Be Prepared
On my previous session I got snapped so vowed to swap to using 10lb line on my Barbel rod and move the 8lb line from the Barbel rod to my Chub rod that currently contained 6lb line. I ordered the 10lb line last night and it arrived this morning. Did I have time to move my line about between different reels to make room for the 10lb line before tonight’s session … what the hell, I will make time. What a good decision that was!

I started off fishing slugs near the overhanging tree but never got any serious takes, just lots of tiny knocks. In fact, that set the tone for the evening. No matter what baits I tried (cheese paste, bread flake, luncheon meat, hot dog sausage, casters) all I was getting were tiny knocks from small fish.

As the evening wore on I decided to concentrate on large pieces of luncheon meat. Again I could see it being pestered by small fish but I knew that the meat would survive the attention of the small fish.

Eventually, about 9pm, I got my first proper bite - the tip swung around and I connected to a steam train! The fish took off downstream and I had to keep tension and prevent it from reaching far side trees. This was on the 8lb line which had been the 6lb line only 2 days before - phew! I was able to withstand it’s lunges and eventually started to retrieve some of my line and slowly work the fish toward me. When it broke the surface I was staggered by its size. As usual this was followed by another strong lunge, I am glad I had my drag set properly! As the fish got within netting range I had to bring it over the top of some weed. It saw its opportunity and once again powered down into the weed. I appeared to be stuck fast and feared I had lost the fish. However, releasing a bit of tension allowed the fish to start to move. This process was repeated about 3 time before I was finally able to slip the net under this stunning 10lb 4oz Barbel - I am really glad I brought my extra long landing net handle as I was quite a bit above the river level.

So, that’s one bite and one fish but what a cracker. I am sure that it would have beaten me on the 6lb line so thank heavens that I took the time to prepare properly.

After about another 30 minutes the same rod tip bent around again. This also felt like a good fish but did not tear off into mid river, instead it headed for the tree and other bankside vegetation. That can only mean one thing - Chub! Whilst it gave a good account of itself initially, it was soon spent and I then slipped my net under this superb 5lb 2oz Chub!

Only 2 sessions ago I had met my previous target of 10 Chub in my first season on the Ure so I set myself a new target of a 5lb Chub. Several of the guys in the club remarked that this target would probably be met by a fat winter Chub. The Ure once again came up trumps. I was going to set myself a target of a double figure Barbel but I also met that today. I will have to have a think about my next target.

FYI: Here is my target diary

So, 2 bites and 2 incredible fish. It just goes to show that fishing can suddenly turn a blank into a session to remember. This was a magic 45 minutes. I was smiling to myself most of the way back to the car and look forward to my next visit.

Be Prepared
On my previous session I got snapped so vowed to swap to using 10lb line on my Barbel rod and move the 8lb line from the Barbel rod to my Chub rod that currently contained 6lb line. I ordered the 10lb line last night and it arrived this morning. Did I have time to move my line about between different reels to make room for the 10lb line before tonight’s session … what the hell, I will make time. What a good decision that was!

I started off fishing slugs near the overhanging tree but never got any serious takes, just lots of tiny knocks. In fact, that set the tone for the evening. No matter what baits I tried (cheese paste, bread flake, luncheon meat, hot dog sausage, casters) all I was getting were tiny knocks from small fish.

As the evening wore on I decided to concentrate on large pieces of luncheon meat. Again I could see it being pestered by small fish but I knew that the meat would survive the attention of the small fish.

Eventually, about 9pm, I got my first proper bite - the tip swung around and I connected to a steam train! The fish took off downstream and I had to keep tension and prevent it from reaching far side trees. This was on the 8lb line which had been the 6lb line only 2 days before - phew! I was able to withstand it’s lunges and eventually started to retrieve some of my line and slowly work the fish toward me. When it broke the surface I was staggered by its size. As usual this was followed by another strong lunge, I am glad I had my drag set properly! As the fish got within netting range I had to bring it over the top of some weed. It saw its opportunity and once again powered down into the weed. I appeared to be stuck fast and feared I had lost the fish. However, releasing a bit of tension allowed the fish to start to move. This process was repeated about 3 time before I was finally able to slip the net under this stunning 10lb 4oz Barbel - I am really glad I brought my extra long landing net handle as I was quite a bit above the river level.

