Friday 30 December 2011

December and the weather forecast is......

Actually fairly mild for this time of year!!

Welcome to my fourth and final post for 2011 in Bobs Blog.

If this is your first visit and you'd like to start from the very beginning then click on the September link under Blog Archive on the right or simply click here but please be aware that my first post is a lengthy account of the past 12 months and may require a good bottle of red wine to accompany it's reading!!

In the meantime here is my fourth post which will cover my limited fishing exploits during the month of December 2011......enjoy.

Tight lines,

Bob.

10th and 11th December 2011 - River Dane Saltersford and Wrinehill

I'd planned a full weekends fishing for payback of a lean Novembers outings but the weather started to get nasty mid week and severe weather warnings started to cast a shadow of doubt over proceedings.

The trouble with short winter days and working Monday to Friday is very limited time on the bank so when Andy Pikey and myself hatched the plot it had to be followed through otherwise we'd have missed the opportunity to do the overnighter on Wrinehill as we'd originally planned.

As time was so precious I also planned a morning trotting on the Dane with Cliff but had to change venues at the last minute due to me having all my worthy fishing goods in the back of the car and having to park in an industrial estate to fish our chosen stretch, a chance neither of us wanted to take so I headed off early doors to Saltersford where Andy and myself had our first experience of trotting and our first Grayling a few weeks earlier.

To be honest I was not expecting to catch but we all live in hope so I gathered my gear and headed for the river. The field just to the right of the style was devoid of cows this time so I opted for a quick straddle of the barbed wire (ouch) and then made my way to mid-stretch.

Upon arrival I set the float rod and centre pin up and filled up my newly acquired bait pouch with about a pint of red and white maggots. The swim looked promising so I fed a little and cast out, several trots later I reeled in and as I was travelling extremely light just gathered up my stalking bag and moved on.

This is the first time I'd left all the 'essentials' in the car and to be honest I wasn't missing any of them!!

The next swim turned out to be idyllic, it was on a sharp bend and was very shallow in the margins as the river had recently dropped about a foot. After a well earned coffee (the flask goes everywhere with me) I was soon wading in and dropping double maggot in to fish alley but despite my best efforts nothing came to bare so I headed off for the final swim.

Unfortunately I didn't hook into any fish but here is some photo's from the session..........







Andy had sent a text saying he'd be at Wrinehill for 1pm so I had an hour to finish off on the Dane close to the road bridge and although it was very pacey on this stretch I hoped something would take my bait. I found the faster flow raced the float through but if I mended the line towards the end of the trot it brought the float around and under a very chubby looking over hang. I dispensed with the maggot and put a size 8 hook on and a big chunk of bread flake but despite six or seven trots I didn't get a bite so at 12 noon I headed back to the car and reflected on what had been a very enjoyable river session despite the lack of fish!!!

Wrinehill 10th and 11th December 2011

We arrived at half past one and as it was my first visit to Wrinehill I took a moment to look at the view from the top gate. It really does look like a majestic water hidden down in the valley, apparently before it became a lake it was used as a cinder dump when steam trains ran alongside the tracks around the perimeter but apparently during the second world war the Germans (they bombed our chippy you know) used the soft orange glow of the cinders as a marker beacon to drop bombs on nearby Crewe so it was soon filled in and became a lake sometime after.



The club acquired the fishing rights a while ago and it holds a good head of carp to 30lb as well as plenty of perch and possibly some unknown surprises as well.



We set up camp on the two pegs to the left of car park and settled in for the remainder of the weekend.

I was using my barbel rods and trusty Okuma reels just in case I was lucky enough to hook up with a resident carp which, I believe go to 30lb, but I also wanted to try for the bags of perch that had been coming out recently so I'd brought along my tip rod to have a go with worm over maggot.



The evening passed without a bleep so, after some very nice spaghetti bol (thank you Mrs Roberts!!) I reeled in and went to visit Andy for a chat which went on till 1:30am but we did however solve all the worlds problems so it was well worth it.

