Earlier this summer and before the water temperatures
crept so high that many of us decided to abandon fishing for a few months, I
found myself with an unexpected work trip to Corby. Barely a stones throw from
the River Nene, a river I have always wanted to fish, I immediately looked into
whether I could squeeze a short session into my itinerary. It took no time at
all determining where to fish, having been put onto Orton Staunch by Peterborough
and District Angling Association. With a short window of opportunity and water
temperatures on the rise, a weir pool seemed ideal. The increased oxygen
saturation would doubtlessly draw in fish and it gave me an increased chance of
stumbling across a short-session barbel.
The fishery was a 40 minute-drive away from my base of
operations and I managed to arrive for late afternoon. Convenient parking is
available a few minutes walk from the beat and after negotiating the railway
crossing I found myself emerging onto the Staunch. The Staunch is a weir with
persistent flow along the right hand bank and navigable sluices to the left.
The weir has a distinct tail which terminates at a weed mat some 40 m
downstream. Other notable features included the presence of kayak slaloms, dotted
around the weir pool and suspended from overhead cables. The right hand bank is
members only whilst the left is available as a day ticket through a ‘pay on the
bank’ arrangement.
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| The River Nene at Orton Staunch... |
On arrival I was pleased to see both banks free from other
anglers and promptly set myself up on the ‘obvious’ peg at the downstream end
of a set of railings. This position allowed one rod to be cast parallel to the
slalom cables and into the weir tail, with the other punched out against the
weed mat. I also considered the deep water immediately before me, but decided
not to target too many features in one short session. With hindsight I still
think it would hold fish and plan to return some day to explore it! Ordinarily
I would fish one rod directly into the weir pool as close to the sill as
possible, but this is prevented by the overhead slalom cables. I rigged up a
feeder, filled it with halibut and hemp groundbait and positioned it into the
tail of the weir. A few free offerings were also added to the mix and would
hopefully leave a trail downstream. The downstream rod was set-up with a 3 oz
ledger, paired with a pellet-filled PVA bag and cast tight against the weed
mat. A long 6 ft leader would hopefully see the pellet settling firmly beneath
the dense green cover. For short sessions I always favour something with a pungent scent to aid the fish in honing in on the bait and my chosen hookbaits were Severn Valley Barbel Products 14 mm Halibut Pellets in Ambush on the upstream rod and Spicy Frankfurter beneath the weed-mat.
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| Overhead Slaloms - Careful Casting Required! |
With both rods carefully positioned I balled in a
couple of tennis ball-sized portions of groundbait and followed this with a handful of
pellets introduced by catapult. With traps set, I sat back to enjoy the warm
summer evening with a petrol station dinner. There was very little action and I
passed the time chatting to a couple of passing police officers and a roving pike
fisherman. Both reported that I’d have no issues with personal safety whilst alone
on the banks into dusk, but the car park was a hotspot for vehicle break-ins
and to ensure I didn’t leave any gear unattended.
As the time passed I gave each rod a small lift to
ensure they weren’t snagged given my unfamiliarity with the swims. I recast the
feeder every half hour, but left the downstream lead in position just above the
weed mat. I was confident that the swim would hold fish, I just had to induce
them into feeding.
A little before 7, a fish duly
obliged and the downstream rod arched over with an almighty great thump. No 2 ft
twitch, the narrow Torrix blank had simply bent double as the fish tore off
under the weed mat. The Torrix has such as soft action that it really accentuates those big takes which barbel are so well-known and loved for. I was
chuffed to be into a fish, but landing it was no means a given. I had no idea
how much structure was under the weed mat, and I held my breath nervously as I
tightened the clutch and bullied the fish out and into open water. There was
very little flow on the near half of the river, so once out of the weed mat the
fish darted all over the place… running upstream, downstream and from bank to
bank. There is a tendency I think for
small river barbel to fight extremely hard and it would appear those in the
Nene were no exception. Keeping the pressure on to land the fish as swiftly as
possible, I slipped the net under the fish and secured the net handle to the
railings. The fish was given a long resting period and photographs taken whilst
the fish recovered in the water. By default a personal best from the Nene, this
was a fish I wanted to weigh; and with a little careful planning I was able to
do so in a wet sling with the fish removed from the water for mere moments. The
fish was once more rested and set free once confidently swimming against the
edges of the net.
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| Resting Barbel - 7 lb 0 Oz |
Delighted to have achieved my objective of a barbel
from a river I had never fished I relaxed for the remainder of the evening with further fish simply a bonus. I re-cast the downstream rod, but was to have no further interest on this for the remainder of the session. I was however receiving little knocks on the quiver tip from
the rod positioned just downstream of the weir. With nothing further developing
on these I chanced my arm at a few speculative strikes, knowing on occasion
these can produce results from wary-feeding fish. The first two struck into
thin air, but the third connected. The fish gave a reasonable account of itself
for the first few seconds and then simply plodded about as I retrieved.
Slipping the net under a bream of 5 lb 12 oz answered the conundrum of what was
causing shy knocks on my feeder.
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| Bream - 5 lb 12 Oz |
With less than an hour left and not really wanting to
spend the rest of my work trip with a car smelling of bream I decided not to
re-tackle to target them specifically and spent the remaining time in pursuit of
another barbel. It wasn’t to be however, with no further fish gracing my net.
Whether that was as a result of the large pike that was by now crashing about the weir
pool I’m not sure. I'd have estimated the fish to be around the 15 lb mark and
I’ve certainly made a note to consider bringing pike gear if I ever revisit in autumn!
With so much keeping me busy and away from the banks
this year, these short sessions whilst away with work have been a blessing and
this, together with a similar session on the River Swale and a recent trip to Ireland
will really stand out in my fishing memories when I look back upon this years
angling. I’d encourage anyone thinking of taking up the opportunity of a short
session to get out there and reap the rewards of a little effort and planning!
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