So, that’s one bite and one fish but what a cracker. I am sure that it would have beaten me on the 6lb line so thank heavens that I took the time to prepare properly.

After about another 30 minutes the same rod tip bent around again. This also felt like a good fish but did not tear off into mid river, instead it headed for the tree and other bankside vegetation. That can only mean one thing - Chub! Whilst it gave a good account of itself initially, it was soon spent and I then slipped my net under this superb 5lb 2oz Chub!

Only 2 sessions ago I had met my previous target of 10 Chub in my first season on the Ure so I set myself a new target of a 5lb Chub. Several of the guys in the club remarked that this target would probably be met by a fat winter Chub. The Ure once again came up trumps. I was going to set myself a target of a double figure Barbel but I also met that today. I will have to have a think about my next target.

FYI: Here is my target diary

So, 2 bites and 2 incredible fish. It just goes to show that fishing can suddenly turn a blank into a session to remember. This was a magic 45 minutes. I was smiling to myself most of the way back to the car and look forward to my next visit.

Following on from my roving session, I decided to add another rod (no rod bag) and baits in a zipped up groundbait bowl/bag. I decided to take my usual loosefeed mix tonight and go back to my favourite peg 14 for the evening. I also managed to put my landing net pole into my rucksack so had only 2 rods in one hand and my groundbait bag in the other. Again this was a very light load and walking to the river was a breeze.

I used my 2 swan shot link ledger with cheese paste near the tree and my Barbel rod with a 3/4oz lead just this side of the main flow. I would stick to luncheon meat on the Barbel rod.

My cheese paste had been in about 10 minutes when I got my best wrap-around bite yet. The Chub took me into the tree and fought hard. Several times I had to ease the pressure to let it swim free before I was finally able to pull it clear of the tree. By then it was spent and came to the net quite easily. Here is the result: -

It dawned on me that I had not brought my keepnet so would be releasing the Chub into my swim (generally a bad idea with Chub). It was quite a walk down to another accessible swim so didn’t fancy releasing it elsewhere - would just have to take my chances.

Now that I had ascertained that Chub were about, it was time to try the slugs. I have never used them before so here goes. Unfortunately, I cast the 1st one straight into the tree - doh! Whilst I got all me gear back, the slug did drop off. I only had 3 so it was time to try another having loose fed (unintentionally) with the previous one. I was getting plucks straight away and was looking forward to another Chub fairly quickly. Unfortunately none of the plucks turned into proper bites (on either of the remaining slugs). Still, worth a try on another day. I might try them before anything else to prevent spooking any bigger/wiser fish that may be around.

So, back to alternating bread flake and cheese paste. As previously the bread flake seemed to receive a lot of attention from small fish - no positive bites.

Eventually, as the evening drew to a close, I decided to try luncheon meat near the tree. I got a few knocks quite quickly but no positive bites. I then decided on a much bigger piece of meat and quickly got a bite that I was certain to hit - but there was nothing there when I struck. So, one with another big piece of meat. After a few minutes this pulled the tip right around and I struck into a very strong fish. It immediately took line and I am sure went under and beyond the tree. I am not sure if it was a big Chub on its first lunge or a Barbel because my 6lb line snapped.

I did not get any bites on my Barbel rod/ 8lb line. However I have decided that I am going to use 8lb line (instead of 6lb) on my Chub rod and step up to 10lb on the Barbel rod. It seems that I have to fish close to snags so need equipment that allows me to get the fish away from the snags asap.

On the way back to the car I found another couple of slugs so look forward to my next trip!

Diving again at last
Today a few us were finally released from lock-down and able to dive at the Capernwary dive site. This is a quarry near Carnforth close to the Lake District. It is setup for diving and has several underwater attractions including sunken boats, light airfcraft, a passenger airliner, helicopters nice sized Roach, Perch, some sizeable Trout and some ever growing Sturgeon (largest about 6 feet long at the time of writing).

I must congratulate Capernwray on their efforts to re-open safely for diving once the lockdown measures were eased. They control the number of visitors per day, have re-organised the cafe and shop to provide social distancing and one-way routes and they have provided plenty of wipes and hand sanitizer.

It was drizzling on arrival and got heavier as we started to kit up. This was a shame as we left home in bright sunshine. It had been a while since we all dived so took a bit longer to get kitted up.

