Todays session and some questions

[Lewis Anderson]

Went for a short 4 hour session this morning on the Medway, fishin shrimp boilies and halibut pellets on a small pva bag. 6 inch snakebite hooklength with hair rig 20mm boilie 8lb fox soft steel in brown (all i got till payday) on a running 1oz lead. all in hope to catch a Barbel although its been a while since i last went fishing so a carp or chub 4lb+ would of been welcome!

The river is runnin at slow walking pace, i was 200yards down stream of east farleigh lock. I didnt fish the weir pool vicinity itself because i got a knee injury and didnt want to risk jumping down to the swim there.

Apart from when i fish in very close proximity to the weir pools i never catch anything other then if i was to be predator fishing.

As this part of the Medway is a very brown coloured water all year round and pretty deep ive got now idea whats on the bottom other then a few rocks and a bit of weed so im pretty much fishing blind every time, i only see a fish if it comes up to the surface. Because i have had so many blanks i get a bit frustrated tho its better then sitting indoors thats for sure.

I know for a fact pellets and boilies have been catching barbel and meat catching barbel and chub. so i know im using the right baits, and im confident that my rigs are good.

What i dont know is!

Am i fishing the right part of the river?

Am i being patient enough?

How long should i leave my hook bait for?


Every time ive spoke to another angler they say luncheon meat far bank for chub to 6lb should get a bite i 20 mins etc. regular 4 and 5s come out from there but it never happens for me

When i fish the Hant Avon particularly the Royalty, I know that there are fish in there as i see them come out regularly. As i have been there 14 times i know what the river looks like in the low clear and know what to expect when its coloured. So i know how to fish it!

Im not fishing with confidence on my local stretches although im using the same techniques as other local anglers.

Anyway i came home today without a fish in the net although i did come home with all my tackle , but it was only a small session!!

Better luck next time i guess. 2 weeks time back down the avon.!

 

[Simon Haggis]

> 6 inch snakebite hooklength with hair rig 20mm boilie 8lb fox soft steel in brown (all i got till payday) on a running 1oz lead.

scaling things down might help you get some more bites if you fish in daylight hours.

If I could make a suggestion I'd go for a 12" to 18" hooklength so that your tackle and mainline are further out the way and less likely to spook a fish.

During daylight hours try a half boilie if all you have is 20mms as 20mm's are too big I feel. Go for a size 8 or 10 hook perhaps with flourocarbon hooklength - try some 10lb kryston stuff for hooklength as it's cheap and very good as it's invisible but I guess in deep muddy water not such a concern.

You should know what the riverbed is like so spend a bit of time casting a lead about - you can count it down to the river bed on a tight line to find the depth and drag it slowly back to feel and find out whether there's gravel or silt etc on the bottom. There's no shortcuts on this.

When you can be confident you won't be snagged and have a good presentation I'd leave your bait in the water for as long as possible, as recasting spooks the fish. I leave mine in for 8 hours at a time on tricky stretches.

Night fishing helps too!

Hope this is useful and gd luck.

 

[Lewis Anderson]

Thanks for your reply Simon ill put them tips into practice next time i go, hoping to get a night or two in next week,

Do you think it would pay to do much in the way of pre baiting?

 

[Rhys Perry]

I'd agree with Simon, certainly longer hooklengths and smaller baits, you might even want to try a running backlead as well, just to pin as much down as possible.
Fish into darkness if you can and yes, prebaiting will help I'm sure, though there's always a chance someone else might be in the swim next time you go to fish it!

 

[Simon King]

As this part of the Medway is a very brown coloured water all year round and pretty deep



QUOTE]


Your rig sounds fine in these conditions. How far out are you casting? If it's deep under your rod-tip, try a bait 3 feet from the near-margin, or at the base of the narginal shelf (if there is one). Otherwise, try droppering a patch of bait (hemp/boilies/pellet) at several different distances out and fish them in turn, an hour on each.

Personally I'd fish your rig on a 2 or 3 oz bolt-rig (and back-lead it), not running. Defeats the point of hair-rigging.

 

[Simon Haggis]

Do you think it would pay to do much in the way of pre baiting?

pre-baiting always helps yes. I've never lived anywhere near a barbel river so cannot capitalise on pre-baiting for barbel but would love to one day as its the way to get 'em.

from carp experience, the more effort you put into pre-baiting the easier the fish are to catch. the better the bait and the longer you can resist fishing over the spot the better the rewards.

cheers

 

[Mark Lavis]

Lewis,

The Barbel are few and far between on that part of the Medway mostly travellers from further upstream I think-have you tried Teston Bridge as they are definately in that section along with Carp,Chub etc and some decent size ones too, also there are some swims which have easier access just by the bridge,it gets busy at weekends so you need to get there early and sadly there is no night fishing,day tickets are purchased on the bank.

Good luck.

http://www.testonbridgeangling.com/default.htm

 

[Lewis Anderson]

Lewis,

The Barbel are few and far between on that part of the Medway mostly travellers from further upstream I think-have you tried Teston Bridge as they are definately in that section along with Carp,Chub etc and some decent size ones too, also there are some swims which have easier access just by the bridge,it gets busy at weekends so you need to get there early and sadly there is no night fishing,day tickets are purchased on the bank.

Good luck.

http://www.testonbridgeangling.com/default.htm

Hi Mark, I have fished teston yes and will have a few sessions there soon, but i know that barbel are coming out of farleigh, including a 9 lb recapture last week. the perks of being a free stretch and night fishing is why im attacking this particular stretch. Im going to look into getting a mvas membership then i can fish the stretch between farleigh and teston!

Reading up on the behavior of the barbel, im guessing that i should be able to catch them even 500yrds down stream of the lock as long as my bait is in the right place?

cheers for your help guys

 

[Mark Lavis]

Lewis ,
I was an MVAS member 2 years ago and there are Barbel just downstream from Teston Bridge and also lots of Pike , its a lovely stretch and not heavily fished due to the long walk from both car parks!
It may be worth calling the Membership Sec as they do a half price ticket from mid October I think if you can wait that long.

Mark.

 

[Lewis Anderson]

Cheers for that Mark, it sounds good to me! i'll get in touch with them.

 

[Lewis Anderson]

Thanks Julian,

I have been using pva socks with my hookbait but not in groundbait form as yet. Im definitely taking everyones advice on board, its very much appreciated.

I went to pre bait, this afternoon after work to find that 2 yachts had moored in precisely my swim and proposed fishing spot, ah well the down side of fishing a free stretch on a busy river.

And to my disgust the three stooges i was talking to last nite had decided to leave there cider cans, hooks, line, sweetcorn tins(and the tin opener) bait and a broken chair all across the lock (where fishing isnt permitted) and in the next swim down. You would think at 45-55 years old they'd have the courtesy to tidy up after themselves! I wonder if they looked into actually getting a rod license too?

 

[Simon Haggis]

I wouldn't worry about the yachts, fish like the cover and scraps of food chucked out the windows. Fishing under the boats is preferable as long as you don't hammer a 3oz lead into the aforementioned windows!