“Floody Hell “
By Steve Williams
As I write this the rivers through out the country are starting to rise with lovely brown worm water.Ideal conditions for Barbel.But it’s surprising how many fishermen find these conditions too daunting. What you are about to read is the way I tackle a flooded middle Severn.
Living in Bridgnorth helps me to keep an eye on what’s happening, but even if you don’t live close enough to watch the conditions change you can still plan your visit well by watching the weather reports and the reading the river reports section on BFW. What you are looking for is worm south westerly and a dropping barometric pressure, that will undoubtedly bring in wet weather.The next thing is to time your visit to coincide with the level topping out and starting to drop.It takes about 3 days for heavy rain in Mid and North Wales to take effect on the middle Severn.I am lucky, I can fish the river on the rise, topping out and falling, to pinpoint when they feed best.
The Barbel will feed in all the conditions, but the rise can sometimes cause you problems with debris in the water catching on the line.One way to help with rubbish on the line is to tie a stop knot 2-3ft above your lead. This will catch a lot of the leaves and twigs etc, another is to fish behind a sunken bush or tree, which will help to"filter out" some of the rubbish.
One of the most simple, and most important pieces of advice I can offer to anyone thinking of fishing a flooded river, is to get to know the stretch you are planning to fish before the floods.There is very little point just turning up on a stretch of river and casting out blind. 10 ft of colored water can easily cover a bush, small tree or rocks and you won’t know until it’s too late.I have photos of the stretches of river I fish, taken in the Summer, showing all the swims that I feel could be fishable during the flood.
The photos show anything that could cause me problems once the river rises, like boulders and concrete blocks, bushes/ root’s scaffolding etc.I even visit the stretch and remove anything that I can that might cause me problems at a later date.
(See pictures 1127, 1131, 1132 below)
Picture 1127
Picture 1131
Picture 1132
If I have a problem with snagging up, I can simply check the picture when I get home and see if there is anything showing on them, if there is, I can alter the position I cast to next time, or if nothing shows up on the photograph I will leave the swim till I can check it in low water conditions. No point risking loosing fish on a new snag, when there are plenty more swims to fish.
The sort of swims I am looking for are areas of smooth water, boils indicate an obstruction or uneven bottom, never good to have an uneven bottom.
(See pictures 1892 and 1120 below)
Picture 1892
Picture 1120
Some of the best swims are areas that in normal summer conditions are dry land, or only have a couple of inches of water over gravel/sandy bottom.Ideally, you don’t want to be casting far, just a gentle lob out is enough, so the areas need to be close to the bank. One swim that has regularly produced fish for me is an area where anglers sit in the Summer months and fish from. (see picture 1130 below), but during a flood a willow bush just upstream breaks the current and gives a lovely glide/crease type swim.
Picture 1130
I normally rove down-stream, giving each swim 15-20 minutes, which will normally be a couple of casts, if no bites materialize will move on, which will mean that two free offerings will have been struck off the hook and the swim pre-baited for when I then rove back up-stream later on, returning to the swims in which I have either had fish/bites from, or I just fancy another go in.I can in good conditions, by which I mean 4-5 ft minimum and anything up to 15-18 ft on, I can catch 6 or more fish in a couple of hours fishing, I think my best session produced 13 fish in about 4 hours.Because the river is up and colored, fishing in the dark isn’t required, but I do feel that the fish are easier to catch during the night, so if you are aloud, try it, but it isn’t necessary.
Rigs are kept simple, hook length is normally a coated braid of some kind, of which I don’t strip back, I find this stiffness helps reduce tangles, tied with a large strong hook on one end, and a loop on the other, fastened to a strong swivel. The lead is attached via a snap link, so I can change it if I need to, with a bead on the line below the snaplink to help cushion and protect the knot.
My rod is a 2lb test curve Ron Thompson Barbel rod, as I tend to hold the rod and touch ledger, quiver tips aren’t needed.Leads tend to be between 2oz-4oz Grippers or flat leads to help hold bottom, and an Okumer reel (it has a bait runner facility, but I only use it when I put the rod down to pour a drink or answer the phone).
Line is anything of the 10-15 lb breaking strain bracket, that you have confidence in.And a small bag containing a few bits and bob’s, plus maybe a flask/camera/scales etc.
Bait is easy for me. Meat rules supreme. I’m not too bothered about which brand, but the more you pay the less fat is included, so, as fat is buoyant, the more expensive ones tend to sink better. I tend to burry the hook due to the leaf’s etc that can catch on an exposed hook, and the fact that sometimes the lead will shift across the river bed and snag. The middle Severn Barbel love meat, but they can become a bit wary of cubes of meat so one little dodge I use is to make a meat paste. It’s simple to make………..Liquidize two tins of meat, one at a time into as smaller pieces as possible (use a course cheese grater if “she who must be obeyed" wont let you near the one in the kitchen), and place the mix into a large mixing bowl. Boil the kettle, and place a large heaped teaspoon full of either Marmite or Bovril into a mug and fill the mug with the boiling water.Dissolve the Bovril/Marmite into the water and pour this over the meat. Mix it into a sloppy mush then add pure brown crumb to the mix, until a nice firm paste is formed. I then, with a knotless knot, hair-rig a cork ball to a size 6 or 4 strong hook tied to my braided hook length. I mould the meat paste around both the cork and the hook, so by giving the past something to bind to (you can just mould it around the hook itself if casting isn’t required), and if or when the paste either falls of or is struck off to re cast the cork raises the hook up off the bottom and away from and snag’s.
One last point, SAFETY. 10 ft of foaming flood water will show no mercy, do not put your self at risk for a fish. There is only one way you will be going if you slip in and that’s Digles weir. Unfortunately, it happens every year. Please be careful.
Middle Severn flood water Barbel fishing isn’t about big fish, yes they are there, bigger than most realize. It is about the joy of catching small to medium sized fish, from swims that most anglers think are un-fishable, in conditions that most think are not worthy of a few hours and a couple of tins of meat, but you know different, don’t you, or just ask these too.
Picture 1897
(left Kris Price & right Martyn Lloyd)
I am at the moment spending a lot of time on the Lower Severn, trying to get to grips with the fishing there during a flood.There are many difficulties to overcome, but as I start to sort out a few of the problems, I will write a part 2 on lower Severn flood water fishing.
Steve Williams
October 2005