"New? Food For Thought"
by John Milne
I’ve fished for in excess of 30 years. Starting
with seven years course fishing, including Barbel on the Swale and Wharf.
In those days a fish of 5lbs was considered a good fish and I don’t recall
ever hearing of doubles not in this area anyway. This was followed by 20 years
of fluff chucking as you guys call it. Four years ago my son became interested
in course fishing and rekindled my interest. After playing about for a couple
of years with him, trying all sorts from Minnows to Barbel. He unfortunately
has gone the pole fishing into mud puddles rout, as most kids he’s gone for
the easy quick result option, although over the last year he’s spent his time
chasing girls in the pub (and you can’t knock that) he is however showing
signs of interest in the rivers again, I can only live in hope.
Anyhow
two seasons ago I was determined to catch Barbel again and set out to do so,
thinking I would drop straight back into it as in the old days. But found
that the old ways no longer work for me like they used to, ledgered luncheon
meat, and I found it very frustrating sitting and waiting for hours on end
with no results. I usually ended most sessions going for Chub just to relieve
the boredom. By the end of that year with only two early season fish to my
name, lucky ones at that. I had to rethink my strategy.
Through
that winter and closed season I identified my problems as being. Firstly I
was fishing too many different waters, jumping about from one to another depending
on what little information I gleaned from the tight lipped local tackle shop.
Secondly I was trying lots of different methods & baits, again
from people I talked to. The third thing I had to change was the amount of
gear I was lugging about, this was really taking the enjoyment out of what
to me is supposed to be a relaxing pleasurable pastime, not a gruelling rout
march with a 20lbs back pack. All this had to change in my frantic search
for success.
Venue:-
The stretch of the Swale which I
enjoyed fishing the most was on a year book (no day tickets) and not far away.
It is about a mile long and has every type of water, shallow fast runs, deep
slow runs, under cut banks, gullies, feeder streams, the lot. I’m also told
the Swale record came from this stretch. I’d seen people catch Barbel not
in great numbers but I new they were there, and if all failed it had a good
head of Chub to go for. This I decided had to be the place to concentrate
my efforts.
Method
and baits:- I decided the method had to be ledgering as opposed to
float bearing in mind I would only be carrying one rod put together at the
car. This would give me the options for fishing static, rolling, trundling,
feeder and free lining up stream and down. Bait took a lot of pondering but
I decided that I could change as I went along. Providing I gave each bait
a reasonable trial, to this end I would only take one bait on any trip until
I found something that worked. I’d had a lot of success with Carp using corn
over a bed of boiled hemp and pigeon conditioner fished in the margins. (Pigeon
conditioner has lots of different seeds, maze, tares, peas and all sorts,
a really good mix and Carp here love it). So I would start with this, as I
knew it caught fish and hopefully it was something a little different.
Gear:-
This would consist of, after a lot of twoing and frowing one rod built at
the car, waist coat (fly style) with loads of pockets, a nifty seat type thing
I found which is basically a piece of padded canvas folded in half with side
straps. It opens to 90 degrees depending on side strap adjustment to give
a seat with backrest it weighs nothing and it even has a large pocket and
carrying handles. What a brilliant piece of kit. The simple things are by
far the best. A folding landing net with an extending handle, (salmon size
and style) and a rod rest. Stout pair of walking boots and if it looks like
rain I have a lightweight waterproof jacket and leggings (no brolly). That’s
it with bait in the seat pocket, net and rod rest between folded seat I’m
away and could walk all day if necessary and changing from swim to swim could
not be easier.
June
16th 2003 the day arrived at last. Full of excitement anticipation
and expectations just like everyone else. I was up and away at 5am and walking
the bank by 5.30 heading for the spots I was keen to fish. I should have known
by the number of cars parked down the lane that all the best spots would be
taken. I thought I was keen but some of these blokes had been there from the
previous day to ensure they could fish their preferred swims. Undeterred I
carried on to the end peg all the best and half decent swims had been taken.