We had one dive in the morning and I was presently suprised by the visibility, particularly at the western side of the quarry. This was followed by a nice lunch we we had to eat outside due to a ban on indoor eating. Thankfully the rain had ceased so lunch was quite pleasant. We then had an afternoon dive where Nigel and I ended up diving around the entire perimiter of the quarry - quite a swim!

We finished with a cuppa and a chat - such simple delights but oh how I have missed this kind of thing.

I decided not to take my stills camera so that I could just enjoy the diving. I did, however, take my Go Pro and shot the following, the juvenile Sturgeon appears about 5:03 into the video.

No fish but a few things learned

Having caught a few fish, I was starting to get a feel for how and where feeding fish could be found. It was therefore time to dispense with carrying everything that I might ever need so that I could adopt a mobile/roving approach.

Recently cheese paste and breadfake seemed to get bites fairly quickly when presented close to an overhanging bush/tree. Therefore I decided to stick to alternating between these baits although I did take some luncheon meat for backup. I did not take any of my usual loosefeed (hemp, caster, micro halibut pellets and micro cubes of meat).

I setup one rod with a 2 swan shot link ledger and one of my size 8 hooks with expanding foam glued to the shank.

I started in peg 2 but first put a few loose offerings near the tree in peg 3. I spent aboyut 40 minutes in peg 2 and had a few tentative plucks at my chesse paste/breadflake baits but nothing positive.

I then moved onto peg 3 but first put a few loose offerings near the bush in peg 4. Another 40 minutes or so with no interest meant it was time to move on.

Again I pre-baited peg 5 before having a go in peg 4. Again, nothing that I could strike at. I think that small fish were attacking the breadflake.

By the time I got to peg 5 I decided to remain there and settled into a snack/drink. There was a nice raft of flotsam near the tree so was very inviting to fish under. I got a few more postive bites but failed to hit the first few. By now I was flicking my bait beyond the tree, into the main flow, then holding it back so that it swung around under the tree before letting it settle. Eventually I got a proper bite just as the bait settled on the bottom - I hadn’t even put the rod on the rest. It shot out into mid river and after several hard fought minutes I realised that I had hooked a small Chub that had once again been taken by a large Pike. This time the Pike won and eventually snapped my line.

I did not get any other bites but that’s not suprising if there were large Pike around. I had also seen an Otter patrolling the far bank which probably didn’t help either.

So, no fish but I developed a way to get my bait under a tree without having to cast dangerously close to the tree. I also modified my kit/load even more by putting my landing net in my folder chair meaning that I only had to carry my rod and landing net pole - everything else attached to my ruck sack. This was very comfortable and allowed me to walk with ease. A final couple of bonuses is that, whilst walking back in near darkness, I saw a family of Deer playing on the river bank. I also saw several big black slugs on my way back so decided to collect a few with some leaves so that I could try them on my next visit.

I decided on a session during the day today. Firstly I needed to get a sandwich from the bakery so an early start was out of the question. Secondly, I wanted to work out if the river fished ok during the day. Having spent most of my life fishing ponds and canals, I know that early morning and late evening are the best times to go but hear that rivers are more consistent during the day. I have yet to prove that to myself.

I fished peg 3 again. The river was about 18” higher than it was on Wednesday evening and was falling. I therefore had to fish from a higher position.

I setup my lighter tip rod (6lb line) for fishing cheese paste and bread up to the downstream tree/bush. The idea being that this was most likely to pickup Chub and I liked playing them on the lighter rod. I would setup my Barbel rod and fish meat / caster / lobworm mid river (or just this side of the main flow) in the hope of picking up Barbel.

I also used a new technique of supergluing a piece of expanded foam (from some product packaging) onto the shank of a size 8 hook. This would help secure the cheese paste and bread flake and would also counterbalance the weight of the hook somewhat.

I swung out my cheese paste near the tree and started to setup my Barbel rod. The cheese paste had not been in 5 minutes before a very good bite - that I missed! This set my expectations for a good day!

The forecast for today was for overcast cloudy skies and frequent rain. However the first 3 hours were very sunny and quite hot. I am not sure if this affected the fishing but I struggled to get any other bites. I checked the forecast again and it looked like the rain had moved to around lunchtime. Therefore I decided to setup the float rod whilst the weather was reasonable in the hope that I could run some cheese paste or breadflake near the tree and see if they wanted a moving bait. I decided to try a 2AAA Truncheon Waggler rather than an Avon float this time. This did not result in any bites.

