Been Caught Fishing

25/01 Derwent

2012-01-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

Success on the barbel front at last - it had to happen sooner or later. In my second swim of the evening, I noticed the tip of my right hand rod bent over. The alarm hadnt made a noise, I picked the rod up and felt the resistance of a fish on the end. Obviously not very big but on a barbel drought so made sure and played it carefully into the net...all 3lb of it.

Having returned one fish and sorting my rig out to re-cast, my other rod sprung to life and I was into a much more solid fish. Safely netted and weighing 13lb 0oz it was worth the wait. The fish came at 19:00 and 19:05.

23/01 Trent

2012-01-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

Another quick one after work, somewhere I've not fished for a few years but a friend reported losing a couple of decent fish here recently so worth a try. Tried in 3 swims for the familiar resulting blank.

19/01 Derwent

2012-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Snatched an unproductive couple of hours after work on the (tough) local stretch. No fish, biteless again. Was able to hold out for 40 mins and an hour or so with my first couple of casts then a heavy squally shower/ micro storm passed over and changed things almost instantly. The swim became almost unfishable with debris attaching itself to the line moments after casting in. One possitive from the evening, noticed a new fishable swim for future blanking.

12/01 Derwent Trent

2012-01-12T13:37:00.001-08:00

Sneaked the afternoon off work and back out to try and catch a fish. 1st stop off perch fishing on the Derwent. Constant bites from the off, only small fish though and the only proper one on the worm turned out to be a small jack. No takes on a small roach livebait.

Moved to the Trent later on and fished a deadbait and boilie (on separate rods obviously) and caught a chub. Not the prettiest I've ever seen - looks like its swam into a brick wall, but after my run of blanks it was more than welcome.

11/01 Derwent

2012-01-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

Tried again on a stretch thats usually a bit easier just to try and catch something...

Arrived at 5.30 then at 6 something happened that I've not experienced for a while - fish on! Obviously a barbel, and the way it was fighting felt like a good fish. Plodding around, I was making slow but steady progress, although the fish was still taking line off a fairly tight clutch when it wanted. I had probably got it 2/3rds of the way in and I felt it turn and...that horrible feeling of realisation that it had come off.

Sat down gutted that I had lost my first fish for ages and it felt like a really good one, but then the ones that come off usually do.

10/01 Derwent

2012-01-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

A change of river for the same result - another biteless blank. Time to fish some easier stretches...try somethng different at least.

01/01 Trent

2012-01-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

Not been out fishing lately despite having a bit of time off work - Christmas and playing a lot of golf has been getting in the way. Same result as last time out, blank. No bites. Thought this area might be a good winter one, obviously not.

16/12 Trent

2011-12-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

Wasnt confident that I was going to catch, unfortunately correct with another blank. 3 hours with 2 deadbaits out, may have had a knock but not sure. 2nd swim has potential though, just a bit of a walk.

08/12 Trent

2011-12-08T03:29:00.000-08:00

A bit milder, but a bit wetter and windier than it has been. No sign of any fish again. Blank.

03/12 Trent

2011-12-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

Started off fishing a light quivertip, swimfeedering maggots with worm as bait. It was a slow start with no bites but I kept casting regularly to try and build the swim up annd induce some action. A bit on the windy side but not too cold, the football on the radio adding to the entertainment.

Then some idiot in a boat drives right over to my bank and wipes me out - 1 lost swimfeeder and 1 angry fisherman. Quivertip rod put away, sat behind alarms, wind got colder and stronger the later it got, no bites. Blank.

29/11 Trent

2011-11-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

Possibly my only chance to get out this week...so I get stuck at work for an extra hour then lost on the way to the river due to a diversion. Arrived at 7 so not a complete disaster. A few good taps and one phantom bite that didnt hook up. Ended up very similar to the other night, one bream and one chub - maybe the bream was a bit bigger and the chub a bit smaller though.

