End of Season Lessons

[Damian Kimmins]

I don't know about anyone else, but the end of the season has almost always and immediately been a time of reflection on the things observed and lessons learned over the past few weeks and months.
What adjustments to how you fish are you making or considering making during the time-out?
For me, I realised that there are indeed more times than I would otherwise give credit for that a fish is capable of taking a bait into it's mouth and moving with it without getting hooked. How I adapt with that knowledge is another question entirely.

 

[Tim Marks]

Here’s one:

My fishing mate lost a decent fish on the Thames back in the autumn. He assumed it was a barbel because he had already caught one from the same area fairly recently (and there don’t seem to be many carp in that area).

He lost it because of an unfortunate incident with a kayak in the dark (Entirely the kayaks fault as it was unlit). It damaged his braided mainline, which subsequently broke. He was mortified at leaving tackle in a fish. As a result he immediately changed to barbless hooks and encouraged me to do the same. He also returned to mono mainline (which I favour anyway).

During the last week of the season he landed a big fish from roughly the same area. In the corner of its mouth was his hook from last year.

It had 2” of hooklink attached to it, nothing more.

When he lost it, it had a longer hooklink, swivel, running lead and a length of rig tube (protection from the braided mainline) as well as a considerable length of braided line.

So; amazing that he caught the same fish and that the barbed hook was still in it. And great news that it had got rid of the attached tackle, was feeding well and in top condition, despite the hook. He was overjoyed to know that the fish had got through an unfortunate incident.

We both now use barbless hooks because you never know when something might go wrong and a barbless hook has to aid the fish in getting rid of any lost tackle….

And neither of us now use braided mainlines for this type of fishing.

 

[Lee White]

Make more time to go or should I say effort as I do think I have enough time

The problem for me is its a 80/90 mile round trip to the ribble from my house so it's not just nip out for an hour especially with the cost of fuel

 

[Alan Kay]

Make more time to go or should I say effort as I do think I have enough time

The problem for me is its a 80/90 mile round trip to the ribble from my house so it's not just nip out for an hour especially with the cost of fuel

It’s a 240 mile round trip for me having moved down to Worcestershire 2 years ago , having joined a local club and fishing new rivers i missed fishing with my nephew so decided to join my old club , only managed one trip so far but looking forward to getting back on the Ribble once the season starts .

 

[Anthony Pearson]

Never turn your back on a fish you are playing. I did, wading to the bank for a net and the fish kited to a snag.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Last season I spent most of my time in a particular swim on a particular river simply due to the fact that I had it doing pretty much what I wanted (producing me big fish on most occasions) but I did ignore the rest of the river quite often.
Next season a target of mine is definitely to cover more water and more venues too…. Mix things up a bit more.

 

[Mark Kingston]

I will find a northants nene barbel. Be more proactive. Rather than sitting on my hands and stop being lazy. Towards the end of the season I cut my roving tackle down to the bare minimum so I can be more mobile.

 

[Lee White]

It’s a 240 mile round trip for me having moved down to Worcestershire 2 years ago , having joined a local club and fishing new rivers i missed fishing with my nephew so decided to join my old club , only managed one trip so far but looking forward to getting back on the Ribble once the season starts .

Itsh hard work with the miles you have to do 240 miles regular would be dedication but it does stop them quick couple of hours of a night

 

[David Craine]

Do not ever remove the tops of superglue tubes with your teeth, it really spoils a session , and you cannot really concentrate when you are trying to unstick your lips from your teeth , when that “2 ft twitch” appears on your rod tip.


Been there, done it.

David

 

[Andy Bebbington]

to stop fishing the bristol avon for barbel as the fish are not there even though you convince yourself they are

 

[Chris Belcher]

I will find a northants nene barbel. Be more proactive. Rather than sitting on my hands and stop being lazy. Towards the end of the season I cut my roving tackle down to the bare minimum so I can be more mobile.

Ditto this - the carp angler in me takes stuff 'just incase' - going to ditch all the unnecessary clutter and leave it in the car. Also going to ignore carp stalking in the summer and hit the rivers late evening instead!

 

[Graham Elliott]

to stop fishing the bristol avon for barbel as the fish are not there even though you convince yourself they are

Ditto Andy
Substitute Lower Severn for Bristol Avon.

 

[Robert Cartmell]

Last season was my first river fishing,so I learnt plenty off lessons,iv still a lot to learn but I'll be starting next season a lot more confident,only problem is my season is going to be cut short as we are due a baby in September,so two kids under two ain't gonna leave much time for fishing!
Rob

 

[Paul Richardson]

Last season I spent most of my time in a particular swim on a particular river simply due to the fact that I had it doing pretty much what I wanted (producing me big fish on most occasions) but I did ignore the rest of the river quite often.
Next season a target of mine is definitely to cover more water and more venues too…. Mix things up a bit more.

I did the same on a big pike water that I'd blanked on for years, but putting the hours in and getting to know the venue paid dividends after Xmas with a string of good fish. Lesson learned is there really is no shortcut to putting in the hours, keep changing things until you crack the winning formula but accept this won't last forever and you'll most likely have to go through it all again, but even a little success and confidence is a wonderful thing. And don't give in, which would have been very, very easy.

 

[Jean-Pierre Bantin]

This was my first season for Barbel. It only lasted 4-5 weeks; first due to delay with Royal Mail deliverying my reel and then on my first session with my new Powermesh, which broke in the first hour. I can only imagine it was dropped whilst in the wharehouse and weakened it somehow (I was only trying to free it from a small but firm clump of grass). Eventually Daiwa kindly replaced it, several weeks later and it only got used the once.