The level had now fallen to the point where I could get to a lower plateau that was close to the water line. I decided to move down before the rains came. It is much nicer fishing near the water line. This was a good move as the rain appeared soon after and with no real warning - went from sunny to heavy rain almost instantaneously!

Around this time I started to get knocks on breadflake near the tree. I alternated between flake and cheese paste and eventually breadflake accounted for a good bite and the following Chub of about 2.5lb. Interestingly it had bite marks on both sides and I did wonder if it was the same fish that I caught on Wednesday that came with a Pike attached. In some ways, I hope it was because that proves that the fish survived.

This Chub gave a decent account of itself and was significant in that I set myself a target of 10 Chub from the Ure in my first season - this was no.10 and came within a week of my 1st Chub. So now it’s time for a new target - I think a 5lb+ Chub should be my aim now.

Although I had a few more knocks, there were no more positive bites despite the cloud and rain.

So my thoughts are turning to my next session; I think I will give this weekend a miss as I have been quite tired and was falling asleep several times today. I think that my next evening session will involve roving between pegs because it looks to me like cheese paste and breadflake result in fairly quick bites when swung near a tree/bush if there are any Chub in residence. That will also mean that I can travel very lightly and will just have to risk the odd soaking - hopefully the new Diawa Retex bib-brace and coat with waxed hat will keep the worst of the rain out.

The forecast was for light showers tonight so I hauled my brolly along and decided to give peg 3 a go. I had fished this when the river was really high and I wanted to know what it was like when the river was low. This will help me understand where I can fish when the level is back up again.

It was a very slippery track down to the peg so I was thankful for my trench spade.

I had made up a couple of hook lengths with a small piece of expanded foam on a hair. This, along with some stiffened cheese paste would allow me to fish the paste and see if it really does work.

Within 30 minutes I had the following 3lb 8oz Chub. I had had several knocks on cheese paste right from the off and this one finally took the bait properly. It tried to snag me under the near back but I finally netted it.

I was fishing meat on the other rod and also tried caster. I never got a proper bite all night.

After another hour or so I managed a much smaller Chub (about 1 pound) on cheese paste again.

Then the rains started. It was constant heavy rain for the rest of the evening. I am so glad I brought along my brolly - and spade to help me escape at the end!

I did not get any more bites on cheese paste so used meat on both rods. The one that was in the same place as I had been finishing cheese paste eventually wrapped around. At first I thought it was a Chub and then it made a dart for the middle of the river so I assumed it was a Barbel that had woken up. After several minutes I got it to the surface to find that it was a Chub of about 2lb - with a huge Pike clamped onto the Chub! I managed to get the head and half of the body in my landing net and was just dragging it up the bank when it flipped out of the net and let go of the Chub and left it in my landing net. Thankfully the Chub survived. I have never caught a big Pike so can’t estimate it’s weight but my landing net is 20” across and I only managed to get about half of the Pike in my net. Oh what a photo that would have been.

The swim went very quite for about 30 minutes after that. I had been getting frequent pecks at the meat but I guess a big Pike in the area put paid to that for a while. I did manage a few more pecks at meat before I decided to call it a day.

So, in summary: -

• 3lb 8oz Chub
• 2lb Chub
• 1lb Chub
• and half a Pike!

More Chub

I had hoped to go to the river on Sunday evening but it was very windy and raining and, worst of all, the river was rising.

Today the weather is much better and the level is just starting to fall. I fished peg 14 again and rather than being 5-6 feet above the water as I had been on previous visits, this time I was just a few inches above the river.

I tried some cheese paste that I had made but it was too soft/sticky and was very difficult to cast. I did manage to gently swing out a lump and got a bite pretty quickly but missed it. I will firm up the paste tomorrow and look forward to trying it again.

I then tried lobworm and bread. Nothing on lobworm and some tentative bites on bread that I could not hit. Then tried caster to no avail.

I then swung out a lump of meat straight in front of me and just this side of the flow. After a few mins the rod bent around and I was into the following 4lb Chub. It fought really well: -

I got no more bites out in front of me so tried the slack just in front of the downstream bush. It was hard to judge the bush as a lot of it was submerged and I snagged up a few times. Eventually I got the placement right and was rewarded with a 3lb 4oz Chub also to meat.

