Birthday Bash

Before we started on the rivers we had a trip to celebrate my 50th birthday . Big parties are nice , and we had a cracker for Sue , but I had always imagined something different for my one . I wanted to hire a lake for some friends and family , with nice facility's , and all to our self s. This was a hard one to sort out , with not much choice to be honest . We ended up finding a jewel called olivemead lake , near Chippenham. I wanted to pay for it as a treat to my mates who put up with me piss taking , and non stop fishing talk .

It had everything and more . Two showers , two toilets , two lodges ,lcd telly's , cookers , all kitchen equipment , large bbq area , and to top it all , a balcony over the lake its self. The lake was about 2 - 3 acres with lots of rudd , tench , and obviously carp , the latter reaching over 30lb. Six of us fished , and wives came along , my mate Steve even collected his son Mitchel for a couple of nights . We had a great time with lots of tench caught to over 6lb , a few carp to 15lb .The highlight was fishing from the balcony of the lodge whilst having the evening bbq,s. Cheering as the young lad had loads of bites from the rudd , before the inevitable happened , and he hooked a tench !!. It rained a bit , and there was noise from the m4 , but we were so taken with the setup we tried to book again with the owner when he turned up to greet his next customers . Beds in the lodge for those who did not want to rough it , secure , hot showers , lights on the paths around the lake , we will be back.

This trip gave a couple of us a chance to try out the lamprey boillies . We had them in two sizes , and dips etc . The first night I went with tigers / maize , and lampreys. I had a fish from close to some pads , where a fished showed , and sent up bubbles . I feel I had got it wrong first night with the minimal feed / pva bags , and put all the bait I had left to this spot , and put 2 rods on it . Fish showed all over the lake , and some good ones as well. During the night , and at first light I had 3 more , losing one as well . I feel none of us really got to grip with it , and could have fished the open water more . The owner said that the syndicate had always caught close in , as the lake was a deep bowl shape , with the water dropping steeply down to 15ft close in , and this is how we started . Nobody told the carp though , and perhaps they had not read the books , and showed over 20ft + of water .My mate Steve also caught a carp , from next to the pads on a couple of lamprey baits , so it was working for him too. It was nice to get the carp stuff out for a change , and bivvi up looking at a nice view , different from the continuous roving we had done for the last few years. Nice as it was , hanging from trees , watching barbel is what I was looking forward to be doing .

Hatter

3ft Twitches

After the September break we had a couple of nice days fishing . On one of them Sue had a 4 fish in a morning session, on a stretch where only she is a member , so I just guilly for her. This entails baiting the swim , climbing tree,s , and making the tea , passing it to her as she concentrates . In the first swim she hooks a fish that really give,s it the big one , bolting for the far tree cover, letting the rod do the work it swings out into the open water , then just fell off !!, not a happy woman . We then move to a nice swim behind a stumpy willow , with the x-line going strait down to the rig in a few feet of water. The bites like this are funny , with the rod top just bouncing as the lead follows the fish down past the rod, and Sue hangs on for a 8lb+ fish , happy now .
We then move a few miles downstream so I can have a go . Passing a lay by catering van , we stop for an all day breaky sarnie , the best we have ever had , and set us up for a long walk to the swims . We dropped in half a dozen , and had 5 between us. The lamprey bags working a treat , putting only just enough in to get a bite, then moving on .What we did though was to fish under used swims , and in fact made a couple while we were there .

Another day in the valley see us change the way we fished a stretch . It would have been easy to go back to the swims we were in most of the season , so we looked at a fairly long bit that we had hardly fished , perhaps once , and even then , not the swims we wanted to try out . We started in a swim Me and Sue had made last season , but had grown over again , not much room for a rod over head , a bit tight all round . Bait was lowered off the rod tip , with the barbel under the cover tight to the bank we hoped .We sat watching buzzards , kingfishers etc , when out of the blue the rod wraps round 3 foot !!, Sue hung on , like a dog on a lead , in the net it went . This was to be the way the day went , with every bite being the same , no liners , no warning , just full test curve. We were in contact with the club secretary all day , winding him up on how they were feeding , and he was stuck at home !!. At one point I had just bundled a fish in the net when Dave Mason called to see how we were getting on , " funny enough Dave iv just got one in the net , about 8lb", he laughed and said , " what on! " , " your lamprey " enough said.

It is nice to contrast the way we fish compared to the club sec. He keeps accurate records of every thing, and knows what we caught, and they are not so far apart. Him working swims , and as my mate says , us stealing a bite . The main difference is he can pick the best time to nip out , where as we go no matter what the conditions are.Where we have to take what is given , but Im not moaning you understand!!!.

Hotel Vectra , with Sue doing the b+b.Many a night spent in the car park on the luxury double air bed , we did a two nigh stay , but any more than that , and lamprey flavor would have nothing on us .

