Rolling Meat - Short Session on the Severn

Mid-October and I managed to fit in a short evening session before the clock's changed. The river was up so I headed to a local beat where there are a few long sheltered slacks against the near bank. My plan was to wander the beat rolling meat through a few swims for an hour each to see if I could provoke a barbel into snatching the meat before it trundled past. 

I'm a relative newcomer to rolling meat so still trying to refine my tactics and get confidence in the method. I'm yet to take a fish on it, but I'm sure once a few fish have graced the net it'll be a tactic I'll turn to more and more for my mobile fishing. 

Pin! Rolling Meat down the edge of a flooded river

Rig wise, I set-up on my 11ft Harrison Torrix. I had the rod custom built to be as light as possible, including titanium rings, and it's the perfect tool for the job. It's as light as a feather but pulls like a train when you lean into the blank. I paired the Torrix with a 'pin loaded with 15lb line. I used an olivette to provide a little additional weight, held in place with a float stop above and a swivel beneath to prevent line twist. A 2ft hooklength was finished with a size 6 hook to which I had mounted tungsten putty along the shank using shrink tube (instructions here: https://www.drennantackle.com/martin-bowlers-top-tips-12-rolling-meat/). 

Shrink Tube and Tungsten Putty - Credit: Photo and Idea to Martin Bowler!

Despite my best efforts the barbel either weren't on the feed, or just weren't in the parts of the river that I was targeting. The river was high and colored but the flow wasn't raging through so I suspected they were out dancing in the current rather than tucked up on my nearside line. Still, always nice to be out on the bank and a little more experience gained with a new method!

The River Ure - Westwick Lock and Boroughbridge

Early September and another work trip (this time to the northeast) had me scrambling for another opportunity to catch a fish from a new river! Disappointingly I was unable to find a single day ticket beat on the Tyne, and the options seemed equally limited on the Tees. I'll save my thoughts on that for a separate blog post! Without a realistic prospect or local knowledge of these rivers I turned my attention to the alternatives a little further south in Yorkshire.

I'd made a couple of successful trips to the Swale in the past and really enjoyed fishing for barbel in its peaty depths. However, keen to fish an entirely new river I resisted the temptation to revisit and confined myself to options on the Ure, Nidd or Wharfe. The Ure seemed the best bet, and a little research threw up beats at Westwick Lock and Boroughbridge. My thanks to James Simpson for putting me onto the waters at Westwick Lock. I would visit one on the way up north and another on the way south, planning my journey so that I could get a few hours in on the bank before dark.

The River Ure - Westwick Weir

Arriving in Yorkshire I set my satnav, trying my best to interpret the map the fishery had provided. After fifteen minutes of driving round private farm tracks I eventually reached the weir. However, it quickly became apparent I was on the wrong side of the river. With a microhydro scheme dominating the near bank there was simply no way to fish downstream of the weir from my side of the bank. Another check of the fishery map with the river in front of me confirmed my suspicions. Hugely frustrated I jumped back in the car and made a 40 minute round trip to get out of the fields, across the river and into the lock car park. Overall I'd lost more than an hour of an already short evening session.

Compartmentalizing any negative thoughts I made my way onto the lock island and fought my way through the vegetation until a clearing in the trees led me out onto the weir. The river is very wide here with a fish pass against the right-hand bank presumably installed at the same time as the microhydro scheme opposite.

Westwick Weir - Snag Pit!

Whilst very picturesque, the next few hours did nothing to improve my mood. Cast after cast found snag after snag. With one rod positioned in the deep hole beneath the fish pass which was at least snag free, I persevered with rod number two; sacrificing a considerable amount of tackle to the gods of the weir in the process. There's nothing worse than fishing without confidence in what you're doing and at no point did my approach feel right. With an hour left before total darkness I decided to gamble and make my way downstream to the next fishable swim. Deeper and narrower here, the swim looked fishy enough and with a little bait introduced I cast one rod mid-flow straight in front of me and hammered the second rod as far downstream as I could cast. After seemingly no time at all the upstream rod gave a heavy thump and I lifted into a fish that surged for the far bank trees. As soon as that first run was conquered the fish turned and headed for the near bank in characteristic chub-like fashion. A few moments later I scooped the net under what appeared to be a personal best chub. It was huge and had a head like a staffy! To my amazement, it only weighed 4lb 14 oz. I weighed it three times. Once in the net and twice in the sling. Each time checking the adjustment on the scales. I've never caught a chub so broad across the shoulders and with such a large head. I was quietly disappointed in the weight but delighted not to have blanked.

Lovely chubbly!

Looking back at the photo's now, the fish lacked the depth of the fish I'd routinely encounter on the Severn and Wye, perhaps because the Ure didn't have so much bait supplementing a natural diet. I've little doubt that a fish of the same length and girth on either of those rivers would have tipped the scales towards, if not over 6lb. A second smaller chub followed shortly after, but was to be the last fish of the evening. It was a pity not to have bagged a barbel, but it was great to catch a few chub to christen my trip to the river.

Small but perfectly formed! Another pristine Ure chub

The River Ure - Boroughbridge

A few days later and my journey south took me back to the River Ure. I contemplated fishing Westwick Lock again, but decided to ring the changes and try somewhere new. Calling in to the Boroughbridge sweet shop to buy a ticket, my first challenge was to choose a beat. I must admit I was arriving expecting just to have one to choose from, rather than three or four. I had no idea which one was best to head for and the sweet seller didn't seem to have much knowledge, so it came down to blind guess work. Hopefully this isn't a glimpse into a future without tackle shops. Doubtlessly a local tackle dealer could have described every inch of each beat, recommended which one to head for in the conditions and even recommended a couple of pegs. 