The alarm (clock not bleepers) woke me at 7:30am but it was still dark and far too warm and comfy to get up so I hit the snooze and went back off. At 8:30am on the dot I heard footsteps around the bivvy which had to be Cliff calling in for the bacon butties and a catch-up.

At 10am it was back on to the rods for what looked like a promising day.

Mid way through Sunday afternoon a fellow member dropped in to the adjacent peg and was float fishing for the perch, soon enough he was pulling them out on the drop with worm. We had a chat and discussed best methods for catching perch at Wrinehill which it seems where it shelves off about 2 or 3 rod lengths out.

Although Andy had a couple of takes, which where subsequently dropped, he decided to call it a day and head off home at 4pm. I was on the only one on the lake so I decided to start slowly packing away all the gear in the bivvy (most of which I hadn't used). I thought I'll fish through till 7pm and get off as I had work in the morning and an hour or so drive home.

It was about 6pm when the tip rod sprung into life and I struck into a fish, a certain blank was saved and I reeled in a small perch which had been tempted by my rather tired worm. I wasn't entirely alone though as the famous Wrinehill rats had made an appearance to scoff on my bait that had dropped near the waters edge, just to the left of the bait bucket!!



It was 9pm by the time the car was packed up so I headed off home after a very enjoyable weekends fishing.

27th December River Severn Atcham

As planned I headed of to Andy's and arrived just 10 minutes late, well Northwich? Nantwich? all looks the same on road signs at 6:30am, I took a few wrong turns but got there eventually. We loaded my gear in to Andy's car and headed off to Atcham for a day's barbel fishing.

Cliff pulled in behind us as we unlocked the gate and the weather was overcast which is preferable to bright and sunny. The river was well up since we'd last been and was pushing through, close in would have been the best tactic as holding bottom out in the flow wasn't really possible.


Dawn on 'Duffers peg'

I dropped into 'Duffers' peg by the pump (which had been removed) and Andy in the next double peg upstream where I'd previously had my best barbel session back in July in similar but much warmer conditions, Cliff went further upstream to the right.


The river was well up and pushing through...

Mid morning and we dropped in on Andy for a chat, Cliff and I where packed up and ready to move swims but Andy was sticking it out where he was. As we talked Andy's right hand rod gave a couple of knock's and he was in to a fish, as he was close in it was soon in the net and we admired a rather hollow and battle scared chub of around the 3lb mark.




Andy with the only fish of the day....

Cliff and I moved down to the left hand field and I crossed the brook into Poachers field and set up in a slack back eddy hoping to tempt a chub resting from the flow.







It wasn't to be and once darkness fell I packed up and made my way up the hill to meet Andy for the long journey back to Nantwich to pick my car up and headed of to Cliff's to once again recall a very enjoyable but un-productive day at Atcham.

That's it from me for 2011 so I'll take this opportunity to thank you all for taking the time to read my Blog so far and for your kind comments, the tightest of lines for 2012.

Best wishes,

Bob.

Saturday 12 November 2011

November pike and chub time...


Welcome to my third post in Bobs Blog.

If this is your first visit and you'd like to start from the very beginning then click on the September link under Blog Archive on the right or simply click here but please be aware that my first post is a lengthy account of the past 12 months and may require a good bottle of red wine to accompany it's reading!!

In the meantime here is my third post which will cover my fishing exploits during the month of November 2011......enjoy.

Tight lines,

Bob.

12th November - Cheshire Mere

Today I had my first taste of piking and although I didn't catch I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Fortunately my mate whom I've now named Andy Pikey showed me how it was done and caught a nice jack pike of around 5lb.

It was a 4:30am and an early start, once the car was packed I was off to meet Andy at a not so well known Cheshire mere. We met at 6:30am and headed for the boat house to get the boat ready for our trip.


Emerging from the reeds just as dawn was breaking and the scenery was breath taking.


Dawn on a Cheshire mere.....let's go piking!!!

The first part of the mere is no more than 3ft deep but because Andy had done his homework we soon had a couple of dead baits lobbed into a deep channel which we hoped was where Mr Pike would be waiting.

A couple of hours passed so we 'upt anchor' and moved to another pikey looking area. With the baits recast we started exploring the vast water with the lure rods. It wasn't long before Andy shouted "I'm in" and I grabbed the net.




