Tidal River Trent
More than 300 Collingham pegs are hot too
TO MANY, Cromwell Weir on the River Trent is a barbel ‘circus’ of 10 pegs which are fully booked for most of the season.
The truth is that there are more than 300 pegs on the Collingham AA stretch here. That’s a lot of water and I was keen to find out if the other 290 swims had anything like the potential of those in the ‘Big Top’!
I was unsure what to expect, never having visited before, but when I stepped out the van at the end of Carlton Ferry Lane I was pleasantly surprised . What wasn’t to like about a flowing river meandering its way through beautiful countryside? What’s more, there were a few fish about, too.
I’d arranged to meet Lincolnshire specialist Phil Taylor on the bank, and by the time I arrived he’d already landed no fewer than six fighting-fit barbel!
Had I failed in my role as photographer, turning up late? I feared I had, when told me that sport had tailed off. The curse of the camera?
TIME TO MOVE SWIMS
Ever the optimist, Phil reassured me that he’d catch another, but after a fruitless hour, and with the sun rising higher, this was looking rather
unlikely.
As we both sat watching the river, chatting away as you do, we noticed several fish ‘crashing’ downstream. Phil and I agreed that it was perhaps best to up sticks and move to peg 195 – after all when it isn’t happening, you’ve got to do your best to make it happen!
Shortly after the move, we were met by one of the stretch’s bailiffs, who assured us that maggots were the way to go in the difficult conditions. I tended to agree with him, but Phil stuck with his pellet approach, which couldn’t have been simpler.
The rod set-up Phil used is worth mentioning, as it wasn’t what you might think would be suitable for Trent barbel.
A lot of anglers are visiting the river with really stepped-up gear, but when the water is as low as we found it on the day you don’t want anything too heavy.
Phil was easily presenting large feeders and taming fish on a rod of around 1¼lb tc.
He coupled this with a small freespool reel loaded with a mainline of around 10lb. To the line Phil attached a swivel bead and clip, which enabled a swift changeover between feeder and lead if need be, as well as creating a safe free-running rig. Below, a rubber bead and swivel created the ideal buffer against the 4ft hooklength, made from the same mono as the mainline.
At the sharp end, a size 10 Gardner Talon Tip connected knotless-knot-style helped create a hair rig, to which a 14mm pellet hookbait was attached.
LOOSEFEEDING PAYS OFF
Before casting, Phil would simply fill his feeder with a mixture of whole and liquidised 6mm pellets, with just enough of the ‘stick’ factor to withstand the cast. The area he was targeting was half to three-quarters of the way across, the deepest channel at low tide.
Phil’s regime of regularly loosefeeding pellets certainly spurred the fish into feeding, and we didn’t have to wait long for that classic ‘arch-over’ barbel bite. A fizzing clutch confirmed it was the target species, and after a short but exciting tussle, a small golden torpedo was resting
gently in the net.
The barbel was unhooked in the net while still in the water. That meant getting wet feet or donning waders, but fish welfare was paramount in the scorching temperatures.
We didn’t bother weighing or messing around – there’s no need to hike the barbel back up the steep banks just for pictures.
Instead we rested the fish in the landing net for several minutes until it was ready to swim away strongly – see the panel on the right for advice on handling barbel in the heat.
Sport continued for the next hour, and with regular feeding Phil took his tally to nine barbel for the session. One thing is obvious, don’t do what I did and oversleep – the best sport is certainly at daybreak!
That said, I’m sure that long summer evenings would be just as prolific. LOCATION: Carlton Ferry Lane, Collingham, Newark, Notts, NG23 7LZ CONTACT: Collingham AA, 01636 892573 PRICE: £5 per day on the bank, £10 for 24 hours