25/11 Trent

2011-11-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

First stretch seemed a bit too shallow for my liking...gave it an hour before getting in the car and heading somewhere deeper. Lost one fish but quiet until just after 9 and a chub. Recast, sat down, another fish on, this time a bream. Gave it an hour or so longer but to no avail.

22/11 Trent

2011-11-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

A swim Ive been meaning to try for a while but its a long walk...might need to give it another go. 2 chub and a couple of other knocks. Above the noise of the 12 swans in the swim, sure there were some decent fish rolling.

20/11 Trent

2011-11-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd have a try for perch in my barbel swim, theres a bit of depth close in. 1 bite just as i was messing about setting up a barbel rod and 1 lost fish.

Stayed on in the hope of a barbel, a couple rolled but no takers.

18/11 Trent

2011-11-18T23:50:00.000-08:00

Arrived a bit late, maybe actually on time as didnt have to wait too long for my 1st fish, 10lb 0oz barbel at 18:05. Quite a few knocks but nothing possitive for a while after that, until a small chub made an appearance. Stayed on a bit longer and rewarded with a good one, 13lb 3lb @21:30.

This one did have a winter shape about it, not noticed it much so far this season. Fed some boilies at the end ready for next time ;)

15/11 Trent

2011-11-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

1st swim too snaggy, 2nd swim too swirly...ended back in what has been my most productive Trent swim this season (except last time there when I blanked). Blank avoided with a 3lb chub. Barbel about 7 or 8lb at 17:55.

My 2nd proper bream from this swim, this one weighed 8lb exactly. All 3 fish on the dowstream pellet rod.

Finished with another barbel maybe a little bit smaller, on the other rod, boilie. At 20:10. An improvement on blanking. Noted a couple of interesting looking swims for another time.

13/11 Derwent

2011-11-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Actually started on the Trent but was proving difficult to fish where and how I wanted with the weed coming down. Lost a feeder and moved to the Derwent. A slight improvment as I did actually catch a few perch and a couple of bream.

11/11 Trent

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Another quiet night. Didnt notice any fish rolling, or any knocks. End result, no fish caught.

09/11 Trent

2011-11-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

River level back to normal and virtually weed free! Same swim as the other day. 2 small knocks and 3 fish rolled. No fish caught.

05/11 Trent

2011-11-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

Last session of a busy week...fishing wise anyway. Not been staying out late though so thought I would tonight. Trent higher than Ive seen it all season and rising steadily, ideal. Lots of crap coming down though. 1st fish about 7lb at 16:15.

2nd fish and best of the session (just) 10lb 5oz at 17:35.

3rd and last fish at the comedy weight of 9lb 15oz again at 19:55 (a different fish to the other night as miles away).

Intended to pack up at 10 but a couple of fish rolled and had 2 very good knocks so stayed on an extra 1/2 hour but nothing else materialised.

04/11 Derwent

2011-11-04T01:57:00.000-07:00

A bit more water in the river, some colour and a bit of debris coming down (but not much). However, the perch were notable by their absence, in both swims I tried. Apart from one little one. One small pike in each swim.

03/11 Trent

2011-11-03T15:02:00.001-07:00

Main flow under my feet and weed coming down didnt make it easy...nice to catch on a new swim/ stretch though, 9lb 15oz (17:55). Would have prefered it to weigh a little bit more. And a chub about 4 1/2lbs. Left early at 7 to get back for the footy.

02/11 Derwent

2011-11-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

2 casts on the Trent saw me bring in a load of weed and pack up and to head to the Derwent. Only took an hour to catch a suitable livebait although I did again break my furthest downstream Derwent grayling record. After that things went a bit better with some nice perch, biggest 3lb 1oz. Plus one that missed the photo as well at the end about 2 1/2.

Moved 2 swims down for the barbel and a promising start, 7 or 8lber 1st cast at 17:10. Didnt get any more after that though, just a chub and bream.

31/10 Derwent

2011-10-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

Quite well weighed down as I had both perch and barbel gear with me, so obviously decided to fish somewhere involving a long walk...
1st take an energetic pike which took me all over the place. Ended up packing up and moving swims due to the disturbance.