Andy Pikey with a pristine 5lb jack pike...

We moved around and tried different spots but no more pike graced the net. That didn't matter to me because it was my first time piking as well as my first time fishing from a boat and I realised how that opens up the whole water to an angler, you couldn't have cast to some of the places we explored and it felt like we were more in touch with our surroundings.






The weir....you don't want to drift down there!!!



Eventually time over took us and we returned to the boat house, tired but already planning the next trip. I had a great day and thanks to Andy Pikey for organising the boat and giving me a great introduction to the prolific Esox Lucius.




Sunset on a Cheshire mere, it doesn't get much better than this!!!

I'm already planning for our next trip and also hoping to get some chubbin going on the rivers so I'll come back soon with an update.

Tight lines,

Bob

26th November - River Dane Saltersford

Where has November gone? I had planned a few more trips but I've been pre-occupied doing a few DIY jobs on the Passat so I've not managed to get out on the banks as much as I'd have liked to.

Mr Ward had suggested a days Perch fishing at a local commercial but a match day put laid to those plans and a quick re-think led to Andy Pikey and myself heading off to the River Dane at Saltersford to try out our new centre pin reels, mine was a birthday present (to myself) back in September and it didn't yet have any line loaded on it.

We had both bought the Marco Cortesi Signature Centre Pin for £36 delivered and Andy had done a quick review on the club forum sometime ago which prompted me to buy one. Mr Ward had also purchased one and had used it to great effect on our trips to the Ribble whilst doing his Mr Crabtree impersonation.

I was unsure how to load the line so I eventually wound on 75m of mono which proved to be a mistake as it was back to front but on the day we re-spooled with the braid and that made life much easier when learning to cast on a windy day!!

We met at Saltersford farm at 11am, our target species was a Grayling as neither of us had caught one before. We headed off for the upstream limit, the plan was to access the river here and wade downstream getting up onto the bank where possible. After a 10 minute walk across a couple of fields (avoiding the rather aggressive looking bull!!) we reached the upstream limit.

I had purposely lightened my tackle but still had too much crammed into my bait and bits bag and it was fairly heavy plus I had too many layers on so was sweating like an unfit pig and needed a hard earned rest whilst we assembled the tackle ready for our first trot.

Andy summed up the frustrations of trying to negotiate a tree lined river bank with a 13 foot float rod and a centre pin reel loaded with very fine mono, he said and I quote;

"The day started slow and if we were not on the water I'm sure we would have started to get frustrated but this was eased by a few ciggies and cups of tea. A few noteworthy points about pin fishing here with long 13 foot rods that manage to catch every low tree/ branch/ fence/ bramble/ stump etc etc
  • fine hairlike line that you cant bl**dy see!! 
  • strong winds 
  • low trees 
  • brambles 
  • steep muddy banks 
  • lively and unfamiliar centrepin reels 
  • line overrunning and going behind the spool 
  • undulating bottom and streamer weed causing snags 
  • barbed wire and electric fences 
  • a mahoooosive bull 
  • several tangles and re-tackles 
  • neoprene chest waders that would make you too warm in Antarctica" 
Anyway despite all of the above we pressed on and actually managed to start fishing. It was very much a hit and miss affair and our tactics where by now means refined but on my first trot down I was in albeit a yet to be identified tiny little fish who had taken double maggot on a size 16 fair and squarely in the top lip.

I've had a quick Google and rekon this was the little fella that was takin our bait, still it meant neither of us would blank!!



Bigeye Chub (Notropis amblops) a member of the Minnow family...

OK it was a Minnow but it was proof of concept and I'd have been worried if nothing had shown an interest.

Andy moved about 30 yards downstream and within 20 minutes had his first Grayling on the bank, I rushed over with the camera and captured the moment, we where both delighted.


Andy with the first Grayling of the day...


Followed by my small but perfectly formed example...


Tried bread flake here for chub but to no avail...


So headed across the field, too many swims to choose from!!!


But eventually settled here a nice shallow glide...