Both of tonight’s fish fell to my feeder rod instead of the Barbel rod. This also had 6lb rather than 8lb line. The Chub gave a great fight on that gear.

Alas, I then hit into a Barbel on that same rod and near the bush - again on meat. It took me straight into the bush but I got it out. After several lunges into the main flow it finally snapped me about 2 inch from my hook. I think the line had been weakened rubbing in the bush. I never saw the fish so can’t estimate it’s weight.

Here is the end result of my session: -

This was a thoroughly enjoyable session and was crowned off by this marvellous sunset: -

Harder going today

I could not resist another attempt at peg 14. I had intended to fish from about 9:30am through the day but wanted to get in peg 14 before anyone else arrived so left home at 6:30. I was gutted when I arrived to find 2 cars already there and I knew one was Kevin’s and was sure he would be in peg 14. Never mind, I trudged along to the river and passed all of the earlier pegs with no sign of Kevin. I was amazed to find peg 14 free so was in it like a shot! Kevin had chosen the next peg along :-)

It was quite windy and getting windier. Bites were very fickle and few and far between and hard to see in the wind. I tried meat, lobworms, casters, cheese and nothing produced a proper bite, just little pecks.

After several hours I tried a lump of flake on the bomb. It had hardly settled when I got my first proper bite but missed it. The second cast resulted in another quick bite but no fish. I did not get any other so had an idea.

I had brought my Avon rod so set that up with a large Avon float. It was quite difficult due to a gusty downstream wind and a swirling current but, after many attempts and changes of depth, I managed to get the float to trot right into the bush. Wham, it shot under and the result was this 4lb Chub. I really enjoyed catching it on the float as I felt I had earned it and outwitted the fish.

The day just got windier and windier making float fishing impossible. My last cast of the day on the bomb resulted in this smaller Chub.

Having learned the lesson yesterday, I did set up my camera straight away. I attach it to a bankstick then have a cable to the camera so that I can take the picture whilst holding the fish. One downside of this is the British weather - it rained several times today. So, thinking cap on…

Finally, I found some nice fish

Having had 2 blank sessions on peg 11 yesterday, I arrived to find peg 14 free. I decided to give it a go after the recent catches from that peg.

My trench spade had arrived so used it to clear a decent space for my chair. It was still precarious on that peg as you are about 5 feet above the water and sit on a small plateau that looks undercut beneath it. I had to be very careful when reaching to put out the keepnet.

I started with 2 rods, one near the downstream bush that is known to hold Chub and one in front of me just this side of the main flow. This was still quite strong after the high levels of the past few days. I fished lobworm and bomb on both after putting in several bait droppers of hemp, caster, micro halibut pellets and 2mm cubes of luncheon meat.

I had my first bite within about 15 mins on the rod out in front of me. This resulted in a nice sized Perch. After another hour or so I was getting a few tentative pecks at my bait so I twitched it to evoke a bite and finally got a Chub near the downstream bush. It was not big but was so enjoyable as it was my first from the River Ure.

After another hour or so I had no bites so decided to put on a blockend feeder that had enlarged holes to let the loosefeed mix escape. I fished this near the bush with a lobworm but got no interest. I then decided to try 5 casters on my size 8 hook. This hadn’t been in too long when I had a bite (quite tentative) and struck into a hard fighting Barbel that took me straight into the bush despite me trying lots of sidestrain to keep it out. Once it got snagged I released the pressure for a few seconds and the fish left the bush and headed for mid river. Several minutes later I got it to the surface and realised it was a decent size. Netting the fish was a challenge - my 2.5m landing net handle only just reached. Another note to self; buy a longer handle.

Having banked the fish I was so pleased. I immediately weighed it at 8lb 10oz. Unfortunately I hadn’t bothered to setup my camera so had to make do with the following photo taken with my phone. I wanted to revive and return it asap (too big for keepnet) so no time to waste setting up the camera. Another note to self; always set up camera before fishing!

I immediately setup my camera just in case there were more Barbel around. I fished for another hour or so and managed one more small Chub. This had been a thoroughly enjoyable evening after the 3 previous blank sessions. I took the following of the fish that I had kept in my keepnet.