Not being able to wait, I went with my SG4 Pike rod, far from ideal. However I learnt a lot in that short time:

- Do not discount smaller waters, even when others claim not many Barbel present
- Having the "perfect" setup is great, but certainly not a necessity
- Buy some walking boots with wide and deep lugs for muddy terrain on steep slopes (talk about some dangerous and comical moments)
- Don't bother fishing a swim for more than 20 mins on smaller waters. They either want it or they don't.
- Travel light
- Prepare my rod and bait "before" approaching a swim
- Lastly, a short rod is a good thing when travelling through heavy vegetation

Sorry if the list is quite long, but being new to this species and location I had a lot to learn.

I also managed my first ever double, which for a London river isn't bad (Wandle), on the very last day of the season. Really chuffed.

Here's a pic, I was ment to post it ages back.
Sorry if I look a bit rough, I hadn't slept the previous night as well as having soaking feet from slipping into the river four hours earlier.

 

[Bill Walford]

This was my first season for Barbel. It only lasted 4-5 weeks; first due to delay with Royal Mail deliverying my reel and then on my first session with my new Powermesh, which broke in the first hour. I can only imagine it was dropped whilst in the wharehouse and weakened it somehow (I was only trying to free it from a small but firm clump of grass). Eventually Daiwa kindly replaced it, several weeks later and it only got used the once.

Not being able to wait, I went with my SG4 Pike rod, far from ideal. However I learnt a lot in that short time:

- Do not discount smaller waters, even when others claim not many Barbel present
- Having the "perfect" setup is great, but certainly not a necessity
- Buy some walking boots with wide and deep lugs for muddy terrain on steep slopes (talk about some dangerous and comical moments)
- Don't bother fishing a swim for more than 20 mins on smaller waters. They either want it or they don't.
- Travel light
- Prepare my rod and bait "before" approaching a swim
- Lastly, a short rod is a good thing when travelling through heavy vegetation

Sorry if the list is quite long, but being new to this species and location I had a lot to learn.

I also managed my first ever double, which for a London river isn't bad (Wandle), on the very last day of the season. Really chuffed.

Here's a pic, I was ment to post it ages back.
Sorry if I look a bit rough, I hadn't slept the previous night as well as having soaking feet from slipping into the river four hours earlier.

View attachment 18800

Excellent! Well done Jean-Pierre. You can look as rough as you like hiding behind a cracker like that

 

[Terry Simner]

This was my first season for Barbel. It only lasted 4-5 weeks; first due to delay with Royal Mail deliverying my reel and then on my first session with my new Powermesh, which broke in the first hour. I can only imagine it was dropped whilst in the wharehouse and weakened it somehow (I was only trying to free it from a small but firm clump of grass). Eventually Daiwa kindly replaced it, several weeks later and it only got used the once.

Not being able to wait, I went with my SG4 Pike rod, far from ideal. However I learnt a lot in that short time:

- Do not discount smaller waters, even when others claim not many Barbel present
- Having the "perfect" setup is great, but certainly not a necessity
- Buy some walking boots with wide and deep lugs for muddy terrain on steep slopes (talk about some dangerous and comical moments)
- Don't bother fishing a swim for more than 20 mins on smaller waters. They either want it or they don't.
- Travel light
- Prepare my rod and bait "before" approaching a swim
- Lastly, a short rod is a good thing when travelling through heavy vegetation

Sorry if the list is quite long, but being new to this species and location I had a lot to learn.

I also managed my first ever double, which for a London river isn't bad (Wandle), on the very last day of the season. Really chuffed.

Here's a pic, I was ment to post it ages back.
Sorry if I look a bit rough, I hadn't slept the previous night as well as having soaking feet from slipping into the river four hours earlier.

View attachment 18800

Well done J-P, a flying start (in more ways than one by the sounds of it!) to your barbelling career. Was she caught on that 4000OC I sold you?

 

[Jean-Pierre Bantin]

Well done J-P, a flying start (in more ways than one by the sounds of it!) to your barbelling career. Was she caught on that 4000OC I sold you?

Yes and it performed admirably, spooled up with some GT60.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

This was my first season for Barbel. It only lasted 4-5 weeks; first due to delay with Royal Mail deliverying my reel and then on my first session with my new Powermesh, which broke in the first hour. I can only imagine it was dropped whilst in the wharehouse and weakened it somehow (I was only trying to free it from a small but firm clump of grass). Eventually Daiwa kindly replaced it, several weeks later and it only got used the once.

Not being able to wait, I went with my SG4 Pike rod, far from ideal. However I learnt a lot in that short time:

- Do not discount smaller waters, even when others claim not many Barbel present
- Having the "perfect" setup is great, but certainly not a necessity
- Buy some walking boots with wide and deep lugs for muddy terrain on steep slopes (talk about some dangerous and comical moments)
- Don't bother fishing a swim for more than 20 mins on smaller waters. They either want it or they don't.
- Travel light
- Prepare my rod and bait "before" approaching a swim
- Lastly, a short rod is a good thing when travelling through heavy vegetation

Sorry if the list is quite long, but being new to this species and location I had a lot to learn.

I also managed my first ever double, which for a London river isn't bad (Wandle), on the very last day of the season. Really chuffed.

Here's a pic, I was ment to post it ages back.
Sorry if I look a bit rough, I hadn't slept the previous night as well as having soaking feet from slipping into the river four hours earlier.

View attachment 18800

It’s an absolute belter JP no need to hold it so far out. We can clearly see it’s an awesome specimen.

 

[Jean-Pierre Bantin]

It’s an absolute belter JP no need to hold it so far out. We can clearly see it’s an awesome specimen.

A had a carpist who passed by and took the pics for me. He wanted me to hold it out far more than that. He was getting a little frustrated with me for not holding it so that the tail was straight, showing its true length.