BoldBear

Hi Blackbird welcome (or welcome back) to the forum. Whereabouts in the UK do you do your Barbel fishing? As you’ve probably realised there are a few other anglers on here that regularly fish for Beards and Chevins as well, so your in good company ? As for meat; I still have six cans of this left over from when my local Morrison’s sold it a year ago, and the Barbel and Chub in my local stream just love it ? and when it’s gone It will be sorely missed ? Keith

Congrats on your new PB Martin ?, did you enjoy playing that Carp on your centrepin? Keith

That was a smashing Barbel you had there Ian, and some super Chub too. Glad to see you like your new pin ? Keith

I was going to go after some Barbel on my local stream for the first time since the virus reared it’s head with my son Stuart on Sunday but my car had developed a fault in the gearbox on the previous Friday and I’d left all of my fishery keys in the glovebox at the garage, and Stuart had lost his keys a while back and hadn’t replaced them so we reluctantly we had to cancel. I get my car back tomorrow, and If my son gets his new Carp rods before Saturday he wants to christen them on some Carp at the estate lake with me, else we’ll be trying for Barbel on Saturday evening on my local stream at long last.I think I’ve started to get withdrawal symptoms now it’s been so long since I caught a Barbel ?? NB: Stuart decided to order himself a couple of Greys Prodigy GT4 Carp rods similar to my GT2 and GT3 rods. Keith

Hope you have a really productive day, it’s great to see you fishing again Martin. Looking forward to your write up even if you don’t catch a lot, which isn’t very likely as I know you’ll have a good day ?. Tight lines. Keith

TThis is my idea of a great band, and one that I have loved since the late 70s. One of my favourite Pink Floyd songs is ‘Comfortably Numb’ and my eyes still water when I hear the guitar solo being played at the end of this song, so if you only listen to one song then fast forward to 16:30 on the video counter put your headphones on and listen to this. And this Keith

Sorry to hear that Martin, I hope everything gets better for you soon ? Its a shame we don’t live a lot closer I could take you to a nice productive Barbel river and cheer you up a bit and try to take your mind off things ? Keith

Probably from the local stream Martin ? Why aren’t you going to go fishing Martin? Is it because of the virus? or are you just not enjoying it as much and just having a rest? Do you have a local stream or river that you can go fishing on instead of having to go to a relatively crowded commercial? or is it relatively crowded everywhere near you ? Hope you are not going off of fishing completely Mate. Keith

For for anyone who didn’t already know; while unhooking a Carp on his unhooking mat Stuart’s lead and bait accidentally slipped into the water next to him, and a big Carp took the bait within seconds and screamed away through the landing stage and his rod went CRACK!!! Ian, Did you notice that one of Stuart’s bite alarms in the bottom picture is a lot larger than the other? One of his bite alarms stopped working so I gave him one of my older optonics to use. So he broke his rod and his bite alarm both on the same day ?? Keith

I didn’t fancy going on the river today as I thought it would be packed so I had a few hours after lunch on my local estate lake after a few Carp with my son Stuart. We fished against one of the islands about 2 swims apart and had a nice peaceful afternoon sitting behind our alarms doing a bit of Carp fishing for a change. The Island that we both fished against We both had a few Carp but I only took a couple of shots. Nothing to write home about, Stuart had the biggest at 15lb 15oz (he wouldn’t round it up by just an ounce ?); but it was a very pleasant few hours. Keith

If I were fishing very close up virtually under my rod tip on a Stillwater then I don’t think the type of float that I would be using would be that relevant other than it needing to be fairly small. ? Keith