2nd swim a couple of nice perch on livebait, the best a plumper of 2lb 12oz and one a bit smaller on maggot. One pike which unfortunately caused a landing net handle malfunction lifting it from the water. Went home without barbel fishing.

29/10 Trent

2011-10-29T02:30:00.000-07:00

A blank saving bream. For whatever reason, no real confidence that I was going to catch and left early.

26/10 Derwent

2011-10-26T02:24:00.000-07:00

About 5 perch on the paternoster, but nothing over about 1 1/2lbs. Some kids fishing a bit further down did get a good one though...My furthest downstream Derwent grayling, a pleasant surprise.

Stayed on into dark in the hope of a barbel. 2 chub, the biggest a long fish but a bit skinny, just under 5lbs.

24/10 Trent

2011-10-24T13:44:00.001-07:00

Another Trent swim that I was 'weeded out' of last time. Not so weedy tonight but not clear either. Started with a little one after literally 5 mins at 17:30 but that was that for the evening. A couple of fishy taps inbetween the weed, I think.

21/10 Derwent

2011-10-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Local stretch again, quite handy for me at the mo. Pretty quiet fish wise, just the one at 19:40, 12lb 2oz. Back to being very low again, at least it was a bit warmer this evening.

19/10 Trent

2011-10-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Another failed attempt at perching...one small one and a dace. More successful on the barbel front, one bite, one fish 11lb 10oz at 20:25. Decided to call it a night then, air temp was showing 2.5 degrees.

14/10 Derwent

2011-10-14T13:28:00.001-07:00

Going to have to change this from 'tough local stretch' to 'local stretch', theres a few more barbel here than first thought. Have now had a range of them here from 1lb to 12lb. This net is clearly not big enough for barbel though...

1st fish at 18:50, 10lb 14oz (above/ below)

This was followed by 2 further barbel - 19:10 (about 7lb) and a pinhead at 20:00. Should really have stayed on later...

12/10 Derwent

2011-10-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

Same stretch a couple of hundred yards up, previous swim mostly underwater...

One missed take due to pellet tangling around the hook and a couple of knocks, but no fish.

11/10 Derwent

2011-10-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

A pleasant surprise to find a couple of extra feet of water in the river and even more surprisingly very little debris coming down. Having put this down as my 'tough local stretch', its proving to be a bit different than expected. 3 small barbel the biggest maybe 5lb at 19:15, 20:00 and 20:10. The river started rising again and did become difficult to fish with the ammount of rubbish coming down, time to go home.

07/10 Derwent

2011-10-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

Slightly bigger livebaits and slightly bigger perch - to about 1 1/2lbs. Bit of pike trouble though, 2 of them or maybe the same one twice that killed the swim both times, the second time for good. 1 bream on boilie.
End of a dissapointing week off work but, as they say a bad days fishing is better than being stuck in the office all week or something like that.

05/10 Derwent

2011-10-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

Back a bit closer to home...should listen to my own advice re: using small livebaits and catching small perch. Caught some small perch. Another baby barbel at 18:40 and a strange shaped chub, had a bit of a hump back but very deep bodied. Weighed 5lb 7oz, should weigh a bit more when it fills out. Also caught a catapult.

04/10 Warwickshire Avon

2011-10-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

A change of venues but similar conditions to the local rivers - low and clear with lots of weed coming down. Maggot feeder caught a steady procession of dace and one perch. Boilies and a dace deadbait produced nothing at all. Smooth didnt fare any better.

03/10 Trent

2011-10-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Arrived at the river early on (well, mid-afternoon) and able to access where I had wanted to fish Saturday. Caught what I think is a first for me, minnows from the Trent, which went out as perch bait. A couple of missed takes and one small perch later changed over to the barbel rods. Weed was being quite a pain so moved upstream. Weed was actually worse there and moved back to where I started. In the end gave up and moved to another stretch where the weed was just about managable...1 bream.

