Diary of a Countryman, your weekly crossword and What’s on TV
...but I reckon my opening day success was all down to my superior rig tying!
ANOTHER mixed week for me, but I have to say I love all this chasing around. Makes me feel like a kid again! Here’s how it went…
SATURDAY
A carp guiding day with Trevor and Natasha Horne. Natasha’s personal best was 8lb and her father Trevor’s 16lb, so it was game on. In a world where everyone is talking about twenties, thirties and even 40-pounders, believe me there are still thousands of anglers out there that have never seen a twenty, let alone caught one.
I showed them a few tricks, baited up for them and they managed six carp which included a personal-best mirror of 18lb 8oz for Tasha and an 18lb common for Trevor.
They had to leave at 3pm because Tasha was off to Kenya early next morning for charity school work and hadn’t yet packed. I love helping true anglers like these two, who are grateful for every fish they catch and are lovely folk to spend the day with.
MONDAY
Headed down to Southsea Marina for a session after tope. It was a long drive of 156 miles from my place for a 5.30am start. I arrived at the marina at 9.30pm, enjoyed a couple of pints of cider in the Marina bar, and slept in the car till morning.
TUESDAY
The alarm went at 5am and the morning sun over the marina was incredible. There is something really magical about standing on the quayside with the smell of the seashore in your nostrils.
I met up with Dave, Darren and Shaun and we were soon on our way to the tope mark about an hour offshore. The day went wel,l with plenty of fish to just over 40lb along with several at 30lbplus. The big 60 eluded us this time but we’ll be back!
All our fish were caught on herrings and mackerel on uptide tackle – great sport. This was my last tope trip of the summer but we’re already booking up with skipper Pete Churchill for next year when I am going to catch a big ’un!
FRIDAY
Opening day on the rivers at last, this year in the company of Ray Cutler on the Rowley club waters of the River Severn at Coalport.
We decided we wanted a few bites from the start instead of sitting it out for a big fish – there will be plenty enough sessions like that for the rest of the summer.
There is a chance of a decent fish at Coalport but it’s usually fairly easy to get a take or two from medium-sized barbel and chub.
The river looked perfect. It had had a flush through and was on its way down to just a little above summer level. However, opening day on the river can be a funny one, with fish sometimes switching off when they see large volumes of bait. My hope was that my prebaiting over the past few weeks would see the fish feeding hard on boilies. We would see.
I arrived at 5am and got the peg I fancied, but Ray didn’t get there till later and ended up in a spot he’d not fished before. To be honest it was dead at the start and I never even had a line bite for the first hour. Then, out of the blue, the two rods went together, both barbel weighing in at about 5lb. At least it was a start, and hopefully the start of a feeding spree.
Unfortunately there were no
“It was dead at the start then, out of the blue, the two rods went together”
more bites for a few hours before, again out the blue, an 8lb 2oz barbel nearly pulled the rod into the water. Then there was a further lull that made me believe there were not many fish in the swim, so I swapped my 14mm homemade hooker boilie for two TG 10mm Nash ones which I had been feeding. Straight away I had a take, this time from a chub weighing 5lb 7oz.
When the going is tough I will often fish one or two small boilies on the hair, and again it had paid off for me with a superb fish. After that chub I waited for about 10 minutes for another barbel take but this one found a snag and I had to pull for a break.
Everyone I spoke to after packing up told me they had caught nothing, including Ray. Now, for Ray to blank it had to be tough.
On the walk back to the car I asked Ray if he’d like me to tie him some rigs like mine so he could catch like me. I dare not write his answer, except to say I won’t be tying him any rigs any time soon…
Back home, I had a phone call from my mate Lawrence Breakspear who had caught a double-figure barbel almost first cast from the lower Severn.
Great news, and here’s to a great river season!