Matt Tann Fishing: #1. Into the Breach...

I have been asked more and more by several friends recently why I don't keep a blog of my angling exploits. Not just to share them all with fellow angling enthusiasts, but to keep a running 'digital diary' of my sessions on the bank etc. It stuck in my mind, so I thought what the hell so here goes nothing....

The barbel divide, north v south...

A few weeks back I decided for my first proper campaign of this 2016 river season I would focus my attention on barbel. A species I do admire and have had some lovely catches of down the years with a healthy PB of over 13lbs. I love targeting them in the summer months, when they are carrying there summer sun tan look. Deep golden/ bronzed backs, pure white bellies and pink pectorals.

Typical H. Avon Swim

I started for them on my local Hampshire Avon, mainly because it's just down the road and a river I've fished for over 20 years. Plus Hampshire Avon barbel are in my opinion the pinnacle of the species and the most beautiful. The area of river I chose to fish was slightly off the beaten track, a good 6ft depth over a gravel bed, caped in ranunculus with a broken tree at the head of the swim creating a raft, a perfect feature for the barbel to make home. Having sat and watched the swim I started to notice barbel drifting in and out from under the raft, mouthing over a clear gravel patch next to the raft, then sliding back into there lair. An amazing sight for any angler to see.

Using a baitdropper

With intrepid action I baited the swim with a mixture of hemp, caster and small pellet using my trusty bait dropper, around 5 or 6 drops followed by a few broken down halibut boilies. Rod wise I use a korum 12ft barbel rod and 4000 Stradic reel, usually only one rod, sometimes a pair. With the swim being so tight I opted for the single rod approach. Set up wise just a simple link ledger approach, 1.5 oz lead to hold with a 2 ft hair rigged 15mm sea salt and halibut boilie, slightly broken off to maximise flavour. A simple underarm flick was all that's required to get the bait nice and tightly under the raft. Then, the waiting game....

Well I waited, and waited and waited, tried longer hook lengths, shorter ones, different areas of the swim, smaller hooks, different hook baits including pellet and caster, even worm and meat. I could not buy a bite, not even a chub. The weather was overcast and not to hot, ideal summer conditions really. Soon it was time to pack up, the journey home was arduous, a bad accident on the M27 meant a long delay, which gave me plenty of thinking time to try and work out where I went wrong.

I returned the following next two weekends, fishing the same swim with the same tactics but with nothing but a few lean summer chub to my name. Each time I would spot barbel working the gravel and drifting around the back of the swim and each time they kept getting the better of me. Week, at the end of the 6th barbel blank I snapped and put a joke status up on Facebook, something along the lines of...

" these Hampshire Avon barbel are doing my head in, please someone take me barbel fishing where I can actually catch a barbel lol "

I soon deleted it but before I did my good friend Michael got in touch. Inviting me up to join him for a barbel session on the mighty River Trent. Well, I know the Trent from my younger days, my dad was born in Nottingham and lived just down the road from beeston weir. Family holidays to Nottingham often involved fishing the Trent. So I excepted and the following sat eve I made the 200 ish mile drive north to barbel fish the awesome Trent.

Sunrise on the Trent!

Upon arrival I was reminded of the sheer girth of the Trent. I thought to my self "bloody hell, you can fit the Avon into this 3 or 4 times". Even in the low and slow summer conditions it looked a mighty beast. Still, Mike said it's usually good for a few fish so with that we set up. We opted for a double tripod set up to fish with two rods, both 2lb test curve, couple of bait runner reels as the bites are savage holding 10lb line. There wasn't to much flow on the river so a 2oz cage feeder was enough to hold bottom, coupled with a 2ft Fluorocarbon hook length and size 12 hook. For bait we used a fishy method mix with pellets for the feeder mix and on the hair rig it was a 15mm sea salt boilie, sometimes with the end chopped a bit to release more flavour. Mikes top tip here was to only cast out a couple of rod lengths due to the sharp boulders in the middle of the river. With the traps set we sat back as dusk descended.

About 2 hours into darkness, the isotope took one huge bolt to the left, followed by the gorgeous sound of the reel screaming. I was in business! A respectful battle followed, the fish doing its best to cut me off on the jagged rocky riverbed. Eventually Mike did the honours with the net and a lovely conditioned Trent barbel was in the net.

After the fish was well rested, we quickly weighed her and fired off a few pics before getting her safely back to her watery home. See went 9lb 12oz, a long fish that come winter will be a healthy double. I had one more run later that night but sadly the hook pulled but I was happy, I had my barbel mojo back.

My stocky Trent barbus

I returned the following week with Mike for another crack, this time we both fished. Same tactics, Mike had a run before I arrived and lost it to a hook pull. Unfortunately, we were in a new swim to myself and Mike. Therefore I had some issues with casting and kept getting the feeder stuck in rocks meaning several re casts. This resulted in more feeder fulls of bait going in, a lot more than I would have preferred. The end result due to over feeding was bream, bream and bream... Good quality ones at that going over 6lb, but they were in my swim and in mass which meant I had to cast out further, away from the better barbel areas.

Still, Mike showed me the way when his rod tore off and an epic battle played out. Strong lunges and plenty of runs, he was into a quality barbel. Eventually we got it in close enough to net, it was at this point we both did our best to knock it of the hook. Eventually, the barbel was in the net, a brute of a fish that tipped the scales at 12lb 12oz 😵🎣

Mike's stunning Trent double

That was it for that session, I returned home with fresh optimism to give the Avon another go. So two days later I decided to try the Hampshire Avon again. Only this time, I would fish the same swim but at night. I also invited a very good friend of mine to do the night with me. Ryan Hayden had been working for Drennan on the River Wye all day but selflessly offered to do the 150+ mile journey to join me. Ryan is an excellent angler who I have had the pleasure of fishing with on many occasions and is without doubt my closest friend in fishing. His superb understanding of different rig presentations and watercraft mixed with my own local knowledge and experience gave me all I needed.

Ryan made a few changes to my rig and added a special glug to my hook bait. I lowered it into the swim using the head torch to get the correct position. I sat back with the isotope glowing in the dark like a small firefly.

Twenty minutes later at 10.30 pm I started getting plucks on the tip, convinced it was a chub I ignored it. The taps continued, followed by a gentle drop back. Posed to lift into what was surely a chub, the tip suddenly pulled round, not a 3ft twitch more a 1.5 ft one. It felt a good fish and I was honestly expecting a decent chub but then out of the raft into the clear water came a lovely bronze barbel.

Ryan soon netted it for me, and although not a monster at just under 8lb, it was to me a truly special fish. It's condition and summer colouration was stunning. My night was made, I relaxed and no further fish followed for me but I wasn't bothered. It would have been nice for Ryan to land one but we have another session planned soon.

A job well done, yes the north has bigger numbers of barbel, but the southern barbel sure win it in the looks department... 🎣