01/09/10, River Trent at Willington. Phase LQ.

Another change of stretch for Rick and myself and a rather late start as it was already getting dark as we set up, but we didn't have to wait long as Rick had a stop start run which resulted in his first river Bream at 6lb 15. The next few hours were very quite bitewise so we sat it out waiting and chatting and all was looking not good as the only signs were fish topping in the dark, but at 11.43pm one of my rods went off resulting in a small barb of about 5lb's. We gave it till nearly 11 30pm before packing in on what turned out to be another rather slow session. 

30/08/10 River Trent at Barrow. Phase LQ-2.

With the trent very fishable, we headed to another new stretch for Rick to try to carry on the variation of his Trent introduction. Even better I had something to work to, so it was a bit of a bonus when one of Rick's rod went off early resulting in a fish of about 5lb's. The weed was again no problem and the stretch looked great, although it had obviously changed quite a bit and will change significantly in the next few years due to erosion. I had a very good idea that we would see a fish around 10.35pm from the off, and I was getting rather worried that we would be denied another by 10.39, but at 10.40 one of Rick's rods went again resulting in a fish of 8lb's, and although we carried on till 11.30pm, we never had anything else. 

27/08/10, River Trent at Twyford. Phase LQ-5.

After talking about it for a while, we decided to take a gamble and try the Trent hoping that the weed would not be too bad as it had some extra water on.  A stretch that I'm not familiar with and a river that Rick had never had a barbel from laid the table for an interesting session. We chose a couple of swims which turned out to have about 10 feet of water under the rod tips and got the rods in quickly, because having checked my book I found that we could have an early one hour spell to our advantage, and it turned out correct. Rick had his first fish out of the Trent at 8.45 pm weighing 7lb 5 and then hooked and lost another at 9.20pm, and just as my records showed, that was it for the night. I didn't have a thing although I did see a barb top below me in the dark, and when we packed up at 11.30pm it had turned quite chilly in a freshening breeze.

As for the weed, it wasn't a problem. Most of what we picked up was streamer, and never enough to wipe you out. There was very little in the way of the normal green weed which normally clogs everything up and it made it an enjoyable session. I hope things stay like it so that we can really start to put some sessions in.  

24/08/10, River Dove at Marston. Phase Full Moon.

Rick and myself headed back to a stretch that has been kind to us this season, hoping for that run of luck to continue, but found the river rather quite and the fish very unresponsive. We gave it till about 11.30pm before packing up without so much as a knock between us. This month is turning into a bit of a grueller for me, and its high time for a few changes me thinks.

20/08/10, River Dove at Marston. Phase Full -4.

Not a good one on the charts, but after Thursday night's rain we fancied that there might be a bit more on the river. How wrong we were. There wasn't any noticable difference or colour and after having looked at spots for about 40 minutes we finally settled in to a couple of new spots just as the rain began again. Rick was at least getting some signs whilst my rods were motionless through out, and at 11.05pm Rick had a screaming run off a fish that went 10lb 7. Although we fished on till 1.15am, we never had another thing.

Looks like we will now see enough rain over the next 10 days to make a dent in the trent weed, and hopefully soon we will be able to start putting in some sessions on a river that I've really missed this season. 

18/08/10, River Dove near Burton. Phase 1st Q+2.

And this session turned in to a repeat performance of Monday nights, although I don't think we had a single knock between us. My guess is that the fish had fed well whilst I've been away with the river carrying nearly a couple of feet of extra water, and were letting it settle. I now have some new bait ideas to try out, and todays delivery will make its first appearance this Friday.

16/08/10, River Dove at Tutbury. Phase 1st Q.

Rick and myself went back to a stretch that has been good to both ourselves and one or two other anglers that we know,  and for me it was nice to be back on the rivers after a week away. Unfortunately it ended up a blank night for both of us made even more frustrating by the fact that the only knocks came early on. The river was back to its low old self after some rain, but its looking like we should see a change in our weather from here on in and maybe I'll finally get back to the trent once the weed has subsided a bit. 

04/08/10, River Dove at Marston. Phase LQ+1.

Rick and myself walked to an are that I certainly hadn't fished for a few seasons, and again it was one which had changed quite a bit. Some of the pegs were now quite overgrown, but obviously anglers had visibly been all over the stretch and it certainly looked good. We gave it until nearly 1am before packing in, and we hadn't had a thing between us which was rather disappointing, but it will be worth several more trips just to re-familiarise ourselves with the area and see what we can winkle out.

