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Fishing a low stocked water

Clive Shipman

Clive Shipman

Senior Member & Supporter
I suppose in years gone by the Bristol Avon was fairly prolific and we made hay whilst the sun shined. Like a lot of rivers the decline has drove many to give up. I suppose in some respects I am a little foolish/mad in continuing my quest for very solitary bigger fish but I cant get enough of the buzz of landing fish from sections that had previously been given up on or don't have a good track record. Are there many of you "head banging" on stretches for little reward? I often see big hits on the Trent or good catches on the Wye or the Severn and wonder would the guys fishing those venues stick around for half a dozen fish a season? Any thoughts on the subject or pointers on what keeps you sane fishing such stretches with a high level of difficulty are most welcome.
Clive (Shippo)
 

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Sheer pigheadiness , determination bloody minded and the belief that the next bite could be the fish your after , Hants Avon is such a river , small head of transient fish many of which have been caught multiple times and are very cautious , add a very very flooded river for most of the winter with diminishing areas fishable and youve got a recipe for a gruelling season ,
 
been wasting my time on a venue for many years clive as you know but only went a hanfdul of times last year and don`t see me going back until at least october if i bother at all.
 
I love catching fish too much, to be wasting a whole season chasing a handful of barbel.
I realised this, after the Ouse was virtually emptied of it's barbel over two seasons and I hardly touched a rod for the following five seasons.
 
Such a shame the stock levels of the BA ain’t what they were years ago.
I used to live in Melksham about 30 years ago only for a year, and I loved fishing this river for barbel and chub with my dad at that time.
There was plenty to go at back then and even more so round laycock way. What a river and I can fully appreciate why you keep at it Clive even with the decline in stocks.

No from my experience i don’t believe 90% of anglers that are blessed with prolific waters, where catching is quite normal could then go and fill your shoes and switch to harder waters like that. What you catch in a full season would be less than they catch on a very bad day.

I do both. I’m not local enough to the Trent to see it as anything more than a treat and i only ever float fish this river but I have to get back to reality and put in the hours to get a result on less prolific venues on my door step. Even then I fish the Nene more often than not.
That’s not an easy river by any stretch of the imagination but it’s still more sporting in the right locations than the really hard waters like the G Ouse or lower Lea.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Such a shame the stock levels of the BA ain’t what they were years ago.
I used to live in Melksham about 30 years ago only for a year, and I loved fishing this river for barbel and chub with my dad at that time.
There was plenty to go at back then and even more so round laycock way. What a river and I can fully appreciate why you keep at it Clive even with the decline in stocks.

No from my experience i don’t believe 90% of anglers that are blessed with prolific waters, where catching is quite normal could then go and fill your shoes and switch to harder waters like that. What you catch in a full season would be less than they catch on a very bad day.

I do both. I’m not local enough to the Trent to see it as anything more than a treat and i only ever float fish this river but I have to get back to reality and put in the hours to get a result on less prolific venues on my door step. Even then I fish the Nene more often than not.
That’s not an easy river by any stretch of the imagination but it’s still more sporting in the right locations than the really hard waters like the G Ouse or lower Lea.
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Clive Shipman said:
I suppose in years gone by the Bristol Avon was fairly prolific and we made hay whilst the sun shined. Like a lot of rivers the decline has drove many to give up. I suppose in some respects I am a little foolish/mad in continuing my quest for very solitary bigger fish but I cant get enough of the buzz of landing fish from sections that had previously been given up on or don't have a good track record. Are there many of you "head banging" on stretches for little reward? I often see big hits on the Trent or good catches on the Wye or the Severn and wonder would the guys fishing those venues stick around for half a dozen fish a season? Any thoughts on the subject or pointers on what keeps you sane fishing such stretches with a high level of difficulty are most welcome.
Clive (Shippo)
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I get it Clive, the B.A will always be home to me, well I was born next to the river in Bristol and it was the river I fished in my youth and returned to in the 1990s.
I mostly fished Keynsham and Saltford and the Chew at Keynsham as a kid.
Back then Barbel in the river were unheard of it was Roach and Chub mostly the occasional Trout and Chew Grayling.
The Avon back then had little concern regarding pollution and yet the Bream Roach etc were prolific the Keynsham stretch did 100lb weights in matches.
I moved away did 5 years in RAF and other things like marriage and kids and returned 30 years later to Malmesbury area and I rediscovered my youthful love of the Avon, and it was all Barbel now, and caught my first Barbel at Langley Burrell had my three boys along on that occasion and that lit the blue touch paper.
I now live alongside the Severn and the other Avon the Warks...and both provided great sport initially but now like most other rivers are low in stock, but it doesn't matter too much it's just good to catch anything, I dislike travelling too far in search of Barbel but those that do deserve the rewards.
Like I say Clive I get it, and just one of those Laycock barbel is priceless and well earned.
 