And look what took double maggot, my first brownie and a bonus fish...

Andy had another Grayling around the same size as his first after battling through the minnows but it was 4pm and dusk so we headed back to the farm and reflected on our first attempt at trotting on the centre pin.

It was 4:30pm and dark as I left Saltersford but it was too early to head home so I headed for Daisybank armed with a barbel rod and a tub of pellets. There where two other cars parked up so I didn't head for my favourite swim downstream instead I settled into swim at the bottom of the hill at 5pm.

It was a fast flowing swim with an overhanging tree and I fancied my chances as I baited up with pellet and a few balls of ground bait. I cast the 3oz feeder downstream and towards the opposite bank and settled down with a cup of coffee.

Within five minutes the reel screamed off and I lifted into my first barbel but sadly it didn't take and I reeled in empty handed. I should have moved swims at that point but instead I stuck it out till 9pm, I'd had a few knocks probably from a chub but eventually I made my way back to the car and headed home.

It had been a great day and I'm definitely going to return for short sessions on the pin once the winter really kicks in, I'd learn't a great deal and was really glad to have tried out this method of river fishing, the roving approach on light tackle is key to an enjoyable days sport and although I'll always pack a barbel rod 'just in case' I think there is more than enough rivers and species to target during the next couple of months.

That's it for November now and I'll start a new post for next month starting with a trip to Wrinehill for Perch in a couple of weeks, until then...

Tight lines,

Bob.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Autumn has arrived...

Welcome to my second post in Bobs Blog.

If this is your first visit and you'd like to start from the very beginning then click on the September link under Blog Archive on the right or simply click here but please be aware that my first post is a lengthy account of the past 12 months and may require a good bottle of red wine to accompany it's reading!!

In the meantime here is my second post which will cover my fishing exploits during the autumn month of October 2011......enjoy.

Tight lines,

Bob.

3rd October 2011 - River Ribble

I had planned a weekend trip to the Severn at Rossall but unfortunately it didn't happen so inspired by the great session we had last week we headed off again for the Ribble and a Monday evening session. The levels were low and the weather forecast heavy showers so we didn't want to build our hopes up but sometimes it hard not too!!

We arrived around 5:30pm and from the top of the bank could see why we'd been catching so well the week before, there was a bed of sandstone or rock clearly visible under the low waters surface and this formed a channel where it dropped off running upstream across our swim, a good holding area for barbel, so quickly we set up and cast out with renewed anticipation.

The Experiment

I tried a little experiment and decided not to use any ground bait, no pre-baiting or hand balling in, no cage feeder with the tried and tested 'time bomb', no...well er ground baiting. To be honest the conditions weren't too good, the wind was blowing up stream causing choppy white water waves on the surface, there was a lot of leaves in the main flow and chances of catching looked slim to say the least.

My set up was simple, free running 3oz grippa lead, the pear shaped ones with a hole in the middle, a 2 foot 12lb mono hook link and a hair rigged 11mm halibut pellet to a size 12 wide gape barbless hook.

The only free offering was a small PVA mesh bag of elliptical pellets 8mm and 12mm, I like the elliptical because they're not so quick to disappear down stream (apparently) I also plugged the hole in the lead with a small piece of halibut paste.

On my other rod I was using one of my home made pebbles because I'd snagged up and lost the grippa lead (£1.40 was gutted) and the same rig set up.

The Result

Well it took an hour and it was hard to differentiate between knocks and the leaves snagging on the line but at 7pm there was no mistaking the take, it took off like the proverbial freight train and after a good scrap it was in the net...


Ribble freight train barbel 8lb 11oz of pure power...

Mr Ward took the photo from it’s good side as on the other side the poor fella had his rear most barbuel (spelling?) missing completely, it was healing but wasn't an old wound by any means, no doubt a recent scrap possibly with braided hook link. Hence, in the photo, the strained smile as I don’t like to think of these magnificent fish being mis-treated (and I don’t think Bertie looks too pleased either), still he fought like a 'goodun' and, after I waded in to rest him, he swam off strongly into the dark depths of the Ribble.

