RIVERFEST FINAL 2019... WHO’LL BE THE NEW CHAMP?
Creator of the event Dave Harrell reviews the prospects
THIS weekend sees the culmination of 24 qualifiers across the UK as the Angling Trust RiverFest Final rolls into Shrewsbury.
The big match will host some of the finest running-water anglers in the country for two days of battle on what all will be hoping is an in-form and fishable River Severn.
Ravaged by extra water since the start of the month, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel now, with falling levels and a spot of colour in the river – but with so little fishing having taken place in recent weeks, nobody knows exactly what to expect!
That, according to event creator and Angling Times columnist Dave Harrell, will help to make it more of a level playing field and Dave has his fingers crossed for no more rain in the Welsh hills that will send the Severn back up a good few feet.
Should the river be at a perfect level and flow, though, Dave’s anticipating a real bonanza, knowing how the Severn can produce 50lb of dace and roach when caught on the right day. And his sneaking suspicion is that this weekend could be among those right days.
“We all know about the floods and extra water but the weather forecast is okay, and I can’t see there being much more water entering the system,” he said.
“Likewise, I don’t see it dropping massively so, with luck, we’ll have a river reading of around 1m or 1.2m, which is just about ideal.
“What I do know is that I’ve been fishing Shrewsbury since 1979 and in my experience, whenever we have a good influx of water and lower temperatures it usually means that when the water subsides, the system is full of fish through all pegs.
“Lots of migratory fish move in, mainly roach and dace. They will be hungry and chasing bait, so I’d expect a great final if we have a good-looking river.
“Checking those water levels and taking note of them is vital. In terms of colour, I’d want to be able to see a maggot about eight inches down in the water,” Dave added.
WHERE WOULD YOU WANT TO DRAW?
“That’s a question I’ve been asked a lot – I don’t know! We’ve yet to have a match on the river this autumn so have little to work on in terms of knowing where the fish are going to be, but working on experience and assuming we have a ‘normal’ river with a bit of colour in it, there are places I’d like to be.
On the County Ground I’d fancy roach and dace being there. The lower-numbered pegs were devoid of fish last year but could be very good this time. Pegs 20 to 23 in the Spinney can produce some dace weights and a few chub, but past here, the river deepens and roach come into play all the way up to the end of the section on peg 39b.
“Moving on to the Quarry, last year we left out peg 40 as the level was too low to fish but it’s a brilliant swim that’s won more matches at Shrewsbury than any other down the years. With the right level I’d run to here and dream of catching lots of dace!
“The water deepens as you go up to the walkover bridge. We’re looking at roach and dace and some big perch that can be caught on pole and worm tactics.
“There could well be a barbel or two here if you’re struggling, and it’s much the same on the other side of the bridge down to the first boathouse.
“From the boathouse down to pegs in the 80s is a very fair stretch when the river is in good nick, but I’d fancy the end few pegs to possibly throw up the winner on both days, again roach and dace and some giant perch.”
LIKELY TACTICS
“On a good river, the pole and feeder can be left in the bag by and large for a running line approach. This involves big stick floats for fishing the middle of the river and Bolo rods, but I would also have a perch line close in using big round-bodied floats or perhaps a flat float with lobworms as there are some monsters all the way through the match length.
“The long whip can be good when you’re on a lot of roach and dace but although I would definitely set one up, I wouldn’t put money on it catching well enough. The same goes for the blockend feeder, which is only there for trying to catch a barbel
if your match is going nowhere and you need to try and get out of jail.
“We’ll not have the low and clear river of last year’s final, so the pole won’t be needed.”
BAITS TO TAKE
“Maggots are my main bait for Bolo and stick float fishing but you don’t need loads, around three pints and a couple of pints of hemp alongside. I’d also have half-a-kilo of worms, some lobworms and a few pints of casters for a perch line and then the ‘silly’ baits for barbel like meat and pellets.
“Groundbait would only be in my bag if the river was pulling hard and loosefeed wasn’t getting down where I wanted it. Three kilos and few pints of molehill soil will do the job.”
LIKELY WEIGHTS
“This is hard to forecast owing to few anglers and no matches on the river, but if we have a 1m river (the reading at Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury centre) and a greeny tinge to the water, I’d fully expect 20lb to 30lb of roach and dace to win each day.
“Water level and colour are key to this. You can only catch big weights on this river using float tactics so it all has to be right for mega catches to happen.
“On a high and coloured river, big fish will play more of a part, but you don’t really string together any number of these at Shrewsbury. In this instance, 20lb could be tremendous.”
WHAT IF THE RIVER IS UNFISHABLE?
“If the river is wrecked then we have three weekends in place – November 9 and 10, 16 and 17 and 23 and 24,” said Dave.
“The anglers know these and are good as gold about being flexible, but I’m really hopeful that we won’t need these dates!”