Season Closing Weekend – Part 3 – The River Severn

   Day three took me to a beat famed until recent years for its double figure barbel, The River Severn at Bewdley.  Reports for the past couple of seasons have been mixed for this stretch since a seal named Keith took up residence for a number of months over 2013.  Photos of Keith munching through double figure barbel caused uproar at the time and he was eventually herded downstream amid threats of him being shot.  Dark times.  Still, some of the originally stocked fish do remain and feature occasionally in the Angling Press.  These fish are marked by a tinge of purple across their flanks, fish that are typically around the 11 – 13 lb mark.  These would clearly be a target to hope for then, but after recent sessions even a micro-barbel would be a delight.

Here be Monsters - A stretch known for doubles.
If only I could get them to feed.

   Days one and three had taught me that a static approach was unlikely to work, so I spent almost as much time preparing for the sessions as I did fishing.  Sneaking my gear into the relative warmth of the utility room whilst the wife was distracted, I set to work fining everything down to allow me to remain as mobile as possible.  My three-rod quiver complete with tripod and choice of landing net handles were replaced with a single rod, bankstick, short landing net; and a few elastic bands and tip protectors to hold them all together.  My trusty brolly was sacrificed in favour of a solid waterproof coat and my chair for a small collapsible stool.  Even baits were divided into smaller pots and terminal tackle sorted into a small compartmentalized fly-box.  Clearly lead and feeders add a lot of weight and I usually carry more than a kilo.  Selecting a slightly weaker hooklength than mainline gave me the confidence to shed much of this and I took just a couple of 4 oz leads and 3 oz feeders. 

Office for the Day - The River Severn at Bewdley.

   I decided to have an extra hour in bed and a proper breakfast, rather than hurry out onto the cold river.  I wouldn’t then have to worry about carrying food or tea and was happy enough to get to Bewdley for 10am.  The river was at 2.6 m and about as high as I had fished it.  I’d fished this beat in similar conditions a few times before and caught, so knew the pegs I would target.

   In each of eight pegs I followed a simple approach – fish without feeding for 20 minutes on the way up the beat; then feed with pellet, hemp and a little groundbait and move on.  Having reached the top of the beat I turned round and revisited each of the baited swims on the return journey.  With no luck, I reverted to my final and favoured peg which I had baited heavily at the start.  Here, a gravel platform located beneath a set of steps and sheltered by a bush creates a perfect spot for presenting a bait in floodwater.  It’s well worth paying attention to these features in low water for when the river comes up.

   Presenting the feeder and satisfying myself that the rig wasn’t snagged I flicked on the baitrunner and got comfy on the soft leaf-litter for a snooze.  It’s the most relaxed I’ve been in as long as I can remember, drifting off with the babbling sound of the river, raindrops falling on my waterproof. The only disturbance was occasional birdsong. Bliss.  No barbel, but some much needed downtime.

   Eventually, the peace was shattered.  Not by the scream of my baitrunner as a barbel tore off line, but by a half-mad Labrador licking at my face.  Apparently I hold more appeal than the large lump of spam in a small bait-tub beside me.  Who knew.  With that I decided enough was enough.  With three days of mud to clean from my gear when I got home and an early morning work trip to London beckoning, I packed up and meandered back to the car.  I couldn't help  but feel a little defeated, with just a solitary chub to show for my last four sessions of the season.  Still, those hard sessions make the flyers all the more special and bring an appreciation of each and every barbel that graces our nets.  I’ll approach June 16^th with a hunger to settle the score and will have to wait a little longer until I can feel a barbel put a bend in the new Torrix...

Not so much as a twitch.
The Torrix will have to wait to tame its first barbel..