The Conclusion

I'm still going to cart a kilo of ground bait around with me just for that comfort factor but I'm now confident to try having a go without it and only introduce it if things go slow or they don't seem to be interested in a single hook bait. I did loose feed a pouch of pellets about 4 times in a 5 hour session but I'd have done that anyway.

Still a big fan of the hemp in a block end black cap feeder to get a bed of particles out there but didn't have any hemp with me, still it looks like I didn't need it.

Only a couple more came before the cloud cover lifted, at 8:20pm a good 7lb 6oz to Mr Ward followed at 8:45pm by a good 6lber to me so we packed up at 11pm and headed home.

8th October 2011 - Atcham River Severn Barbel Fish-In (Unofficial... well sort of anyway)

As I write I'm busy preparing for the long session at the weekend. As is usually the case a few of us at the last barbel fish-in decided it would be a good idea to do it again soon so a small group of (some might say) fanatical barbel hunters have arranged to meet up at Atcham on Saturday to try and tempt a bertie or two onto the bank.

Some even keener anglers have planned to stay over Saturday night and fish through till Sunday evening although that may change if the fishing isn't so good or the gusty winds we're experiencing at the moment blow our 'overnight accomodation' into the river along with ourselves.



I have a plan B which at this stage involves packing up early on Sunday morning and heading up north to my other favourite river the mighty Ribble which has seen a bit of extra water these past few days but I'll make that call on Sunday and report back on here all the fun and games of what should be a very enjoyable weekend...

Plan C

Friday night and the AA man has confirmed my car has a broken cam belt and is probably a write off.....boo hoo, never mind I was going to change it for a diesel anyway!!



Thankfully my fishing partner Ash has kindly offered to take me to Atcham tomorrow so it's still game on, the river has risen by a metre and will be fining down nicely by tomorrow evening....the show must go on ;-)

Saturday morning...

It was a mid morning start for us as we packed my gear in to the car and I was amazed just how much Ash's hot hatchback could hold and with the rear seats folded down everything was packed so we set off for the Raven cafe and a welcomed breakfast.

We arrived to find Bill was already tucking in to a much needed full English after a sinking a 'few' beers with his lads the night before. Fully fed and watered we headed for Atcham and arrived around 1:15pm which seems to be the perfect approach to river fishing in the autumn as most of the action tends to happen mid afternoon and into the evening.

It wasn't a great turnout and with only 6 of us we decided not to draw for the swims so we headed off to our chosen pegs. Ash and I headed to the double peg just inside the left hand field where we'd fished at the previous event in September and more importantly where Ash and Phil had a busy session a few weeks before taking 2 chub and 8 barbel out in a frantic evening session including a specimen barbel at 9lb 7oz.


Ash 2 weeks earlier on the same peg with a specimen of 9lb 7oz...

So with the water levels having risen earlier in the week and a lot of cloud cover our hopes where very high for the forthcoming 36 hour session.

I was already set up and cast in straight away using a 3oz grippa lead which struggled to hold bottom in the flow towards the middle of the river but I wanted to continue the experiment of not using ground bait so I stuck with it and cast my second rod out about a third of the way out on a crease that looked promising.

Ash had one rod out and was setting up his second when he dropped everything and struck in to his first fish of the day a barbel of around the 6lb mark.


Ash with his first fish of the session a pristine 6lb bertie barbel...


which decided to come alive on the bank...


and Ash has to employ some quick thinking goal keeping!!!

Bill was doing very well on 'Duffers' peg just to the right of the pump and was into a barbel first cast, another five followed in quick succession and by 8pm Bill was heading home pleased with his afternoons efforts.

We on the other hand hadn't had a tap since the first barbel and undeterred fished on into darkness, the fish were there out in front of us and kept topping and splashing around but we just couldn't tempt them onto our bait so eventually we retired to get some sleep and reflect on a very disappointing session.


Early evening view from our swim...


Sunset at Atcham...

We expected heavy rain around 4am so we'd put the umbrella's up in front of the day shelter to keep our feet dry but I slept like the proverbial 'log' and awoke at 9am to a couple of friendly dogs investigating our overnight accommodation.