I get it Clive, it's very similar for me with my fishing with the Gt Ouse. I live 15 minutes from the Nene nowadays, it's lovely and I rarely blank on my visits, but when I fish the Ouse and I catch it's just worth so much more to me, it's why I keep going back.
I've been and fished the Trent, caught loads and felt dirty afterwards, I get why people go because we all like a bend in the rod, but I've caught one or two barbel over the years now and for me it's about the rewards of the effort I put in and the little adventure each trip brings, the hope of knowing you're just one bite away from something special is what keeps me motivated.
 
I’ll be out on the BA again and despite it being hard it’s my river and I will stick with it rather like staying loyal to my football team, I can’t just abandon it. I started back in the winter of 2004 and have amazing memories of Claverton, Avon Cliff, Limpley and Lacock. I’ve never had more than 10 fish in a season but I think I probably remember every bite and have valued every fish landed. The gaps between fish and the work you have to put in make it a worthwhile activity and I feel like I understand the river pretty well. I like exploring stretches that have gone out of fashion and nothing can be better than succeeding after a plan has been imagined. I like the odd trip to the Wye and catch my share, however being able to nip out locally and take the river’s pulse is a life essential and I shall continue to dream. I must be some sort of masochist as in winter, for light relief, I fish for “2lb roach!”
 
Dan Whitelock said:
I've been and fished the Trent, caught loads and felt dirty afterwards, I
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I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean by that Dan??
It’s almost like you resent the amount of fish in that river which in my opinion can only be a good thing. If a river is teaming with fish, it would surely suggest it’s a healthy self sustainable one and we’d be blessed to have a lot more like it.
What do you mean by felt dirty afterwards?
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean by that Dan??
It’s almost like you resent the amount of fish in that river which in my opinion can only be a good thing. If a river is teaming with fish, it would surely suggest it’s a healthy self sustainable one and we’d be blessed to have a lot more like it.
What do you mean by felt dirty afterwards?
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It's so obviously not about health of the river rather than the love of the Ouse and it feels like cheating on his beloved Ouse. 😂
 
Simon Burt said:
I’ll be out on the BA again and despite it being hard it’s my river and I will stick with it rather like staying loyal to my football team, I can’t just abandon it. I started back in the winter of 2004 and have amazing memories of Claverton, Avon Cliff, Limpley and Lacock. I’ve never had more than 10 fish in a season but I think I probably remember every bite and have valued every fish landed. The gaps between fish and the work you have to put in make it a worthwhile activity and I feel like I understand the river pretty well. I like exploring stretches that have gone out of fashion and nothing can be better than succeeding after a plan has been imagined. I like the odd trip to the Wye and catch my share, however being able to nip out locally and take the river’s pulse is a life essential and I shall continue to dream. I must be some sort of masochist as in winter, for light relief, I fish for “2lb roach!”
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I've had the odd 2lb roach from the BA. When I wasn't after barbel, I was after roach, usually
 
Clive Shipman said:
It's so obviously not about health of the river rather than the love of the Ouse and it feels like cheating on his beloved Ouse. 😂
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Fair enough. That’s why I asked the question. I’ve never had a sense of feeling like I’m cheating on a river by fishing another one before I must admit.
Thanks for clarifying 👍🏻
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean by that Dan??
It’s almost like you resent the amount of fish in that river which in my opinion can only be a good thing. If a river is teaming with fish, it would surely suggest it’s a healthy self sustainable one and we’d be blessed to have a lot more like it.
What do you mean by felt dirty afterwards?
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When you are out with the missus and a pretty young thing might just turn your head...and the good lady notices... sort of feeling?
 
