Pat Gillett’s September Fishing Diary

Pat Gillett's monthly fishing diary installment, once again on the hunt for Barbel...

Friday 4th October 2013 – Upper Trent

Not much to say about this session really. The river was rising quickly (1.20m +) and with it came the inherent problem of loose weed (that really 'dogs' the Upper Trent) flowing downstream. This made fishing really difficult and I would say it would have been nigh on impossible if I hadn't have employed the back lead method. Anyway I endured six hours without so much as a tap on the rod tips, even though I tried many different varieties of bait before packing up at 11pm.

Tuesday 8th October 2013 – Upper Trent

Back to the new stretch (same as Friday) with the river having 'fined down' nicely. My only concern that we may have been a day late and that the barbel could have gorged themselves during the extra water of the previous few days. This is something that very often happens and has the year wears on, it becomes increasingly important to get the timing of your fishing sessions right.

Winter Barbel Fishing

Pat Gillett discusses a few of his thoughts on the quest for barbel in winter, how to pick your spot and take advantage of the climate.

I was talking to one of my match angling friends at the other day and he was asking me how I go about locating barbel in the winter, especially on the stretches that I fish, which in general do not hold that many fish.

Warm, high coloured water - perfect!

Most of this guys’ fishing is done on the Middle Severn or River Wye on stretches that hold loads of barbel and other fish. As long as you fish sensibly on areas like the Middle Severn you can catch barbel in literally any conditions. I used to do it myself years ago and have caught barbel with a river temperature of as low as 3.0 Degrees C and an air temperature of 0 Degrees C.

Pick a swim that you know is a hotspot (holds lots of barbel), feed little and often with maggots and you will catch the odd fish even in extreme conditions. This is very similar to the advice a lot of anglers give about winter carp fishing - “For a chance of consistent sport pick a water that holds a large number of carp and avoid the hard waters with a low stock density.” This applies to barbel also, pick a prolific stretch and you have far greater chance of catching a barbel.

Pat Gillett's September Fishing Diary

Sunday 1st September 2013 – River Dove

This was only my second trip of the season to the River Dove and I was accompanied by my brother David. Checking the E.A. River level website showed that the river level was only 0.45m (this is lower than at any point last season). With this in mind it was back to the quiet stretch that we fished on the first trip in August.

Arriving at about 4.15pm, it was nice to see that once again there wasn't another angler in sight. With this stretch being lower than I have ever seen it before I decided to have a good walk along the length to try and see if I could spot any fish. This proved to be very worthwhile, has although I didn't see any barbel, I did see some features on the river bed that had been hidden previously. What also struck me was how cold the strong wind was, hardly ideal barbel fishing conditions! (especially after two cold nights.)

Pat Gillett’s Diary for August 2013

Thursday 1st August 2013 – River Derwent

This was to be the second trip of the season to the Derwent. To be honest I didn’t really fancy going. The weather forecast was for temperatures of up to 34 Deg. C. (the hottest day of the year so far) and I really don’t like the very hot weather! Add this to the fact that I had transport issues and it was the first day of the the third test between England and Australia and I could quite easily have stayed at home. However after a quick telephone call with my good mate Geoff Dace, he sounded keen and persuaded me to give it a go. A quick call to the garage and they confirmed that my new tyre had just come in and that if I got round there quickly they would fit it and balance it for me while I waited.

This session produced a superb barbel of 16lb 7oz, a fish which is only ounces off the river record!

After looking at the various EA sites for the different river levels, it looked as if the Derwent could well be the best bet (it was dropping, but not too quickly). We arrived at the river at about 4pm and upon stepping out of the cool of the car it was like walking into an oven, with the air temperature now being around 30 Deg. C. There were anglers already present in the area that I had the 12 pounder from last time out, so I ended up picking a likely looking swim (that I had never fished before), a good half a mile away.

Barbel Rigs and Bait

Following on from our recent barbel fishing posts (see here) this is a recent Q&A courtesy of the Quest Baits Blog...

I have recently retired and returning to coarse fishing. Always enjoy chub and barbel fishing. Luckily I live on the River Wye. I’m a bit mesmerised by all the different tackle used etc. 

Which barbel rod would you recommend I buy - budget £100. bracket. What's a good everyday bait? What basic bolt and feeder rig?

Hope you can advise me.

Thanks 
Paul

Hi Paul,
Personally I have used Free Spirit Fishing rods for almost all of my angling since their launch and can not fault them. The Tamer X-Wrap should fall within your budget. The site the link takes you to will also show your nearest stockist. I would opt for the Big River if you are limiting yourself to one rod so as to cope with feeders in high water as well.

Barbel Rigs and Bait

Following on from our recent barbel fishing posts (see here) this is a recent Q&A courtesy of the Quest Baits Blog...

I have recently retired and returning to coarse fishing. Always enjoy chub and barbel fishing. Luckily I live on the River Wye. I’m a bit mesmerised by all the different tackle used etc. 

Which barbel rod would you recommend I buy - budget £100. bracket. 

What's a good everyday bait? What basic bolt and feeder rig?

Hope you can advise me.

Thanks 
Paul

Hi Paul,
Personally I have used Free Spirit Fishing rods for almost all of my angling since their launch and can not fault them. The Tamer X-Wrap should fall within your budget. The site the link takes you to will also show your nearest stockist. I would opt for the Big River if you are limiting yourself to one rod so as to cope with feeders in high water as well.

Barbel Fishing Rig and Set-up

We join Paul Cooper bank side this week to take us through his Barbel rig and set-up...

Follow the links to watch Paul's previous video barbel fishing on the River Dove and a short video on the essential barbel fishing tackle.

You can also watch over 60 technical fishing videos on the Angling Lines website here.