Barbel society conference

Well done Natasha!!!!

Hi everyone, not long to go now for all us river enthusiasts eh? Just a week of waiting left before it's a manic let loose day of enthralling  barbel chasing! In hindsight though it will probably be a poor show of fish as it was last year for me....The reason being I suspect last year, down to poor water levels, late spawning and low D.O (dissolved oxygen).

I just found the fish hard to come by for about the first month of the season and I started to feel like i'd made a huge mistake getting myself so deeply hooked back on river fishing. Last close season I was truly mortified to have to reel in for the statutory 3 month break but after such a poor end to the season I found myself not really missing it too much this year.....That was until I went to the 20th Anniversary Barbel Society Show in Warwickshire yesterday!

Let me start off at the beginning of how it all came about.... For those of you who've not heard, my daughter Natasha caught 7 barbel last year in 2 short evening trips on the River Wye. First session she had an 8lb 14oz fish and then on the second trip she managed 6 fish including a double for the first of the evening at 10lb 4oz. No mean feat for a 7 year old! She played the fish all by herself for which we had a lovely video off to prove her captures.

Well, short story long, it was noticed by a few people in the know and one particular friend Bobby Baker of the Barbel Society felt that the capture warranted a reward and certainly some kind of acknowledgment. Just the week before the show I received a link to the BS facebook page with a host of pictures of Natashas fish that had been uploaded by Bobby with a view to them being put forward for the prestigious Dave Mason award for the Best Fish Of The Year 2014/15.

Natsasha's amazing fish of 10lb 4oz that won her the runner up spot for the 2014/5 BS Dave Mason Award!

There were numerous high profile anglers and alike commenting beneath and it appeared that she was a popular choice for the award. Well, we drove the 160 miles up there on Sunday to the show and we weren't disappointed....We were made very welcome by all the members, committee and old friends alike. In fact I have to say one of the warmest welcomes I have ever had at a fishing meet. It was great to catch up with Peter Reading who i'd not personally seen for over 10 years and despite both of us being slightly greyer and balder, I don't think either of us has changed much! lol

3 legends in their own right! Natasha with Dave Harrell and Des Taylor!

Natasha was given a cap by top bloke Rob Hilton who does all the editorial stuff for the awesome BS magazine and we met further top notch guys all who made us feel very welcome. I had a great 20 minute chat with a chap called Christophe, who has created a wonderful bait distribution system which is the likes of nothing I've ever seen before....very clever. I will be testing it out in the coming weeks and then putting it up on the Nuts site for you lovely guys to get your mitts on!

Natasha and I picked up some great bargains including a cracking second hand Drennan 1.25lb tc Series 7 avon/quiver rod for a stealand the awesome 'Barbel' 'A lifetimes addiction' book by Trefor West (signed) for a bargain price as well!

Steve Pope, Bobby Baker and Pete Reading

We then went to see Des Taylor and Dave Harrell doing their thing on th big stage and both were not only very entertaining but also very informative and a lot was learnt from both of these incredible legends of angling. Both chaps found time to have a nice picture with Natasha too, which I was extremely grateful to them both for as was she. Top fellas.....I particularly enjoyed Daves talk on float fishing with a waggler for barbel, which is something I have to confess i'd never considered to be a useful or effective presentation, but it just goes to show how wrong one can be as he's done so well on the technique! Something I will be putting into my angling from the word 'go' this year on the 16th June!

After the talks I quizzed Dave about the length of line he fished over depth for his float fishing and it came to me as quite a shock that he suggested coming very slightly up off the bottom....this seemed alien to me for barbel fishing as it would be any bottom feeding fish like grayling etc.... But thinking about it, he's spot on. I mean lets think about it now. The more the feed trickles into the swim, the more the fish become occupied on feeding on it. There becomes jostling and competition for food and the fish will start to rise up off the bottom to gain the edge over the competition and get the feed first. Just as happens with carp etc in the lakes. Great thinking and again something I intend on trying this year.

I've now set myself a bit of a goal for 2015 and that is to try and land a double figure barbel on the float, something I've never done before. I got close as a young lad fishing on the Dorset Stours Throop fishery with fish to 9lb 10oz but never caught anything bigger than that on the float. Another great goal to hopefully aim for.

Who'd of thought a little common would spark a controversy?

We then sat back and listened to Peter Wheat who is just a pleasure to hear talk. A wealth of knowledge, a gentle old man with a huge love of the BS and of fish all round. He then brought up Natasha's fish and asked her to join him on the stage in front of literally hundreds of people. Well, to say she was shocked was an understatement...but she did really well and politely conversed with a member of Barbel angling royalty on her capture of her said specimen fish. He then told her that she hadn't won the trophy but she had won a very special prize of 2 days guided by Dave Mason himself on a private stretch of the wonderful River Teme! Both Natasha and I were totally shocked and in awe. A huge cheer went up around the hall and lots of applause as she shook everyone's hands.

Not long to go now!

We received countless congratulations after and are still receiving them on Face Book etc now. Thanks must go out to all involved, Dave Mason, Steve Pope, Peter Wheat, Peter Reading and of course the very man who put her forward....Bobby Baker, cheers my friend, I think I may owe you a pint! x After the show we received a few other goodies for Tash which included a rod and some tackle items as well. Thanks to all that made a special effort to make both of us welcome and to those that voted for Natasha.

I've not done a huge amount of fishing this last week due to having lots of work on but I did have a few hours free on Friday afternoon to visit a local club lake and try to grab a couple of fish off the top. I managed about 7 fish before landing a nice low double common just a yard from the bank. I grabbed a quick picture of her and slipped her back into the water.

Tight lines all and I hope you have the most wonderful start to the 2015 River Season
Much love
Keith x