My last session now until I'm back off holiday and I have to say that I am ready for a break, but then I'll also be ready to get back to it as soon as I can. 

02/08/10, River Dove at Marston. Phase LQ-1. 

I headed back to a stretch to try out a fresh peg for this season, and Rick joined me on the bank around 10pm so we were both in first time pegs.
The river was still very low and clear but we had a time in mind when the fish might just put in an appearance meaning a late night for sure. Surprisingly we could see plenty of satellites and meteorites overhead to keep us entertained in the dark, but the rod tips weren't moving at all, until 11.45pm when one of Ricks rods went over. 
After a great scrap, we were both looking at a very good fish which went 13lb 11. I was close to packing up, but Rick said give it another 30 minutes and it turned out to be well worth it.
At 12.20am, I found myself in to another double confirmed by scales at 10lb 11, and having weighed it and photographed it, we called it a night as it was now past 1am.

Were out again on Wednesday evening, which will be my last session for a week as I'm off to Scotland on Saturday. I'm ready for a break from the late nights, but then I actually have a fortnight off so some late sessions will definitely be on the cards once I'm back.

31/07/10, River Dove near Burton. Phase LQ-3.

Rick and myself headed to a stretch that I haven't seen in many years let alone fished. There were very obvious signs that the area does receive a lot of attention including left over rubbish from the less caring, but the stretch itself looking cracking considering how low the river looked. I fed two pints of hemp in to two areas, put my feeders on and sat back to wait for moonrise. 
Rick had fished his peg the night before and lost a good fish at a particular time, and we were both expecting some action with the later rise although a flurry of fish was looking unlikely.
Just before 10.30pm, one of my rods started bouncing around, so I waited for it to properly pull round but I was watching the wrong rod. I'd lost an isotope before setting up, and in the dark it was that rod causing the other to bounce as I suddenly saw it was lopped round. Having picked it up, I found myself in to a good fish which went 11lb 1, and by the time we packed up at 12.30 am it was the only fish of the night, thought we did have several taps and bangs between us. 

28/07/10, River Dove  at Tutbury. Phase Full+2.

I was surprised to find no-one fishing the stretch I headed for, giving me the pick of the pegs. I chose one that I've only fished once this season, bait-dropped two areas and set up with a lead on one rod and one of my feeders on the other. Rick turned up at 10.30pm, on what was a chillier evening than of late. And we both blanked, obviously one of those nights that they just didn't want to play ball, even though we know there is a good head of fish with plenty of doubles amongst them.  

26/07/10, River Dove at Tutbury. Phase Full Moon.

Rick and myself headed to a stretch and a peg that I haven't managed to fish yet this season. Another cracking sunset was taking place as we set up, and then we sat back to wait. I didn't have to wait all that long, as one of the rods went over about 9.30pm resulting in a small barb which was probably less than 4lb's in weight. The only thing I could say to Rick was, " there goes my average then", and to add  insult to injury I latched in to another fish of the same size at about 10.20pm. My comment at landing that fish is un-printable, but Rick agreed with it totally.

The pain of the evening was the swan rivalry meaning they were up and down the river all through the session. They bumped into my lines at least half a dozen times, even they I lowered or raised them to try to avoid having to move my feeders. The fish certainly weren't bothered by them, and it was the first session this season that both rods had been tapping and banging away from start to finish.

24/07/10. River Dove near Burton. Phase Full-2.

Again Rick and myself headed back to a stretch that really does owe us a fish, and started off by bait dropping a couple of areas where the chub at least were showing, but as others have found, the fish were very spooky and moved off the area as soon as a rig was dropped in. I did manage to winkle out a chub free-lining a piece of meat, but the fish completely disappeared so we settled in to a deeper run for the rest of the evening.
What looked like a good area for chub and hopefully a barb or two never produced a thing for either of us, and we packed in at rather perplexed at 12.30am. 

21/07/10. River Dove at Tutbury. Phase  Full-5.

Rick and myself headed back to Tutbury to find the river carrying a couple of extra inches of water and a tinge of colour. It turned in to both a late and eventful night, and both of us going home with big grins.

