2011-2012 season...

14:51 Lewis Gaukrodger 0 Comments

At the beginning of the 11/12 season I set myself several aims; the first being a PB barbel, the second a carp from the Tidal Trent and the third a barbel from the River Idle.

I started the season on the Collingham AA stretch of the Tidal Trent and had 14 fish out on the second night of the season up to 8lb all falling to 2x Teme Severn Ellipse 10mm Pellets. An approach which I had thought about through the closed season was laying down a large bed of bait before I introduce a hook bait. On smaller rivers this is easily done with a bait dropper though on a venue like the Tidal Trent the dropper will be in the next peg before its emptied. Therefore I modified a feeder to allow me to introduce a ground bait mix around ½ to ¾ across the river accurately and effectively.


The next planned session I had was in early August where a friend who had never caught a barbel before accompanied me. Arriving at the river the heaven opened and the majority of the tackle got soaked but I knew that this downpour would encourage the fish to feed. After laying the bed of bait down at 7:00pm I had landed a 10lb 3oz barbel by 8:02pm which was followed at 10:58pm with a 10lb 15oz fish. James (the friend who accompanied me) landed his first barbel at 4lb 5oz soon after which was then quickly followed by a 9lb 15oz fish. Low tide was around 2am and at 2:36am my upstream rod tapped away and I was into what felt like a bream though as it got closer to the bank it started to feel heavier. Once it was landed I knew it was a PB, after swiftly unhooking and photographing the fish she was rested and then weighed at 14lb 14oz (a new barbel PB). Fish continued to feed throughout the night into dawn where it quietened off. All the fish had been caught on Teme Severn Ellipse 10mm Pellets.


I returned to the same peg a week later and decide to give a different Teme Severn bait a go. The lamprey range was something I had seen increasing numbers of people talking about on their facebook page so I had glugged several in the Teme Severn Barbel Pro Liquid in preparation. Casting to a gravel bar that was only visible the previous week at low tide, it seemed a suitable place for the fish to be graving over at high tide and my suspicions were right. The rod that was positioned towards the gravel bar tapped a couple of times and I lifted into a heavy weight that set off like a speed train. After getting the fish under control and to the net, a prestine 15lb 8oz mirror carp was landed and my first carp from the Tidal Trent.


Returning back to the rivers on the Newark Dyke towards the beginning of March I targeted a very snaggy swim, casting under a large fallen branch, that had a clean gravel run in front of it. I had decide to give the Teme Severn Lamprey Pellets a go as the flavour is specifically designed for the winter months. In previous session I have struggled to find the fish on this stretch of the river however I mangaed to land a PB chub at 5lb 8oz followed by several barbel to 7lb 14oz.


My penultimate session of the season was at Collingham and I arrived to a reasonably high river, which resulted in me strapping an extra 2oz onto 5oz feeders. As dusk set in I received my only take of the night on Lamprey Pellet once again. With the fish in the net I knew it was a double and the scales tipped to 12lb 15oz. A fine end to a successful season on a popular venue.


And so to the 12/13 season….