a left can of luncheon meat a few years back and he ended up with Leptospirosis....believe me it's really not something you want to get! The poor bloke lost copious amounts of weight and was ridiculously ill for months after. The other thing to be aware of in certain areas is Limes Disease cause by ticks....

Fish after fish, the girls on fire at the moment!

Nasty little bastards these things are and something highlighted by top angler and general nice bloke Martin Bowler a few seasons back. So, take care guys and girls, look after yourselves out there and look after each other by taking tins, litter and other general rubbish like discarded mono etc home with you. Not only could you hurt yourself, an animal but you could also end up loosing fishing rights too.

Well, that's enough of me putting the world to rights over boring stuff! I took Tash out Sunday for the day to a local club lake for a few hours with the intention of getting her into a few cyprinids....She told me she wanted to catch a few nice carp as it had been a good 12 months since we'd done any carping together. We turned up to a pretty full pond around 2pm and it was obvious that 99 percent of the fish weren't any where near the bottom layers of the pond! They were all basking in the surface film and looking torpid and miserable!

Natasha really did get to grips with her fishing skills this last week of the holidays.

I set up a couple of short 9ft rods with 10lb line on for her and got her out towards the main feature of the island shallows, where a few carp could be seen milling around. We sat for a good hour with almost nothing to show for our efforts. I broke the silence with the suggestion that maybe a dabble on the surface with a small quantity of chum mixer freelined close in might just do the trick!

Starting to shine with the fish posing!

Natasha flicked out about 50 or so small dog biscuits and sat back and waited for a response. It didn't take long before a few small commons came mooching around at about 3 rod lengths out. We rigged up one of the rods with just a small section of 8lb surface fishing line and a single size 12 hook and banded chum mixer hook bait.

This was then dropped right in on top of one of the cruisers at about 8 feet from the bank. Tash watched intently as the carps lips rose up and engulfed the whole thing in one slurp!!!! Bang, she was in! The reel screamed and the rod slammed over quickly! Poor girl didn't expect quite such a violent take and I think it shook her up a little!

After a few minutes of tussling around with the fish in the margins, she finally netted her prize. A stunning common of around 11lbs. A great start to proceedings. Things carried on from there really. We fed a good steady influx of chum mixers and the carp kept coming back one after another much to Natashas delight.

The rod sung in the gentle summer breeze and the reel buzzed away with the clutch
 set softly. 7 more beautiful carp graced the net before we called a halt to proceedings around 6.30pm.

With tired out arms and a hungry tummy we retired to the car for the short trip home. Successful yet again and looking forward to our next eventful days fishing together as father and daughter.

Tight lines guys
Keith x

Natashas red letter session!

Natasha leaning into a double figure Barbel! Go girl!!!!!

Hi guys and girls. What a busy few days it's been here at Nuts about Carp. Lots of lovely bait orders and some new field testers taken on to help with the testing of our new prototype fishmeal boilie. Not much feed back as yet but I'm hoping a few of the lads will get back with some results soon.

My fishing has been put back a little due to my wife being away working for 10 days in Hampshire and of course I'm on household duties and full time parental works! House work, cooking, cleaning, feeding our 300+ animals! Bla bla bla! lol It's been good fun so far but I'm only 3 days in yet! God help us!

With it being the final few days of the children's summer holidays I wanted to do something a bit special for Natasha my daughter as it's also her 8th birthday on Friday too. As some of you will be aware from previous blog entries by myself, she came out barbel fishing for a brief evening a few weeks back and with very little help from myself, landed a stunning Wye barbel of 8lb 4oz.

A life changing moment for both of us. Only her third ever barbel and a new PB of 10lb 4oz!

Well, for the last 4 weeks she's been continually asking me when we could go out again next? I really wanted to take her to my club stretch as I know the average size of the fish far exceeds the rest of the Wye by a country mile. The only trouble being that so far it had done only 4 barbel for me in the best part of 8 trips! Not only that but in reality the whole river had been fishing pretty poor for the time of year. It's a splendid and highly prolific water but the fish have had to endure months of low water and clear conditions that have pushed them into spots that are either unfishable, too weedy to attack or they have just avoided feeding at the usual times.Whatever the case maybe? It's been tough and taking her to my club stretch was always going to be a gamble. Any one who has kids of this age knows that trying to keep an 8 year old interested for more than 10 minutes is almost bloody impossible, so 5 hours of fruitless fishing didn't hold me with much hope for a relaxing evening with her!

Another beauty!