The fun started just after 10pm with Rick having swan trouble and then falling in up to his chin. I would have thought that he'd killed his peg off for the night, but at 11.35pm he found himself in to a lively fish that went 10lb 9. Apart from a few taps, I hadn't had anything to get excited about, but I had seen some decent fish top around me and a re-cast to the area that they had been coming from resulted in a fish at 12.20am, and I'm sure it is the same 10lb 9 that I had the week before. After weighing and photographing it we packed up and headed back to the cars as it was now 1am.     

19/07/10. River Dove near Burton. Phase 1st Q+1.

Rick and myself headed back to the same stretch to try some different pegs and slightly different tactics to the previous session. Hopes were raised of a decent session when I latched in to a small chub of about a pound with in a couple of minutes of my first cast. Rick also found himself in to a lively fish, but the jack managed to bite him off, and after that we never had a another sign between us. There must be barbel there, but they don't want to submit to us easily. 

16/07/10. River Dove near Burton. Phase 1st Q-2.

Rick and myself headed to a stretch that not too many fish, for a change of scenery, and found a likely looking run to try. Again we started later than I would normally with the intention of stating till the early hours. As the sun began to set the river was the most alive that we have seen the Dove this season with fish topping all around us. Unfortunately the barbel weren't interested and we hadn't had a thing between us when we packed up at 12.30am, but for a stretch to wander around with a fly rod, it looked perfect for a bit of other fun. 

14/07/10. River Dove at Tutbury. Phase 1st Q-4.

One of those nights that I could have just sat in front of the telly vegging, but Rick rang to see if I fancied heading out somewhere so I set off to meet him on the bank. The rain had passed leaving a pleasant evening and the river still untouched and low, and adding in a poor phase to the equation meant it was looking like a tough one. Boy were we surprised.....

We set up in two spots neither of us had fished before, and had all our rods in for about 8.30pm. With nothing to work to that may have given us hope, we sat back to wait, but didn't have to wait long. At 9.35pm one of Rick's rods was away resulting in a fish of 10lb 7, and I was again thinking it just wouldn't be my night, but at 9.50 one of my rods started nodding and then my line started heading downstream, so I picked the rod up and found myself in to a decent barb which went 10lb 9 and certainly made me feel much happier after the recent tough sessions where Rick had managed to catch.
We fished on till 11.30pm before packing up and heading home happy. And the added bonus for me is I may well have found yet another 15 minute window to work too.

10/07/10. River Dove at Rolleston. Phase New-1.

Matt, Rick and myself headed to another stretch that neither had seen before expecting that the results of the previous night would be repeated. On another cracking evening it was quite a surpise to see how much the stretch has changed, aided by the very low water conditions. We chose deeper water pegs with some cover, but when we packed up at 12.30am we hadn't had a thing between us. A few other anglers had picked up a few fish, again from deeper water, but its becoming more of a struggle and some rain is deperately needed to get the fish feeding en-mass. 

09/07/10. River Dove at Marston. Phase New-2.

Rick and myself headed to a stretch that I know quite well and I was surprised at just how low the rivers are now looking. Flat calm and steady rather than boils and creases meant that good spots were now looking decidedly 'average', but we still set up in a reliable stretch with the rods in for 8.30pm and sat around chatting on a very lifeless looking river. And we did have to wait quite a while for the first bit of action as a fish of 9lb 7 picked up one of Rick's baits at midnight. A second fish turned up for him at 12.30am and went 10lb 9. ( Its funny how he always in pegs I would normally fish ) We packed up at 1am as we would also be out later that day!!!!!.

Interestingly, I know of 3 anglers who all caught at midnight. Obviously a time slot to remember.

05/0710. River Trent at Swarkestone Phase LQ+1.

Rick and myself went for a few hours to show Rick somewhere a bit different as he doesn't spend a lot of time on the Trent, and to see how bad the weed problem had become before committing to a weekend session. And it was awful. Even using my backleading method, we both struggled to  stay out for just 15 minutes a cast, although I did have one cast that lasted nearly half an hour. After just 3 hours we called it a night  as the weed was never ending, but we did manage a few knocks each. Until we get some serious water in to the river, its not going to be an easy prospect, and fishing right down the side will be the only way forward.

02/07/10. River Dove at Tutbury. Phase LQ-2.