I eventually decided to fish the only half decent swim left. It was at the
end of a shallow glide with a deep run on the far bank, I wasn’t feeling confident
but it was all I could find.
By around 1pm without as much as sniff at my hemp and pc mix with sweat corn hook bait I was to say least starting to feel p****d off and was considering calling for a jar on the way home. When I noticed a yard up stream and right in the margins, a huge female Barbel with three smaller males harassing her. I watched the mating ritual for well over an hour, it’s amazing how relaxing it is watch fish. Well I thought at least I’ve had the good fortune to witness something I’ll probable never see again and the day wasn’t completely wasted. It also confirmed to me that the rumours going up and down the bank must be true about the fish still spawning. It seemed no body was catching.
So that was it, off I set for nice cool pint of our local bitter on the way home. About half way back to the car is an island, which splits the river with 4 or 5 of the must popular pegs on our stretch. They were empty, even these pegs must have struggled, the pub will be doing a good trade I thought. I stopped to look in the first peg at the bottom end of the island, from my vantage point on the high bank behind the peg I caught sight of what I thought was a flash in the water, could it be? Yes it was, there it was again a Barbel in a pool upstream to my right. I sat and watched for good half hour. The pool was too deep to see the bottom so I don’t know how many fish were there, was there a shoal or just a solitary fish, anyway the flashing continued. Then it dawned on me like a bolt of lightening right between the eyes. Something that probably ever man and his dog knows and so basic I cannot believe I hadn’t realised it before. This or these fish were feeding in mid water, having their mouths on the under side, the only way they could take food drifting past in mid water would be to twist as they rose in the water hence the flash. I’m sure someone will put me right with a different explanation, but it stills sounds good to me.
This revelation got me thinking. I had always thought of Barbel feeding hard on the bottom, that’s how their built isn’t it. I never thought of them doing anything else. Maybe I should be float fishing to give myself the option of fishing all levels of water. Then I started thinking of a way I could have a go for this fish with what I had on me. I didn’t fancy breaking down and setting up for float fishing, I didn’t have the right rod or line anyway. But what I did have was about a dozen 12mm floating trout pellets in my pocket from a Carp trip the week before. I could try fishing the other way round as it where. From the bottom up, so I tied some 3lb line tight round the trout pellet and put my number 8 barbless hook through this, the pellet was sort of piggyback on the hook. I’d seen poll men mount small pellets this way, before hook-able pellets came on the scene. With a swan shot about 12” to 18” back from the hook I was ready to put a half-baked thought into crude practice. My cast was about 10 yards up stream to roll back to the hot spot no prebaiting or freebies.
Bang what a take, then all went slack a drop back bite, I wound down as fast as I could and we were off a really good tussle and a few minutes later a nice six pound Barbel was on the bank.
Next
cast brought a 3lb Club to the net. Things went quiet so my next cast was
to my left and down stream into shallow water and let it swing into a deeper
run on my side. Bang we were off again, another Chub. These fish were taking
so hard I could hardly miss, no taps or knocks just bangs. I cannot remember
how many fish I finished with, they were all Chub apart from the first. You
would think the best I could achieve would be 12 as that was the number of
pellets I had. But no, some caught two or three fish before needing replacing.
And when you don’t use a keep net it is easy to loose track. Any how what
a day it turned out to be, and what had I stumbled on with the floating pellets.
I have to
say at this point to the best of my knowledge I haven’t read of or herd any
mention of floating trout pellets been used for Chub or Barbel. If by chance
it has been documented before then I can only apologise to those who have
been there before me. When ever I mention it to people including those who
are recognised as being local experts, the response I get is a look of amused
bewilderment. Their expressions say it all” never mind son keep taking the
pills”. If it was a recognised method then I’m assuming someone would have
put me out of my misery by now.
