"The Seven P's"
by
Dave Middlemore
Strange title? Let me explain....
When I was undergoing my training in the Royal Air Force, my flight sergeant
instructor had a saying:
'Remember the 7 P's ?'
'Errrrr - what's that, flight?' said us, wet-behind-the-ears, 18 year old's.
'Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents P*** Poor Performance' he would
inform us.
This is what it has to do with fishing.
With the close season now upon us, some of you, like me, will breath a collective
sigh of relief and others, a sigh of despair. All good things must come to an
end - for a while, at least. Thankfully for me, so must all bad things! Such
is the case as far as my season is concerned.
For me, the season started at the beginning of July, after I had returned from
holiday, and during the long, hot summer, I spent many evenings floater fishing
for carp - with some success. I rarely fish for barbel before September and
while the hot weather lingered for so long, the carp fishing was an interesting
and exciting diversion. In hindsight, maybe this was a bad move.
I had just bought a season ticket for several well-known stretches of the Dorset
Stour but had been distracted by the still waters which one can also fish with
the ticket. Floater fishing during the cooler evenings seemed infinately preferable
to pushing my way through nettles and long grass with temperatures in the mid
30's celsius, which is what I should have done in order to observe fish location
and movements, reaction to baits, topography of the river, etc. Especially when
you consider I had never fished the river before.
But, eventually, in early October, my quest for a Stour barbel began.
My favoured stretch was called Blackwater - AKA Blankwater, as I later started
calling it. This is immediately downstream of the famous Throop fishery and
is also part of that estate. There was several reasons for beginning my campaign
on this less popular venue:
1) It's less popular! I like to get away from people when I go fishing and Throop
can be very busy at times.
2) Night fishing is allowed - unlike most of the Stour. In my experience, most
people go home when the stars come out which suits me fine - I LOVE night fishing
and it means most of the stretch is devoid of anglers (and barbel as it turned
out!).
3) In the past, some very big barbel have been caught from this stretch. I believe
big barbel are largely solitary, preferring to hang around with one or two fish
of a similar size. Also, big fish don't like pressure and will, if they can,
seek quieter areas that receive less angling attention.
The stretch in question is wider, slower and deeper than much of Throop - more
like a good bream water. Indeed, I caught several bream upto 8lb's during my
time on this stretch but not a sniff of a barbel. Several good chub also graced
my landing net but the barbs eluded me.
And so, my run of barbel blanks began. Literally dozens of trips followed, maybe
two a week, until Christmas, all with the same result. A variety of methods
and approaches was tried in an attempt to 'ring the changes': one rod; two rods;
static approach; roving approach; pre-baiting swims; fishing single baits; long
hooklinks and short hooklinks etc, etc, etc - with little to report except chub
and bream.
After discussion with several anglers who I knew were also fishing the stretch
quite hard, with no results, I decided that the barbel simply weren't there
and that I should fish a stretch where I knew they were. That meant Throop and
perhaps the most famous swim on the fishery, Barbel Bend - even if it meant
fishing solely during the day and in the company of Uncle Tom, Cobbly and all
!
The river upstream and downstream of Barbel Bend for a half mile or so, is home
to many large barbel - not that it did me any good!
Even after receiving advice and tips from succesful barbel anglers and bailiffs
who reassured me that I was in the right spot, or, if I wasn't, would advise
me where the right spot was, I still failed to catch - even when conditions
apppeared perfect: rising water temperatures, coloured water, etc.
Apart from two weeks during February when I was otherwise engaged, I visited
Throop at least once a week. Which brings us right up to date and still no barbel
this season apart from a 'life saving' 5 lb'er from the Bristol Avon whilst
in the company of my old fishing partner, Tony Smith (Barbel Revisited).
It's definately been the longest and toughest season since I started fishing
at the age of ten - more than twenty five years ago (has it really been that
long). But there is an obvious lesson here - one I should've learnt a long time
ago and probably did, but for a number of reasons, chose to ignore it. That
is KNOWLEDGE. Know your river - intimately. Every glide, every hole, depression,
snag, weed bed and gravel run. Where the fish like to hang out, where they like
to feed (not necessarily the same place), the routes they take to get there,
where they go in winter, summer or in floodwater. In fact, everything you can
think of that will help you in your pursuit of your chosen quarry. Be a student
and really STUDY - there is NO substitute. I speak from experience.
The anglers I met who were consistent on the Stour, and there wasn't many, all,
without exception have one thing in common - a deep understanding of fish movements
within the river and the environments in which these fish live.
To these
people and those on BFW who have offered advice and encouragement, I would like
to say 'Thankyou'.
I am reassured that the bait I am using is top quality and my rigs and methods
are sound - I'm confident of that.
Finally, whilst I'm on the subject of confidence, about ten years ago, not long
after I caught my first barbel, I met an 'old boy' on a stretch of river that
was considered to be notoriously difficult, but was known to contain some very
large barbel. After some discussion, it emerged that this was his sixth trip
without a bite - unheard of for us trio of 'barbel hunters' who were more than
happy to be catching 6's and 7's from faster, shallower water further downstream.
He went on to explain that the more blanks he endured, the more confident he
became. His reasoning was that for every blank he went through, he was one blank
closer to a very big barbel.
I've tried to remember this story at times during the course of this season
and I've finally come to a conclusion. Right now, MY confidence is sky high
- BRING IT ON!
Regards,
Dave Middlemore.
Splint123