I set the rods back up and cast out with renewed enthusiasm and set about breakfast although Ash decided his sleeping bag was far too comfy and had a lie in!!


Ash very reluctantly getting his lazy backside out of bed!!


Bacon butties went down very well indeed...

After breakfast we weighed up the swim and it was clear that the river had dropped around 12 inches overnight.


The green algae clearly indicates that levels have dropped overnight...

We had to make a choice, move swims to something a bit more productive or up sticks completely and travel to Rossall. After some debate we decide to give Rossall ago in the afternoon and fish through till 10pm which I was pleased about as it would be my first visit to this magnificient stretch of the Severn.

Atcham had not produced the goods for us but with Bills half dozen and Lee (who had been on the fish-in and had a great session on the last peg at the top of the stretch) taking nine barbel out of the swim the best reaching over 9lb it wasn't a complete loss and we all enjoyed the day. Bob had retired earlier in the evening without a fish on the bank but once again had enjoyed the day.

Wayne and Rick had a great day and had a barbel at 3:30pm at 4lb then at 8pm it went a bit mad and Wayne lost 3 due to them bombing into the weed beds, he then got a barbel on the bank at 5lb 4oz and Rick had two at 4lb 8oz that went to the weed beds and he ended up snapping his rod in half!!! (Bob's tip - if it's weeded up solid put the rod down and take the bail arm off, usually the fish will spit the hook and you'll be able to retrieve your rig. If you have to pull for a break once the fish has gone then tighten up the clutch and keep the rod pointing straight at the snag, either reel in or walk backwards - never with the rod bent under pressure!! Remember to re-adjust your clutch before recasting)

At 11pm Rick had a 2lber and he also lost 2 but both reported having a great time, here are some photo's from from Wayne and Rick, well done to both of you on a productive days fishing.









and finally Rick doing his Telly Tubby impersonation!!!



We left Atcham at 1pm and sadly it was my first blank of the season but we were both optimistic for the 8 hours ahead.

9th October 2011 - Rossall River Severn (Plan D)

First cast at Rossall was made at 2pm and I was really impressed by the beauty of the place, the pegs are steep but the high banks protect you from the wind and the river is narrower here than Atcham making it easier to cast towards the far bank.

I was set up on the right and casting down stream with one rod towards an overhanging tree and the other close in the margins to my right.


View down stream from our peg...

At 3pm my margin rod wrapped around and a short fight later I'd saved myself from a certain blank with a chub around the 4lb mark.


First Rossall fish for me a respectable chub of around 4lb...

Next it was Ash who started a barbel bashin' campaign that resulted in me becoming his gillie bi*ch for the day!! Not that I minded as it was great to see Rossall performing at it's best and during the day too...


4pm and Ash is off to a good start 6lb 1 oz...


4:15pm and a stunning 7lb 4oz barbel is on the bank...


and a view from the front...easy to spot again as left front barb is missing


4:45pm come here you beauty...Ash is on a roll


a respectable 6lb 13oz and my netting arm is getting tired!!!


5:30pm and the best fish so far at 7lb 6oz...

I had a couple of chub knocks and retrieved a half eaten pellet then Ash is in again but after a screaming run was snapped off at the hook...but at 6:30pm I strike into my first Rossall barbel and after a fantastic scrap is was my turn to have a photo taken...


6:30pm and at last the gillie gets his first Rossall barbel at 7lb...


7:00pm and barbel no. 5 for Ash at around 4lb 8oz...


and again at 7:30pm around the 4 to 5lb mark...

Ash was only fishing with one rod to avoid a double take and at 8:40pm he reeled in to make up a new hook link so I had a cheeky little cast in his swim!!!

I'd had nothing during the ten minutes or so it took Ash to re-tackle so I reeled in and 'allowed' Ash to cast back in to his favourite spot.

Within 2 minutes he had a run on and whilst I was in the process of congratulating him (again) my margin rod wrapped round and I was also in. We both played our respective fish and then realised we only had one net set up!!

We then invented a new Olympic sport we called 'synchronised barbelling' and managed to bring both into the net at exactly the same time!!


