COALPORT IS THE GEM OF THE SEVERN
...it’s a shame about the rest of the river
WELL, it seems that winter has arrived with a vengeance! A northerly wind has brought with it cold Arctic air and even snow in Scotland and northern England.
Fishing can be hard once these conditions hit, so when they do I always head to a few waters where there is a good head of fish.
Once they get used to the big change in temperature I will be more confident with a smaller head of fish, but right now the forecast tells me warmer, rainy weather is on the way – great news! Here’s how my week went…
TUESDAY
A day on the Severn at Coalport. I often take my customers here, and today I fancied some action myself! It was a bit like taking coals to Newcastle but I wanted a few takes. After baiting up for a good hour I went in with 12mm Nash Scopex Squid boilies on a running leger rig, the same rig I have had 90 per cent of my fish on this year.
It started quite slowly with just a 6lb barbel in the first hour but after that they came on big style. In the next seven hours I had 14 barbel to 9lb 2oz, with a number over 8lb. Four of them took the bait before I could put the rod in the rest. I also caught a 6lb 2oz chub, two more over 5lb and three chub of around 3lb. What’s more I had a 1lb 9oz roach and lost three decent barbel in a snag.
That was a bag of well over 100lb and I was still having the odd bite when I packed up – but I’d had enough. Maybe years ago I would have stayed, but not today.
I know what you are thinking: “I thought you said otters are eating all the barbel in the Severn”. Well, they are having a good go but there are certain swims, especially around the Ironbridge area, where you can still put a bag together if you know what you’re doing.
Incidentally, in a match the week before the peg I had fished today produced one barbel, in fact it is not even included in every match. And on the subject of barbel numbers on the Severn, I have to mention that certain anglers are suggesting a return to form at Bewdley ever since Alan Stevens had a 40lb bag of barbel there.
Now let’s get this into context. Alan is an excellent angler, but only a few years ago now he wouldn’t have bothered to weigh in with 40lb, never mind win the match. It’s also worth noting that Alan’s catch was one of the best weights off this venue all year.
I lived at Bewdley for 33 years, and for 22 years of that the river was only a few hundred yards Look at me and my new computer. Fishing isn’t always about being out of doors. behind my house.
I fished hundreds of hours on the river, as I still do, so I know how barbel numbers have decreased.
I am not guessing about the situation as anglers that live a hundred miles away are.
WEDNESDAY
Chub fishing with cheesepaste on a Birmingham AA stretch of water just north of where I live.
In the past it gave me chub to over 6lb, and no doubt it will in the future – indeed there are hopes of the river doing a few sevens this coming winter.
But this afternoon I had one massive pull around and missed it like a noddy. It felt cold as I walked down the field, and I could see my breath in the evening air as I moved closer to the car. A quick pint of cider in the Squirrel on the way home by its glowing log fire and I felt great. I love this time of year – roll on Christmas!
FRIDAY
Tested out the new set-up for my live Facebook shows. My mate Lol Breakspear was coming in this week, and for a 60-year-old like myself it’s taken some getting used to, what with two cameras, a new microphone and all the techy stuff on my new computers.
Being a modern, full-time angler is not all about sitting on the bank and catching fish. If only it were!
SUNDAY
A day with Wayne Langston on the boat, searching areas of the Warwickshire Avon for zander.
Typical of any ‘alien’ species that find their way into a water, at first there can be an explosion in
numbers, but then Nature takes over and the numbers level out.
This is exactly what has happened on the Avon. Only a few years ago you could catch lots of very small zander everywhere you cast a bait, but now they have spread through the river and they are harder to find.
However, as with any type of fishing, the more work you put in, the more success you will have and it’s searching the river now that will pay dividends in the coming months.
We went through Chadbury Weir and worked our way downstream, fishing large areas without a take on lures or bait, then suddenly we would come to small holding areas and get a few takes.
We caught some nice zander on the day, along with a number of small pike and some decent perch.
With these numbers of predators in the river it demonstrates to me that there are lots of silver fish to support them.
It was a dawn-till-dusk hard day’s fishing, but on the way home in the car I felt as though we had fished well and hard.
The soreness in my backside and lower back from sitting in the boat for 10 hours confirmed that!