How wrong can anyone be? Well I was! I offered her the chance to river fish or go carping at our local pond and she said she'd much rather have a crack at another barbel. That's my girl!!!! We set off at around 4pm and hit traffic on the M4 from the word go. As you all may know, Newport is hosting the delegates of NATO for a couple of days and the whole area is locked down tighter than a chastity belt on valentines day! There were police officers everywhere! I have honestly never seen such a presence. God only knows what it has cost the tax payer to host this event but I can only image the costs and planning involved. It took a little while to cover the journey but it kept flowing and by 6pm we were making our first casts into the coloured up and slightly more flowing river Wye.

7lb 14oz! Smashing it up!

I opted to put her into a swim that I know is the most likely area to bag one from at present and the only real spot I've had action from this season on that stretch. It's a little tricky to get to as you need to negotiate hideous quantities of stingers and brambles, a high bank with sloping and slippery declines. Not the best or most practical place to take a youngster but I was adamant i'd do my best to put her onto at least 1 fish!

She's not learned to cast yet so I had to do that task for her, but she was quite good at filling the feeder, placing the hook baits on with a needle and of course tying a PVA bag full of pellets. I put the upstream rod about 3-4 rod lengths out for her with a feeder of 2oz on and a River Monster Boilie on the hook. The other went some 20 yards down stream with a plain lead on and a small pva bag of pellets and a boilie hook bait.

It looked as if she was in for a bonanza!

We sat back to await results and after about quarter of an hour the left hand rod was away! In true Wye Barbel style! The spool screamed as the fish ripped yards of line and before I knew it Tash was on the rod and holding it herself! I asked her if she wanted help but she was clear that she wanted to do it herself. I watched from just behind her with my grip tightly attached to her belt as the fish made its merry way around the 6 yard wide stretch of river! I thought she was going water skiing at one point as the fish just kept taking line!

Eventually after some 10 minutes of fight, I netted the fish for her. I looked down and instantly knew she had a new PB in the net. I looked at her face and she was white! She looked gob smacked at the size of the fish, a particularly long one at that too! I set up the scales , mat and camera before lifting it clear of the water. It was a double for sure and she knew it was big! We weighed her at 10lb 4oz and of course it was her first ever double and only her 3rd of the species! We were both ecstatic!

Yet more incredible Wye Gold for Natasha!

After putting the fish back I told her that that fish may well be the only one of the evening as that was how it had been fishing of recent. She was so happy with the one she'd caught that it really didn't seem to matter in all honesty. Within minutes of us putting the fish back and before the left hand rod had been recast. She was into no 2 on the other rod. Another epic battle ensued and after a few minutes of fighting for authority, she won the battle and landed a 7lb 2oz barbel.

The scene was now set and the fish were clearly in the swim in a big way! The rod tip of the right hand rod hardly sat still on the next cast and it was just minutes before the next fish was banked at 8lb 5oz. This was followed by another of 8lb 1oz and yet another of 8lb 10oz! I just couldn't believe the change in the river and her luck that evening!

No 6 for Tash and at 7lb 14oz she couldn't have been happier!

More was to follow and just as darkness set in we were thinking of packing up. I had put the majority of the kit away and I had to get the scales and camera back out for her one last time with a 7lb 14oz beauty! She then informed me she wanted to stop another quarter of an hour and to see if I could catch one as she wanted to do the photographs! lol

I made one last cast on both rods and within minutes I was into a stunning hard fighter. The bank was now pretty treacherous and I kept Tash as far up the bank as possible away from the rivers edge. I slipped a few times so I wasn't keen for her to be near the water. She managed to net the fish for me from above the higher bank area and at 9lb 10oz I was well pleased with my second biggest fish of this season from the Wye.

Even the old man got two nice ones as well!

Whilst packing the rod away and folding the chairs etc away, Natasha shouted out that the rod butt was now in the air on the remaining rod and that the clutch was on over drive! Yet another Barbel was hooked and this one felt pretty tasty by all accounts. A good old tussle ensued and after what seemed like ages I banked my second for the evening at 9lb 14oz. A great result. I would have liked Natasha to have caught them all but she was adamant she wanted me to catch a couple as well. Bless her. I have to say now that despite all other sessions I've ever had, anywhere, with anyone....This tops the lot! What a truly memorable event that I will take with me to my grave!

Go on then, just one last cast! 9lb 10oz beauty!

Natasha is now firmly hooked on fishing and can't wait to get back out there. She wants to catch all sorts of fish too which in my opinion is magic! Can't understand anyone who's never caught all of our British Coarse species wanting to just fish for Carp for example....Very sad in my opinion as there is such a variety of fish to be caught that it's a shame for them to not be experienced due to fashion!

I personally can't wait for our next session together and I know she has ideas on beating my barbel PB of 11lb 4oz and she also wants a 20lb plus pike from the river this year! I know just the place to take her and I can't wait to see how she gets on holding a monster Wye Croc!!!!!!

Tight lines all
Keith x