A Season on the Thames.......
by
Jon Callan
This year I have decided to make a few changes to my fishing, gone is the endless pursuit of numbers and bigger and bigger fish.
Where I was fishing was to become the important factor. Not only for aesthetics, but also to get back to a few virgin fish and peace and quiet away from the pressures of busy fisheries.
I wouldn’t be abandoning the kennet just giving it extended breaks!
I fished the Thames a few years ago seriously and turned up some nice
results, but was never what I would call overly successful or consistent,
but caught enough to keep the interest levels up. The end results were pretty
pitiful, 16 Barbel, culminating in 11 doubles to 11lb 10oz, from what must
having been getting on for 70 sessions in 2 years.
I caught some bream though!!!
Instead of giving a flowery account of trips, which I’m no good at.
I’ll keep a diary of sorts updated every couple of months, I’m afraid
I won’t be naming and shaming the venues, preferring to re-christen them…
First trip out of the season for Barbel was to be on the Thames…
23/06/04 - 6pm - 3am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim - Railings
Conditions - River running clear, but up a couple of inches with rubbish
coming down. Gale force winds.
Caught - 2 Barbel 9lb 1oz and 8lbs, both on Pellets.
5 Chub, 2 Bream and a Tench
Notes: Very pleased to get off the mark, joined for the evening by Neil
HD who was very good company and made the long drive for a few hours chatting.
Made a few errors, poor swim choice on reflection. Plenty of room for
improvement!
27/06/04 - 6pm - 2am
Venue - The Prairie
Swim – Cabbage patch
Conditions - Slight tinge of colour and couple of inches up.
Showery and windy
Caught - 2 Barbel 9lb 3oz and 9lb 7oz, on pellet
7 Bream and 3 Chub.
Notes: Bream were a nightmare, need to re-think baiting strategy and have
a few more options.
30/06/04 - 2pm - 3am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim – Cabbage Patch
Conditions - Blustery showers, running clear, but rising 2” after dark.
Caught - 8lb 4oz Barbel on pellet, 4 Chub to 5lb14oz and 6 Bream.
Notes:
Just wasn’t happening, pulled out of a good fish around 10, seemed to kill
it after that?
Encouraged
by the average size!
01/07/04 - 5pm - 3am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim - One Below and The Pit.
Conditions - Rain arrived after dark, very mild. River risen 4” in total.
Caught
- 5 Barbel to 9lb 10oz, all 5 on various pellets.
3
from The Pit and 2 from ‘The One Below’.
9
Chub - 5.07, 5.05, 5.02, 5.00, 4.14, 4 x 2 - 4lbs and 3 Bream.
Notes:
Maybe I should take up Chub fishing!
Moved
from the one below when a huge shoal of Bream started rolling and picked up
2 at once. Very happy and felling like I’m starting to get to grips with it.
03/05/04 - 5pm - 3am
Venue – New Forest.
Swim – Oak’s
Conditions - Good flow on river, nice colour. Lots of silkweed covering
the bottom.
Caught
- 7lb Barbel on 21mm Halibut. 5 Bream to blooming big and a 4lb chub.
Notes:
Very quiet on the whole, pulled out of a carp. Lovely evening though!
08/07/03 - 5pm - 1am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim - Pit & Cabbage Patch.
Conditions - Heavy Rain, strong winds and thunder and lightening. River
up 6”+ and carry good colour and strong pace.
Caught - 5 Barbel to 10lb 10oz all on Pellet.
The 10 came from the Cabbage patch.
Also,
caught 4 Chub and a Bream.
Notes:
4 fish early on in daylight, then all went dead. Fancied a rove for half an
hour. 25 minutes later…
Oh
yes!!! First double from a new venue is always a great feeling. Big old lump
of a fish that was well out of condition.
Was
a very wild night with the weather!
10/07/04 - 5pm - 12am
Venue – New Forest
Swim – The Oak’s
Conditions - Variable, bright sunshine and Rain. Good flow all across
the river.
Caught - 13lb 1oz on 2 pellets over a bed of boilies.
10lb
6oz & 9lb 7oz on 21mm Halibut Pellet (anti Bream bait!).
Also,
4 Bream and Chub.
Notes:
The culmination of a dream, very very happy and shared it with a friend (Dick).
A very heavy fight and weeded me close in, bit of brute force solved it! Night
was capped off when it’s friends put in an appearance. The fish has moved
the goal posts and has me daring to think of something a little bigger for
Chrsitmas!
13/07/04 - 10pm - 2am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim – Cabbage Patch and Pit
Conditions - Mild
Caught - 9lb 12oz, 8lb 11oz & 7lber from the end on Pellet. 7lber
from the pit.
Also,
2 Bream and a Chub.
Notes:
Short after work session, must make the effort and do a few more!
15/07/04 - 11pm - 1.45am
Venue – The Prairie
Swim - Pit & Railings
Conditions - River back down to normal level, very muggy evening.
Caught
- 2 Barbel to 7ish and a Chub. Barbel both on Pellets.
Notes:
Bit slow tonight, being held up leaving work didn’t help, as the 10 – 11pm
window seems the most productive.
17/07/04 - 5pm - 1.30am
Venue – Troll Ville
Swim - Lawns
Conditions - River running pretty clear and moderate flow.
Caught - 1 Barbel 9lb 6oz on Pellet from a mid river crease.
Also,
8 Bream to 8ish and a 5lb Chub.
Notes:
God I hate bream, the tips didn’t stop still for 2 minutes. Pleased to winkle
one out on an otherwise poor evening.
A
little break from the Thames and a return to Kennet for a few trips, resulted
in some very good fish.
But
old father is a calling again…
08/08/04 - 7pm - 3am
Venue – Neverland.
Swim - Dug Out
Conditions - Light flow, very hot and bright.
Caught
- 1 Barbel of 9lb 6oz on Pellet.
Notes:
Very very quiet, hardly a thing moving. Did have a couple of serious pulls
that couldn’t understand how it didn’t hook itself. Checked the hook and the
point was turned over, rollocks!
Barbel
came shortly before 1am was a speculative cast brought about a speedy response.
I will return, the place has an aura about it…
Well
the first dozen trips have provided a lot more than I expected and have provided
some very valuable information for the coming months.
I’m
happy with my fishing again, for the first time in a long time.
I
have made some massive errors, but have also made a few very good calls. The
13 surpassed my expectation at such an early point in the season; I’ve caught
consistently and haven’t had a Thames blank yet.
But
there is plenty of time for that!
Method
wise has been pretty simple, either bait dropping a load of pellets down and
fishing over the top of it. Or PVA bagging and fishing a huge feeder as means
of Bait delivery. Have found that a steady trickle is working better than
a large bed of bait.
To
try and combat the Bream have tried various tactics, ranging from no feed
and single hookers. To large beds of 8 & 14mm pellets and fishing 22mm
halibuts over the top. Have found nothing really deters them and don’t have
enough bait to feed them off. The Chub I can live with!
The
areas of the Thames I have been fishing have a good growth of weed and ‘The
Prairie’ has a very healthy growth of cabbages and rannunculus; Making fishing
tricky at times and concentrating the Barbel (and Bream) into channels.
Spend
most of my time watching the water and on thinking about location.
Here’s hoping the next dozen trips are as fruitful…
Jon