Des Taylor’s
Diary of a Countryman
FISHING rock-hard waters and blanking is very difficult for me.
Over the years I have often recharged my batteries on ‘easy’ waters to maintain my enthusiasm for the sport and also because I like to see a bend in my rod.
Indeed, I have just finished a great week of fishing ‘easy’ venues, although soon I will be back on my quest for 16lb-plus barbel.
At the start of the year my angling buddy Ray Cutler and I set goals of a bream and a barbel over 16lb, and we are both halfway there. We were talking in the pub the other night and we could both remember when any barbel or bream over 8lb was a great day’s fishing. How things have changed, and I’m not so sure for the better.
Here’s how my week went…
FRIDAY
Took Keith Harding on the river and it fished really well, with 12 barbel and five chub. He also lost a couple of fish so he had a few takes, to say the least.
The river was perfect, just dropping after rain had pushed fresh water through; it was always on the cards for a few takes.
Every fish was caught on my own special hookbait fished over Nash T&G boilies and pellets. Some were even passing brokendown boilies from their vents as we caught them, they were eating so much!
I think now we have seen some water pass down the valley it will continue to fish well, so get down there and give it a go. Having said that, you need to remember that the Severn is not a commercial fishery and you don’t get a bite a chuck. If you get four or five barbel it’s been a good day. The days of 100lb of barbel on the Severn are long gone, for various reasons.
SATURDAY
Fancied a bit of floatfishing with maggots on the Stour just outside Kidderminster, and I had a great day with a bite every cast. I had gudgeon, dace, chublets and brown trout – nothing big but I knew that would be the case. I enjoyed it so much, I got home late!
You see, even a hardened specimen hunter like me enjoys getting a load of bites every now and then, especially on the float.
MONDAY
Met my mate Wayne on the Warwickshire Avon at 5pm for a session lasting until midnight. Although we’d had a bit of rain locally, the river was still low and clear so we didn’t expect a take in the daylight.
It was overcast and warm, and dark by 9pm, and sure enough, between 10pm and 11pm we each caught a barbel and a chub, the best fish at 10lb 12oz and falling to my rod. They all took 20mm boilies fished over pellets and smaller boilies and they fought well considering there was very little flow to help them.
One of the chub had its tail bitten off and claw marks down its flanks, a sure sign of an otter
attack. On the subject of otters, I notice it’s the turn of the farmers to take the blame for the lack of barbel numbers in our rivers by some writers.
Well, unlike me, some of these writers spend very little time on the bank and more time making up theories. They don’t see the real cause… and that’s otters.
Water extraction and pollution does not pull a 10lb barbel out the water, rip its throat out and leave 9lb of the fish on the bank for badgers and foxes to clear up, believe me!
TUESDAY
A day on the Severn for anything that wanted to pull the rod over! I fished 10mm boilies on the hook and ended up with eight barbel, four chub and two roach for a very enjoyable afternoon’s fishing.
Years ago I thought roach were so clever. Even on a size 20 hook and single maggot they would give minute bites on the quivertip or float. Now they ‘hang’ themselves like any other fish when you use a boilie on the hair with a bolt rig! The hair rig was an incredible invention but at times I think it’s been the ruination of our sport because it makes the catching of big fish very easy. That’s not what fishing is all about, is it?
The only difference between bites is that a barbel bends the rod double when it takes the bait, a chub very often gives a drop back, and a roach just ‘rattles’ the rod, trying to shake the hook free. Either way, the fish has hooked itself and you just reel it in.
There used to be a skill called ‘knowing when to strike’ but most of us nowadays simply pick up the rod without striking because the fish is already on!
I had a right old tussle midsession with a decent pike which grabbed what I think was another roach. It put a hell of a bend in my 1.75lb test curve rod but I was glad when it came off. There is always a chance of hooking a pike when you start getting a few fish feeding in your swim, but that’s all part of a day on the river.
Next week I’ll let you into a simple method that I have been catching some good chub on…
FISH WITH DES!
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