"are you sure mine was the smaller one of the two?"

Ash's barbel weighed in at 6lb 11oz and mine at around 5lb and we even managed a self take of the two simultaneous captures before Ash returned both to the water and rested them in the same net before letting them go.


a double landing in the same net...mine at 5lb and Ash's at 6lb 11oz...

Well that was it for the barbel for that night so we packed up at 10pm and headed home with 10 barbel and a chub between us reflecting on what turned out to be a fantastic weekend barbel hunting and promising ourselves we'd definitely be heading back to Rossall soon once I've sorted out a new car!!

Tight lines,

Bob (aka Ash's Gillie Bi*ch)

29th October 2011 Rossall River Severn

Well it had been 3 weeks since I last visited the banks mainly due to the lack of a car. However the transport problem was solved when I bought a rather nice diesel Passat estate the weekend before oddly enough from a very nice bloke in Market Drayton not far from the river Severn. I took Mr Ward with me to look at the car and he did comment on the way down that we should have taken our rods but I was using Mrs Roberts new Peugeot 206 so that really wasn't a good idea!!


The new wagon 1.9 TDi130 diesel Passat Estate lovely...

I'm delighted with the new fishing wagon and it easily accommodates all my tackle in it's spacious boot and I'll also be able to get my head down with a sleeping bag in the back should the need arise.


Spacious boot and the split rear seats fold down for my rods...

I decided to revisit Rossall the scene of young Ashley's magnificent 7 a few weeks earlier, indeed I intended to head for the same swim and arrived at 2pm after a very comfortable journey in the new ride.


Back to the same swim where Ash had 7 magnificent barbel...

I was setup and fishing for 3pm, the level was around the same as before and I cast one rod straight ahead into what I hoped was barbel alley and the other to the right hoping it would come to settle under the tree on the far bank.

Both rods remained silent so I set up my tip rod and went stalking around 5:30pm. It was dusk as I settled into a swim just upstream of my base, I wanted to try some simple bread crust so I had a longish hook link to a size 6 hook and a single SSG shot about a foot from the hook to take it down.

By 6pm it was almost dark and I cast it out straight ahead into the main flow and watched as it floated on the current downstream. The bail was left open until it was roughly 30 yards downstream so when I closed the bail arm it had the desired affect and as the line tightened it settled under the over hanging tree about a rod length out in the slack crease.

Within 30 seconds the 2oz tip whacked around and I was into my first chub which did the usually thing and dived into the bank, it was 'hit and hold' fishing but I managed to gain some line on it and eventually scooped it into the net.


A perfect Rossall chub caught on bread crust...

Not the biggest resident I'm sure but still a very welcomed chevin and for me the method I used to catch it made it more of an achievement than just sitting tight on a ledgered bait. It was safely returned and swam off strongly. I tried another swim but it wasn't to be so it was back to the barbel swim hopefully for some night time action.

I fancied another chub so I put a big chunk of luncheon meat on the hook and cast the tip rod in to the right letting the flow take it downstream and then closing the bail arm leaving it nicely tucked into the near bank. I placed the rod down and put it against a chunk of wood so if I did get a take it wouldn't drag the rod in.....

It had been raining and the banks where slippy under foot, I re-baited the barbel rod with a pellet and stood to cast. As I manoeuvred into position to cast I slipped and went down like the proverbial sack of spuds and snapped the butt section of the tip rod.....gutted, it was an all rounder rod with an Avon section 3 tips and a 2" extension but still I didn't damage the barbel rod so I cast it out and retrieved the line on the tip rod then packed it away.

I soon stopped thinking about the broken rod when at 8:15pm the right hand rod screamed off and after a great fight a decent barbel of around 6lb was wallowing in the net.


The first barbel of the night at around 6lb resting in the net...





At 9:35pm I was in again on the right hand rod and a 5lb barbel was in the net and on the bank.





That was the to be the last fish of the evening so I packed up at 10:30pm and headed home, I'd had a great day and looked forward to November where I'll concentrate on some serious roving for chub and try my hand at a bit of piking for the first time!!

Tight lines,

Bob