Nearly up to date , Hatterbarbel

Life Getting In The Way

Horses , dogs , chickens , ducks , kids , mortgage. A recipe for a lack of fishing , all at some point wanting your time , and some your money , and most both . This in many ways dictates the way we fish , and where. The problem of short overnighters was solved by the hotel vectra . Sue was the brains behind this , and we have spent many nights in it, saving time , and money . Feet up on the back of the car in the evenings , watching the stars eating out of a takeaway carton , although we did not have much of a summer , I will remember that.

We had quite a few fish up until our holiday at the end of September. Some good fish as well . We were lucky size wise , as often we fished with the sectary of the club water who would catch the average stamp of fish , and a few times he watched as we had 8 , 9 , and 10lb fish , just shaking his head!. Both Sue , and I had fish just over 10lb , with mine a jammy capture with it being the first cast into a swim we had not fished before . I was also lucky enough to catch the same 9lb + fish twice in a week, about a quarter of a mile apart . We did our usual way of fishing two stretches in the same day on many occasion's , catching a fair amount of fish .But the day we had of fishing the kennet with our mate Coilin , then driving across the country to the Teme was the best, with 10 fish for our efforts . We also did a wedding in Barnsley, out of the reception at 11pm , and a drive down , and across to Worcestershire to sleep in the vectra, fish till the afternoon , then home to bucks , knackered.

This led up to September,s holiday , staying in the cottage we use , and love in Severn Stoke .This gave us the opportunity to fish like a local , relaxed starts , home at the end of fishing in no time , oh to do that all the time. We drove through an absolute down pore, to find the river spot on , even managing to get Mr West out of out fav half a dozen swims !!!. Trev West has been guiding on our club stretch , which had mucked us up a couple of times , making our way to the top of the stretch to find him , and a couple of clients baiting , and fishing swims we were heading for .We got round this by looking for his van , seeing if he was there,then knowing where to head for . But in this instant , with prospects good we went for it , catching in most of the swims we went into , finishing early , then up the takeaway for dinner in the cottage . The teme severn lamprey liquid realy came into its own , with bags dipped / soaked in it producing the most fish . Condition eased off as the week went on , but it would be boring to just fish , and we had a day round the antiques shops , and the last day was spent at Malvern show ground for the autumn show . We also managed to have an evening meal with the club sec , and another barbel angler in the club , and wives .A realy nice night , showing you can make friends on the net , and on the bank. By the end of the week we were sight fishing , watching fish pick up baits was top stuff. New swims were made / fished , and we even put bait to fish to watch them , and it seemed a shame to put the rig in , so we just left them to it .

A nice week , and almost up to date , next , the snag day , and poachers .
Hatterbarbel

Kennet , Its Why We Go

The start of the season saw floods of biblical proportions , effecting large areas of the country. We ventured out , and after the close season break , just got back into our winter mode . We fished high water conditions , and caught fish , as they were on the munch . We caught fish regularly , and we were glad we had not booked our usual weeks holiday , so we picked our days carefully. We nibbled away at them , having 5 - 8 fish a trip, but no more than others that were able to get on the banks .

The problem of wet legs due to the meadows being covered in dew was sorted by Sue. We had discussed the use of gaiters , rarely seen on the river bank , but used for this very reason by shooters / walkers . At a county show Sue picked up a couple of pairs for £14 , and what a bargain they turned out to be , totally waterproof they solved the problem. To such an extent we use them even on dry days as they protect the lower calf from mud and getting caught up in the undergrowth !!.
It was on one of these early trips that we also had a visit to the hospital . After nearly hooking Sue in the cheek as she passed the rod ( we only carry 1 between us ) up a steep swim , I finally managed a proper job in the next . The hook was rammed home into her finger by a combined force of me pulling the rod , and the 3oz lead swinging free . The size 7 raptor was removed at Worcester hospital with a local , and we called it a day . We retired to the vectra camper van, slept the night in the car park , then started on a short morning session the next day none the worse , except my ears !. Vectra camper van ??????, yep , another problem solved , more of that next time , along with Teme Severn Baits , and conditions changing

The Kennet in all its glory, a fantastic day in good company , the fact fish were caught was secondary. This diary will try to recount our season to date , but starting half way through , it may be disjointed . It is not a dairy of mega barbel , and chub , but of two average anglers , just catching our share.
We fish different rivers , and many stretches , sometimes on the same day , but that's a story for latter . The season starts last winter really , Sue was in a swim , and we had caught a few fish . I had text a good Friend of ours , Dave Mason , to tell him of conditions , and the fact barbel were feeding . I then received a call from him telling us of an offer to join the bait team , testing Teme Severn products , and of a meeting besides the Severn in June to all meet up . That was bait sorted out for the coming season , but we had a few problems to sort out . Each time we go , we try to improve things , thinning down tackle , trying new stuff out , and solving problems that annoy us!!. Couple of things that always seem to crop up were sleeping arrangements , due to the fact we are traveling anglers , and another is walking across dew covered meadows in the summer , and although not a wet day , getting soaked in the process. Our answer to these next time .