I played
about with floaters for the rest of the season. Trying all sorts of different
lines and rigs etc. One of the first things I noticed was that in fast water
they seemed to spin, so I had to introduce a swivel which did help. I was
also breaking off on quite a few fish but came to realise. With the amount
of fish I was catching I had to change my hook lengths more frequently they
were just getting battered to death. The rig I ended up with is very simple.
Eight pound Maxima main line to a swivel. Ten pound match pre stretched small
diameter hook length; 12” to 18” seems fine. Number 8 barbless hooks the strongest
I can find. I use one of those plastic rings with inbuilt swivel, with a length
of four lbs line to attach 2 swan shot just free sliding above the main line
swivel. I haven’t found a better way mounting the pellets yet. So I tie a
load up before or even during each section. I recon the reason floaters are
so successful is they give a more natural presentation. Between the lead shot
and the current of the river trying to drag the pellets down, the buoyancy
trying to make them float they seem to flutter about so naturally in mid stream.
Even when they start to sink as all do eventually they still retain a buoyancy
about them. I wonder if this is why the takes are so hard, the fish doesn’t
have to rummage about on the bottom lucking for the bait. Its there right
in front of them and on the move, if they want it they have to grab it, and
that’s exactly what they seem to do. Bang every time.
Over the
course of the season, my season ends in October; it gets bloody cold up here
after that. I’ve caught fish in every type of water on the stretch. Ninety
percent Chub to ten present Barbel. For you Barbel purists, that might be
too many Chub. But up here they go hand in hand and unless you are fishing
to individually sighted fish then I don’t know how to avoid this. Personally
I don’t mind I just love catching. As mentioned previously I didn’t keep a
record last year, something I will have to put right this year. But I recon
I caught somewhere between, 30 and 50 Barbel and between 300 and 500 Chub.
Wow that sounds a lot, but if you recon I had a dozen fish a trip, which I
did easily. Over a 16-week period fishing about twice a week sometimes more,
then the numbers add up. My best Barbel landed was 9-12, but I was smash on
more than one occasion by monsters. Best Chub two at 6-8, one was a really
battered and bruised old boy but the other was a beauty. Now that’s got to
be good fishing, by most people’s standards. It certainly is by mine; anyway
I was over the moon.
A
couple of other things worth mentioning; I only ever had to use free offerings
in the way of a small amount of the smaller pellets (sinkers) on a few occasions
when things needed a boost. I also took to feeding up two or three swims with
the smaller pellets, as I walked the full length of the stretch before deciding
were to start. This proved to be really rewarding and gave me some brilliant
sport on the way back to the car. The thing I noted about this was, if in
my eagerness I return too early, then results were poor. Through trial and
error I’ve come to the conclusion that a swim has to be left for a minimum
of two and a half hour, three hours is better if you have the time. Before
the Barbel move in with enough confidence not to be spooked by the introduction
of hook baits. And lastly in many sessions and in mid flow of catch fish,
I’ve tried alternating with sinking pellets. In most cases this resulted in
bites becoming less frequent. And back to getting knocks and taps instead
of the thumping great bangs I was experiencing with floaters. Needless to
say what course of action was then taken.
I
sincerely hope this has given some of you food for thought; it has certainly
given me a great deal of enjoyment in writing. Even though my literary skills
leave a lot to be desired. Don’t worry
I’m not thinking of giving up the day job. The main reason for putting pen
to paper is, to get a reaction and response back from you lads on the message
board. I was in two minds as to whether to send this in at all. If I have
stumbled onto something new, I realize it needs more than one season’s success
to be something worth shouting about. And again if this has been documented
before I’m going to look a right Charlie, but it’s because I’m doing this
in isolation that has driven me to write.
Christ
I cannot wait for the new season. Tight lines to you all for 2004 and remember
as they say in this neck of the woods, “it’s a good horse that farts all night”!!
John
Milnes
18/05/04