Sunday night barbel

Headed to the river after the football was over.What a lovely evening it was and wish id gone earlier.
Tactics,feeder and bomb and bag.Settled into my swim choice and was getting a few twitches.

My first fish came at 8 pm 6.10,u can tell these barbel are feeding up now.My 2nd fish came just after 9 and was 5.10.
Had the river all to myself the banks were empty and maybe because footie was on and were to miserable to get out........................................

6.10 .................................................

5.10......................................................

Lone Angler Landing Net Pole

I have been in the market now for a new pole for my barbel  fishing.It was a choice between this and the drennan specialist,not much difference in price,but i wanted a strong and solid pole i chose the lone angler.

Made with a mix of glass and carbon and 30mm thick,extends to 8 foot 8.A nice rubber grip finishe,s the pole of nice.The thread inside is secured by a tough resin around the thread.........................

P.A.C Convention Harrogate 21 -9-13

So me and clive headed up to harrogate for the second yr running.Not good the car conked out when we were nearly there.The convention didnt seem to be as busy as last yr.This years 2nd hand stalls caught my eye and a few bits purchased,well damn good bargains.The big fish catchers were all present baring a few missing.Met up with a few good friends and had some pike chat.Things that caught my eye,loads of lures and the eddie turner alarms looked good,aslo the billy backbiters.Des Taylor,s talk was good.A good day out and have to go again next yr.By the way we broke down on the way home again,clive wasnt a happy chappy.

Me and Essex R.O Sean ellis,donated a couple of reels to his junior pikers.........................

Paste for Barbel

This season ive used paste for my barbel fishing and its been more succesful than the last two seasons.I have stuck to a mix i make and i will show you how to make it...........................

Perfect size bait bowl.........................................

I add two eggs,you get a better texture........................

Whisk the eggs........................................

A spoonful of flavour,i use an oil based product,you can use any thing u like........

Add your groundbait,i use swimstim black

I add 4 big spoonful,s of the black and just cover the eggs.........................

I then add a spoonful of garlic.....................................

Once ive added the garlic i mix it up,looks sloppy......................

I add two more spoon fulls,still not quite the stiff texture yet

Now its got the stiff texture i like,time to get your hands dirty........................

The finished Ball,i leave it half hour to settle then i roll it again like you would with putty and put in a bag and freeze till my next session.Its a lot cheaper making your own and knowing your catching on your own product,Try it...............................................

New PB Barbel 15-9-13

Well i went last sunday back to the peg where id caught 11 barbel from,i presumed they lived there,how wrong was i.Apart from one good twitch where i had a barbel on for all of 10 seconds the session ended in a blank.............................

Last night after working all day,i arrived home at 5-30pm,i sorted my gear and headed up to the river at 6-30.I decided i didnt have the time to get to the two stretches ive fished recently and headed to a new stretch.

Upon arrival i headed up river,plenty anglers on farbank,decided to keep walking.I dropped into two pegs and there was already anglers there.I carried on walking and dropped into a nice looking peg.

Tactics as usual feeder and pellet,bomb,bag and boillie.The river is still low,no colour.I managed to get the rods out before dark,i wasnt happy with the spots i cast too,so left them and waited.

After about 45 mins decided to fish closer,bingo deeper water.I was getting twitches and raps now.I left the rods out in anticipation of a bite.at 10pm i recast both rods,my feeder rod i plugged with paste,and a big ball round the hook bait.

At 10-20 i had the 3 ft twitch you want,i couldnt believe how strong this fish was,i was trying to guide here under my other line,she made 2 good runs on the clutch,then within netting distance,netted her second attempt.I rested her as i admired her in the net,i removed the hook and when ready to a take picture i noticed she had another hook length hanging down,removed it and quick pic and put her back,she was strong to swim off but was sulking in the margins.

9.2 well pleased..........................................
Id forgotten my pebble charger connecttor and my phone ran out at 10-50,i fished on for a while ,packed up and walked back down river,i couldnt believe how far i walked,my legs are aching today,but it was worth the effort and i knew going today was the right  choice,due to the weather,and it paid off.
Tight Lines,Till the next time........................................

Pike Season 2013-14

Well its getting nearer to winter and i didnt want summer to end.Its that time to un pack the pike gear,check out what i need,which i know will be nothing,still gotta be done though.Excited i have two Tony Kay custom rods now,picked up my 2.75 when i was working at tony,s a couple weeks a go.Ive been working on modifying the drop offs i made,hoping to get them sorted before october.Next saturday is the P.A.C Convention ,looking forward to meeting up with a few people there,see whats on offfer,lol.

Now the most important part of my season is where im fishing.Ill be fishing a couple of different stretches of the River,looking for two more waters to fish and maybe the odd guest appearance at an old haunt.Maybe a few trips to the lakes would be nice.

This season i will be using a bait boat aswell,need to source a fish finder from somewhere to help me find drop offs and features.........................................

Anyway Good luck to all you Piker,s out there.....Hereeeeeeeeeee Pikey.............................

P.S Its still Barbel time till mid october,pike season for me starts 12/13 October......................

The Barbel Run Continues 1-9-13

I arrived at the river just after 5pm and it was the last day of august,so summers now over,who knows could get an indian summer yet.I headed down stream and decided to fish a swim 40 yards from where i fished last week.After 40 minutes i decided to move back into the swim i had barbel from last week.It wasnt long before the bomb and bag rod  roared off and my first barbel 5.15.It wasnt a warm evening at all .felt quite cold at times.I had another splasher barbel not long after the first to the same rod.

As Darkness fell i had another splasher,then 30 mins later a 6.8 barbel.Was this going to be like last week,no it wasnt.....I had a chub followed ny my first ever eel and a foul hooked eel.I packed up at 1 am .
I was happy with my haul and headed back to the van,my only sour note was 3 anglers up stream shining torches all the time and one had a lamp on permanant,rant over............................

5.15.........................................

Splasher no1

Splasher No2 ...............................

I have not used braid for barbel for two seasons now,so out with the striptease and made my own combi rig
i just stripped 2 inches below the eye of the hook,it worked well last night...................

The 6.8 barbel i caught in the dark,picture didnt come out,something i need to sort with the new camera

Till the next session,tight lines................................................