Rick and myself met up again and found the stretch extremely busy with a total of 13 anglers on, including a few peg poachers' from the forum so we headed even further upstream to a stretch which I thought would be spot on, but found it to be very weeded up. We had a run to fish and were also able to put out our four rods as the sun began to set. Rick started getting taps straight away, and as darkness fell the taps increased in frequency making us think that the bats may have been part of the problem. After about two hours the rod finally screamed off and he had a small fish at only 7lb 5, but one which had an extremely large paddle on it. We never had anything else between us and finally packed up at 1am to seek out the other guys and find out how they had got on. Danny, Kirks and myself had blanked, John had caught a couple and Rick the one. Looks like thirteen anglers had caught 6 fish for definite, and the river weed at the moment is providing plenty of cover for them as well as possibly pushing them in to new areas to find somewhere to be able to feed.

28/06/10. River Dove at Tutbury.  Phase Full+2.

Rick and myself headed to one of my favourite pegs to show him a new run, and also ran in to fellow forum member Kirks who was being pestered by two inch taps for 20 minutes before an 8lb fish made off with his bait. I put Rick into the area that I thought would definitely produce, and settled downstream of him. I t was 9.30 before we were both fishing, and we didn't have to wait too long before one of Rick's rods went over resulting in a fish of 9lb 4. I had high hopes that we would get another fish out, but by 12.05am, it was looking bleak so we called it a night as the rain started to fall.  

25/06/10. River Dove at Tutbury. Phase Full-1.

Not wanting to rush, I arrived around 7.30pm on another cracking warm evening, but I was a little surprised to find someone fishing a bit too close to where I had headed to, to be able to 'get in', so I set off for another swim to find that one also occupied. Swim choice number three was free, but having only fished it once before and not had a thing out of it myself, it was looking like a suck it and see session. For the first couple of hours the only knocks came from bats swooping around, ( one nearly hit me in the face ) and then something bumped into one of my lines leaving tell tale rings as it moved away from it in the failing light. Rick had also turned up, funnily enough to find myself in the peg he was heading for, so he dropped in below me. 

It turned in to another one bite session, as at 11.10pm one of the rods started tapping then stopped, and then started again. Thinking that the fish was rolling the feeder I lifted into a heavy weight which turned out to be the first double of the season at 12lb 1. Although we fished on till 12.30am, neither of us had anything else, but it was a lovely night to be out with that near Full moon blazing down.  

23/06/10. River Dove at Marston. Phase Full-3.

After 12 days of 'pond problems', which have cost quite a lot in both time and money, I finally found myself back on track and headed out to meet up with Danny for my first session on the Dove, in a couple pegs that do produce. The river looked spot on in the warm evening sunshine, yet we knew it wouldn't be easy. I opted for sweetcorn on one rod with just a 2oz lead, whilst the other rod went out with the usual pellet feeder and pellets on the hair, and if anyone has seen Volume III of Barbel Days and Ways by Bob Roberts and Stuart Walker, you will be able to see just how much pulling power they have.

Danny was trying to sit on his hands most of the night, due to the constant tapping away of his rods which were just too quick to strike at. On the other hand I hadn't had a sign of a fish, until 8.30pm when the feeder rod slowly started to pull round, resulting in a fish of 9lb 4. I was certainly pleased as its been a difficult start to the season and now should settle down into full swing.

Danny ended up without a fish of any description, and I never had another bite for the rest of the evening, but the reason was clear as fish began spawning about 10pm and were still at it when we walked of the bank. 


15/06/10. River Trent at Weston. Phase 1stQ -4

Well a great evening to be out waiting turned into a very frustrating one. I landed on the bank just after 9pm to sit and wait for the midnight chimes to ring out heralding the start of the new season.
A poor one on the charts was shown by the lack of activity from any decent sized fish. I started in a far bank shallow gravel run which went deeper from where I was set up and ended up moving about 1.30am after not even having a tap from anything.
The second known swim produced one chub and probably a bream bite which managed to get the two 10mm boilies off without a hook up.

At 4.45am I packed up and headed home to see two guys just arriving, obviously eager to back on the rivers as well.

It was a cracking misty morning sunrise and quite chilly at just 6C, a family of swans with 8 cygnets, roach topping and even what I would assume was this years fry, but the river was quite dead barbel wise which isn't unusual on a poor phase, but at least the weed is not a problem, at the moment. I'll be back out somewhere again tomorrow.