The problem with areas i fish is that most if not all are using nutritional good/ high baits and its hard to get your bait to stand out as something special nutritionaly , i'm competing with ABS ,CC MOORE, DNA,JOHN BAKER, STICKY BAITS, AQUA, BLAKES to name a few , all good quality all nutritious , mine is just one of many that are going in certain swims continuasly , hard to get a fish to pick yours up over anyone elses
 
Clive,

I suppose I’m one of those “head-bangers”. Have been fishing my “local” Sussex Rother for a number of years now as it’s only a 20-25 min drive from my home. The river has an extremely low stock of barbel and has been getting progressively harder in recent years - if I say I made 40 trips for 3 barbel last Season that may give you a good idea as to the challenge of catching down here😂😂, and a good friend of mine made 25 trips for no barbel! I’ve been lucky enough to fish many of the southern rivers over the years (Avon, Stour, Kennet, Loddon) but the Rother is a totally different prospect in terms of difficulty. When reading the stories of Trent catches re: numbers of fish caught in one session etc.. we can only dream of that as it’s just not possible here. What keeps us muppets going is I suppose the “chance” of a barbel making a guest appearance , coupled with the fantastic scenery and wildlife 😄
 
I have the Ouse within a 5min walk from home and love the place, fished it since I was a kid and it will always be a special place for me. The river is certainly not the same river it was in what many call it’s hay day but personally I have a different view. I think there is more of a natural balanced ecosystem now than there was when Adams mill/Kickles was breaking records regularly - IMO that was an aberration that was never going to last. I’m sure I will come in for some flack regarding the otter kills, and yes many specimen fish were killed but I also think the otters took easy pickings of old/lethargic fish. There are still some exciting fishing to be had for all species…and the Barbel are not over fed fat river pigs but solid muscular powerful specimens.
But going back to the original question from my own experience in the last 2 years of doing a lot of observing, prebaiting and lots of feature finding, and enduring many blanks because in hindsight I just things wrong! I’ve made 4 very important conclusions that in practice have rewarded me with 4 very decent fish:
1. Find the fish…where they reside and where they feed/patrol etc
2. Once you’ve found them do not prebait or fish the snags/places they feel comfortable in…do this and the fish very quickly move somewhere else
3. Choose a bait you have confidence in
4. Apply the bait sparingly away from the their ‘home’ but somewhere you’ve seen them feed/patrol - this is also where you should fish…do not pressure them in their ‘home’

Just my experience based on what I’ve read others advise on….so nothing original but can honestly say actively putting this into practice has really worked but it took many many hours of not fishing and just doing the groundwork
 
Alan Palmer said:
I have the Ouse within a 5min walk from home and love the place, fished it since I was a kid and it will always be a special place for me. The river is certainly not the same river it was in what many call it’s hay day but personally I have a different view. I think there is more of a natural balanced ecosystem now than there was when Adams mill/Kickles was breaking records regularly - IMO that was an aberration that was never going to last. I’m sure I will come in for some flack regarding the otter kills, and yes many specimen fish were killed but I also think the otters took easy pickings of old/lethargic fish. There are still some exciting fishing to be had for all species…and the Barbel are not over fed fat river pigs but solid muscular powerful specimens.
But going back to the original question from my own experience in the last 2 years of doing a lot of observing, prebaiting and lots of feature finding, and enduring many blanks because in hindsight I just things wrong! I’ve made 4 very important conclusions that in practice have rewarded me with 4 very decent fish:
1. Find the fish…where they reside and where they feed/patrol etc
2. Once you’ve found them do not prebait or fish the snags/places they feel comfortable in…do this and the fish very quickly move somewhere else
3. Choose a bait you have confidence in
4. Apply the bait sparingly away from the their ‘home’ but somewhere you’ve seen them feed/patrol - this is also where you should fish…do not pressure them in their ‘home’

Just my experience based on what I’ve read others advise on….so nothing original but can honestly say actively putting this into practice has really worked but it took many many hours of not fishing and just doing the groundwork
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Superb post Alan
 
I primarily fish the Avon around Warwick, mainly because I don’t have much time on my hands and I can be on the bank within <15mins for a few hours fishing in the evening.

I know it has declined in the last 6-years but it took me two years to get a book so I’m buggered if I’m not going to use it.

I’m averaging 2/3 fish a season and blanking 95% of my time fishing for barbel but catching decent chub. The surroundings are beautiful, wildlife is abundant and I barely see another angler. However, the stretch is VERY heavily match fished at the weekends.

Talking to other anglers I have seen, this is about the norm in terms of returns for the season with most catching <5 fish.

I could spend 90mins each-way in my car going to the Wye but I’d need time off work during the week and it doesn’t suit my style or approach.

I’m very much a “check the levels, check the weather, roll some bait, go fishing” kind of angler. However, I am trying more of a pre-baiting approach this season so time will tell if that changes.
 
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