I thoroughly love using a centrepin for trotting on the small streams and rivers that I fish, but not in all swims; some of the swims are too full of streamer weed and cabbages to allow me to trot very far. Plus the smaller streams that I fish have a lot of bends and overhanging branches which can make trotting a float a very precarious pastime in some cases. But the centrepin when in the hands of someone who really enjoys using it and who knows how to get the best out of using one is a tool that a lot of people just ignore; to their detriment in my view; however everyone is different and there’s nothing wrong in that at all, each to their own. I also enjoy using a centrepin when I’m fishing the lift method after Tench not only because I like the feel of a fighting Tench on my pin but also because the pin comes into its own and out performs one of my fixed spool reels when I’m delicately tightening up to a float which is setup to fish the lift bite. I much prefer to use a fixed spool reel when I’m fishing the link leger on my streams and rivers in tight swims and once the light starts to fade and at night. I also use my fixed spool reels on stillwaters (except when after Tench using the lift method) and the only time I ever use my closed face reel is if I’m float fishing at fairly close ranges on very gusty days. I used to regularly use my Mitchell Match when I used to do a lot of Match fishing and I felt the dab bailarm was a treat to use and allowed me to cast a lot faster and easier when I needed to get my float out again fast.. So it’s horses for courses for me, we all have our different likes and dislikes and different views, wouldn’t it be boring if everyone always thought the same. As for floats; Perhaps if one spent a couple of days with a master like Ivan Marks or Billy lane or Keith Speer you would learn to appreciate the different types of floats out there and could take advantage of using different types of waggler or top and bottom floats, both types of which I would be totally lost without. But then again if you are happy with just using the same type float all of the time on both still and moving water then there’s nothing wrong in that either even though that’s not my ideal.? Keith

After reading another post on here I thought I’d ask a question: You should see the food that Ive occasionally eaten when I’m out fishing. Ive eaten food after handling maggots several times; and handling lug worm and garden worms and slugs and other things like that and not felt ill. I think I might have built up a resistance over the years as (so far) I haven’t suffered any ill affects, or I may have just been lucky. And I remember when I was a lad; I accidentally ate some maggots when I had blindly placed a ham sandwich on the grass next to me after my float went under; I thought the sandwich was a bit gristly and after swallowing a few bites I noticed that my maggots had been spilt onto the grass and had crawled inside my sandwich. I wasn’t very happy about it and I started gagging a bit but I didn’t feel I’ll or anything. It is a well known fact that some anglers up in the midlands and the north used to place maggots under their tongues on a cold day to keep them wriggling. Perhaps we are a little too careful and paranoid these days, and some people these days don’t seem to have the same resistance to germs and viruses that we used to have; because of this? What do others think, are we a bunch of pansies today? Keith

You are seriously tempting me to get out onto our estate lake and catch a few myself Ian. Nice one Keith

I regularly used to use my tiny Abu Record 2100 multiplier together with a split cane Avon rod on the river Kennet fishing for Chub a back in the late 70s and I also tried using this tiny multiplier for long Trotting after reading Dave Stuart’s book on Roach (from the Osprey Angling library of books) where he says he occasionally used this multiplier for trotting for Roach just for fun; and it was good at both trotting and for casting a light link leger. NB: Above is a picture of my closed face reel and small multiplier from one of my articles on long trotting with a Centrepin that I wrote several years ago which is why it has the large text below it. I do quite a lot of long trotting and quite a lot of trundling amongst beds of steamer weed and close in along the near and the far banks using a Centrepin reel catching Barbel Chub Roach and Dace and also the very occasional Carp, and using my fixed spool reel with a small link leger once the light starts to fade. I also occasionally use my Abu 506 closed face reel if I’m trotting for Chub, Roach and Dace on a gusty day although I wouldn’t choose to use this small Abu 506 closed face reel for larger fish like Barbel. Keith

Ken, I often fish a shallow estate lake, chasing big shoals of Rudd all feeding at and near the surface, and I catch a lot of these rudd (and some big Roach); either using a straight waggler (set shallow); or if they are feeding a long way out; on a small bodied ‘semi’ loaded Onion waggler and I hook quite a few of these Rudd on bites that would otherwise be missed on an insensitive bobber type of float. Also, as for fishing through a small hole in a lilly bed; I don’t think I would fish in such a precarious situation anyway. Although I often fish right up close to lilies using standard wagglers; but not fishing into a small hole. Theres nothing wrong with using bobber type floats, but in my view there’s no way they’re going to be as sensitive as a more convential type of float unless I’m using a much larger bait which I need to present off the bottom. But horses for courses, everyone is different, that’s just my view. Keith

Not really Phone; if you are using a float adapter (for wagglers) or float rubbers (for floats attached top and bottom) then changing floats is then a simple thing to do and you only have to add or remove a shot or two. Keith

I think that those perch bobbers and American bobbers are fine if your fishing a large bait like a big lobworm or another similar sized bait that needs supporting, but if you are not and you are fishing a smaller bait then why would you need such a large bodied float if your fishing close in along the edge??? or close in under your rod tip ??? or just a few rod lengths out ??? They are not even a good design for accurate distance casting without having to stand up and cast with all of your might and chance spooking everything in front of you that’s swimming in the surface layers ? Keith

