"The Hampshire Avon - Then and Now "
By Derek Lewis
Well, you asked me to do another article so here it is!
But it wont be as good as the Richard Walker one and sorry if it's not your river.
The first time I saw this river I was wearing short trousers, I was 12years old and mum and took me on holiday to Christchurch in Dorset.
As we where nearing the town, we crossed over this bridge with a river {Iford bridge} I was straining my eyes to have a look through the car window and noticed apart from the weed and flowing water that there was a sign in the river that said private fishing.I thought that's a shame you can't fish it {how wrong I was} Then I started to wonder what was in there. I never got to fish it at that time but never forgot it.
As I grew up and bought my first car, I kept reading fishing books and there was a series of little books on famous rivers and one of them was called the Hampshire Avon so I bought that one.
The size of some of those different fish that were in there - barbel, chub, salmon, sea trout and carp - the list and size of them was mind bogling. Places like the Royalty, Bisterne, Ibsly, Bickton and you could get day tickets. I just had to have some of this!
In the late sixties and seventies I always had a weeks holiday with my nephew down there and one stretch was called Ringwood Fisheries, only a short stretch but held quite a few barbel - and a few big ones!
We used to sit there all day with a lump of meat on the hook and catch nothing {didnt know any better then} but come about 730pm it was almost like the river board had come along and stocked the river with barbel, and barbel after barbel we caught including a couple of doubles. The bites came so quick you had to hold the rod at all times. We used to stay late sometimes {wasnt suposed to} and one evening the next day, about 8oclock I had a bite. The rod pulled right round and I struck! Now I don't know if any of you have ever had that feeling that 1I'm not going to land this'? Well I did!
It headed off downstream at such a rate of knots it was almost frightning. It just kept going and going and as I tried to slow it down whatever it was, it was having none of it. So I applied more pressure and the rod bent more and more and something had to give and it did, the 8lbs line parted like a pistol shot.
I put the rod down onto the bank and walked upstream to my nephew. I never said anything but he did "you've lost a big fish hav'nt you Derek?"
I said "yes steve I have."
I can't believe it was a barbel with that much power. But if it was, it must have been a big one, then again it could have been a salmon as there were plenty of them in there at that time. I will never know.
I think the most barbelI had was at Bisterne - seven I think, all between 6lbs to 8lbs {the armchair swim} if anybody knows it ? Strange as it may seem I packed up at seven oclock because I didn't want to catch any more as they seemed to be all the same size. All the fish where caught on sweetcorn.
Later on after the Martin Hooper tuition, I went with my mate from work to Ashly Bends Somerly Estate and spotted a shoal of barbel taking feathers {yes feathers} off the top of the water. I was told this a few months before from a nice angler and friend who is sadly no longer with us - Keith Robertson who owned and ran a guest house for anglers along the Salisbury road opposite the Lifelands Fishery. He was a good angler and caught plenty of barbel and I remember him saying to me, "if you want to catch them Derek, use casters and a swimfeeder and chuck it in the weeds". I never tried it but he caught plenty and never had many blanks either. He got called out one day to photograph two big barbel that Martin Hooper had caught from Bisterne, the biggest I think was 14lbs and one other at 13 something. He also lost a much bigger fish which Martin Hooper estimated at 15 plus. There where photos in the Angling Times of Martin holding these two big fish if any body remembers?
.........back to Ashly Bends. The feathers coming downstream were from swans that where flapping about on the shallow water upstream and they where definitely barbel. Perhaps they thought that they where flies, I don't know.
Paul and I baited up our swims nearbank and about 1 rod length out. We had the same rods, same line, same end rigs and same bait -sweetcorn and we fished about 30yds apart.
Later on, my center pin screeched into life as a fish had taken the bait and after a short tussle a decent barbel slid into the net. After weighing it the barbel went 10lbs exactly, not a bad start I thought.
A little while later the reel screeched again and I called to Paul again to do the honours, "Oh no" he said," not another one",
Yes! Another barbel onto the scales and another 10lber!!
I checked again with Paul that was the only weight we could make it 10lbs. Two tens!!! I was really enjoying it now - me thinking can I do the treble!
By now I was feeling sorry for Paul as he hadn't had a bite at all so I said I'll pull in one of my rods and you fish next to me so then you can catch one. So he did just that. So I've got one rod out and Paul has got one rod out next to each other, baits side by side, you know whats coming don't you?!
A center pin screeched again, "No it can't be!" I said to Paul.
But it was.
My rod with the reel screeching and after a short scrap Paul put the net under another barbel and on the scales it went, NO can't be but, YES it was after double checking it went 10lbs again!!! Nothing we could do to make this last fish be an oz over or under.
Never had this happen again since but if that seems strange, why didnt Paul catch any as the baits where side by side, we used the same gear, baits, setup?
After this session I though about it a lot and I could only come up with one solution and its this - my rods were very low to the water but pauls were higher up. That's all I could think of. Good session for me anyway.
Years ago you could see barbel and other fish nearly everywhere you looked but not anymore. Vast areas of water with no fish, sometimes walking miles before you see anything and then it might be a chub. Very isolated now however if and when you do spot some or maybe just one you won't find any small ones -well I havn't anyway.
I saw just one barbel last season and I wouldnt mind spending two or more seasons trying to catch just that one fish, if I can get into the swim. The biggest I've seen in the Avon since Ive been going down there!
Well we have all got our dreams and that one is my dream
Regards to you all.
Derek Lewis
August 2005