Challenge number two was to find access to the beat. The sweet seller had drawn me a hand drawn map and given me a long and complex description of where to park and find access. I drove round and round more times than I could count but couldn't work out (a) where I needed to be to access the river and (b) where I could and couldn't park. With 20 minutes lost to procrastinating over which beat and another half an hour just trying to park up and find the river again I'd lost about an hour of valuable bank time. It just goes to show the value of a bit of local knowledge and advice!

Eventually arriving at the river, it looked absolutely perfect. Deep, slow, turbulent and the colour of Bovril; with a foam line kindly indicated the position of the main current. I had a chat with another angler who was already set up and fishing who reported he'd lost one barbel after fishing for about an hour. A good sign! Alas that was to be the closest I would come to a barbel, or indeed any fish. I tried six different swims, each offering something slightly different - a shallow beach-like peg, a couple of long straight deep runs, a gentle sweeping bend, and a confluence. But it wasn't to be.

The River Ure - Boroughbridge - Stunning

Still, it was a lovely warm late summers evening to be on the bank and I'd have otherwise just been sat in a hotel bar or pub. Thoroughly relaxed as I made my way back to my accommodation I reflected on the two sessions, sometimes you just don't need to catch for it to have all been worthwhile!

Urban Angling - the Bristol Avon

Fast forward to late August 2019, and a trip away with work put me about an hour south of the Bristol Avon. Keen to explore a new river, I reached out to Clive Shipman and Ryan Heard on facebook to put me on a stretch with a decent chance of a late-summer barbel. Both were fantastically helpful but it was Ryan's recommendation that won favour, with Clive's spot added to the list for next time!

I left work a little bit later than planned so the journey to Bradford-on-Avon was a bit of a mad dash. A quick call to Ryan en route gave me a few more details about where to park and how to get down to the swims. He sounded confident, a trait which always seems infectious!

Parking up in the centre of Bradford-on-Avon, I caught my first glimpse of the river. With floating weed mats and rushes punctuating fast runs and deep glides, the river painted a beautiful picture of what urban angling could be. In my excitement to get down to the bank I forgot to take any photographs; so have pinched one from online to set the scene!

Bristol Avon at Bradford (Photo courtesy of t'interweb)

This was only my third attempt at angling in the middle of a town center (the previous being Bewdley and Ross on the Severn and Wye respectively). Rather than the usual hike across fields to reach a swim, the approach to this river included finding my way behind the library, climbing over a set of railings and then squeezing myself along a 15ft-long 12"-wide run down between a hedge and a second set of railings. From there it was a tricky descent down a muddy embankment and onto the combined sewerage overflow outlet which would be my platform to fish from. Aside from my landing net snagging in the vegetation when squeezing through that tight run leaving me anchored between the railings and hedge, I managed my way down to the river without incident.

The river was narrow and slow, with plenty of small fish moving and what I guessed to be a uniform depth profile. Being such a small river I didn't want to cause too much disturbance by plumbing the depth, and figured it was narrow enough for the barbel to search out a bait wherever I put it! I positioned my first rod slightly upstream just off the end of a tree. This would cover a line of the near bank which included overhanging trees and a run of rushes; and looked perfect for a chub. Urban stretches can hold some mammoth chub, even in the smallest of rivers; and I was keen to try for one. My second rod was positioned just beyond the central channel near to some overhanging vegetation. There was nothing sophisticated to my set up, just a small free-running bomb to a 3ft hooklink; and SVBP 14mm pellets - Ambush on the barbel line and Spicy Frankfurter on the hopefully-a-chub one.

Urban Angling - the fish aren't fussy about their surroundings!

Introducing a few loose baits I settled down to enjoy my dinner, hunter-gathered from an M&S petrol station en route! It was barely a moment before the nearside rod hammered over. I struck into thin air, stifling various expletives so not to disturb the swim further. This is always a problem when fishing for barbel but hoping for a bonus chub. A hard, hair-rigged pellet is easy for Mr. 'rubber-lips' Chevin to pick up, test and eject without snagging the point of the hook. I quickly changed the hook and mounted a couple of prawns from my dinner directly onto a Size 8. Alas the opportunity was gone and the fish never did return for a second attempt.

An hour or so passed without event before I heard a rustling in the bushes and Ryan's head popped out over the embankment behind. It was nice to meet him, as we'd chatted a few times over facebook about the pursuit of barbel and in particular the River Wye. It would appear he brought the good luck with him as not long after his arrival my second rod hooped over and before I'd even lifted into the fish it tore off in the directon of Bristol. Barbel in narrow rivers always give a tremendous account of themselves. With so many snags lining the banks and warm water temperatures my clutch was set fairly tight and it was a bit of a tussle as I tried and failed to hurry the fish to the net. They're never ready til they're ready! By default a pb, Ryan was on hand to net the fish just shy of 6lb. Not a huge fish, but fantastic to add another river to my list of those I've taken barbel from. It always interests me to see the different colour variation in barbel from each river. Swale fish for example are a deep bronze from the peaty colored water. Severn and Wye fish are bars of gold. Bristol Avon fish it seems have more of a pewter hue to them.

A beautiful Bristol Avon Barbel! Mission successful!

After photographing the fish Ryan said his fair wells. I gave it until just after dark and then called it a day. There was no further action but I'd achieved what I came for. A quick pint to celebrate marked the end of a long but rewarding day! I've not had the opportunity to make it back yet, but look forward to trying 'Clive's spot' some time next season!