Hi Aqua, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately I don’t live in your area so can’t help you as far as the fishing locations and clubs in your area but here are a few of the Angling clubs in and around the Medway that you might want to look at. https://www.medwayvalley.com https://www.maidstonevictoryanglingsociety.com http://www.rookeryanglingclub.org https://www.twaps.uk/about-twaps/ http://www.tonbridge-angling.co.uk http://www.wheretofish.co.uk/pages/fishing-on-the-river-medway-kent.html Don’t forget to tell us about your catches Tight lines Keith

I have a whole bookcase full of Angling books that I have collected, however I don’t have the book you mention Ian it sounds really good. I often read the better ones on a cold winters night or take one with me if I’m spending a couple of days by the water in the warmer months. The last one that I re-read was ‘Confessions of a Carp Fisher’ by BB (Denys Watkins pitchford) which also contained R.Walkers account of catching Clarissa (or Ravioli as Walker originally called it). I prefer books that are not just “how to do it” books and which contain stories and anecdotes as well as some technical data and watercraft knowledge but I suppose it really depends a lot who is writing the book and whether I can relate to the waters they are writing about. Some I like just for the history that they contain especially if they are also a bit humourous. Keith

I think it’s been given the green light (see link below) however I would need one of my clubs to give us the green light before I decide to go.. https://mobile.twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1259548143026307073 I’ve also been told that The sports minister (Oliver Dowden) has confirmed on Twitter that angling is allowed. But as I said; I would still need one of my clubs to give us the green light before I decided to go, and it would only be on one of our more remote fisheries and definately not where I’d be expecting any company. Or I might just wait till the rivers open on the 16th June. Keith

Have you fished the Grand Union canal around Watford Ken? If you had then you will know how easy it is to spook any fish worth it’s weight in the near side shallows. The shallows in front of the Angler on the GU canal around Watford is shallow, gin clear and and totally featureless and unless you are fishing near to a bridge or lock (where it narrows and the nearside shelf is no more) the nearside shelfs are virtually devoid of anything but gudgeon and a few small Roach. However the far bank is another story completely, as are the areas around the locks and bridges on both the near side and the far side. The far banks there have overhanging bushes and trees and the fish are not spooked by bankside traffic or anglers unlike the barren near side bank. I used to be our clubs team captain and we used to fish loads of team matches against other clubs along the G.U canal north and south of Watford, and do well, and I can promise you that it’s not like the average lake or pond in most places. You get someone walking past on the noisy gravel towpath, or someone zooming past on their bikes and the only thing you’ll stand to catch from the near side shelf is gudgeon and minnows. Which is why we used to catch our Chub tight against the far bank where there was little bankside noise or movements and the Chub (and Carp) could wander up and down feeding tight up to the bank without being disturbed. Typical Canal Profile It’s a different environment completely around our club lakes and rivers, not only because of the increased water colours and the different depths but also because of the bankside vegetation on the nearside banks allowing you to keep fairly concealed and able to sit well back if needed. Keith

It does if there are people walking and riding their bikes along the towpath plus there was very little near bank cover on the Grand Union canal near Watford so the near bank wasn’t so good, apart from near the very occasional parked barge. It’s a bit different now in some areas, as the moored barges have increased along there. On my local estate lake you can often find the Carp doing a figure of eight around the two islands but fishing along the near bank under your feet often takes some nice Carp and Tench too. Keith

The same for the large Chub on the Grand Union canal near Watford. If you cast your float any more than a foot away from the far bank you rarely if ever caught any Chub, but if you bounced off the far bank and fished less than 6 or 8 inches away from the far bank and chances were that you’d catch some decent Chub. The Chub just hugged tight to the far bank. Keith

Yes they do Phone, and they don’t cause the spool to drop off when you’ve unscrewed the drag a little too far like some of the front drag models do, especially on the cheaper models ? I like using front drags when I’m using lighter lines because I think they’re a bit more sensitive, but I prefer having a rear drag when I’m often consistently changing the drag setting (out of choice) when I’m playing a particularly heavy and hard fighting fish around snags, but that’s just a personal choice of mine. Keith