01/10 Trent

2011-10-01T15:43:00.001-07:00

A last minute change of plan due to my first choice stretch being inaccessible. Wasnt particularly confident where I ended up and about to move elsewhere before catching a 5lb barbel (21:15) and decided to stay put. No more fish after that, did find a couple of these critters near the car though.

28/09 Trent

2011-09-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

Started slowly, not confident in my first swim so moved to where I had fished the last couple of times as its a bit deeper. No bites at all on maggot, three perch to about 1 3/4lb on worms.

2 bream and a barbel later on (21:25), didnt weigh it as scales not working but looked like the 9lb 9 from the other night. Time to give this swim a rest.

26/09 Trent

2011-09-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Unsurprisingly I returned to the swim I fished the other night with a couple of refinements which seemed to work as no lost fish. Quite productive as 5 barbel - 9lb 9oz at 19:00, 8lb 14oz 19:35, small ones at 19:55 and 20:55 and a 10lb 9oz @ 21:05. One bream estimated at 8lb, weighed at 7lb 8oz so not too far out.

24/09 Trent

2011-09-24T16:05:00.001-07:00

Found a nice deep swim with the main flow towards the other side, weed much less of an issue than the other night. Started off OK, a bream, a 9lb 7oz barbel (20:35) and a chub then started losing fish....first a phantom bite, then hooklength snapped and finally one came off after about 1 second. Definate potential in this one though.

22/09 Trent

2011-09-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

New ticket, new area, same old problem with weed. Hooked and lost a good fish, I blamed the backlead. Nice to know theres at least one fish about there.

20/09 Derwent

2011-09-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Another 'old' stretch that I used to fish, must be having some sort of midlife crisis visiting all my old haunts...
Cant remember catching a barbel from this area
in the past, did tonight though. 12lb 0oz @ 20:35, nice conditioned deep fish.
Levels still low despite the days rain.

18/09 Derwent

2011-09-18T23:39:00.001-07:00

Back to an old favourite stretch and swim of mine, not fished it since about 2000. Nice to see theres still some barbel about, allbeit a baby one (18:45). As I didnt catch at all in a more favoured area Friday this place deserves another go.

16/09 Derwent

2011-09-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Slight change of scenery, had caught a few fish here earlier in the season though. Nothing this evening, only a couple of very small knocks. River lower than ever, hopefully some proper rain will sort it out.

10/11 Derwent

2011-09-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

A lovely evening to be out. If you like wind and torrential downpours. Fortunately we missed a lot of it due to lateness. 2 barbel of about 6 or 7lb at 20:45 and 22:15. My accomplice was less fortunate in being snapped by one fish but he did manage to land a roach.

09/09 Trent

2011-09-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

A bit of a quiet one, 2 fish - one bream and a 5lb 4oz chub. Nothing of any size showing and not much caught by anyone else there. Actually thought the chub was a bit bigger but apparently the scales never lie.

07/09 Derwent

2011-09-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

A few perch to start with but nothing much bigger than a pound and a bit. Even tried a 'big roach' as bait but no takers on that one. Micro chublets = small perch again.

Switched over to the 2 barbel rods later on. Just the one chub about 4lb and lost a babrbel @ 21:35 to a hook pull. Was only on for a few seconds.

29/08 Trent

2011-08-29T11:54:00.001-07:00

Struggled to catch a suitable sized livebait for perch...just skimmers and perch. Got in the car and moved a bit further downstream where I could catch decent livebaits...but only 1 dropped take and this little one at the end.

27/08 Trent

2011-08-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

River very much fishable despite the bit of extra water - it was only a bit of extra water. Starting fishing at 7 I had lost 2 fish by 7.15, one to mainline snapping and the other to hooklink snappage. The 2nd one felt quite decent as well. A bunch of smaller barbel after between to about 3 and 7lb (times of 20:00, 21:10, 21:35, 22:35 and 23:00), 3 chub (to 5lb 5oz) and 1 bream (oh well...).

26/08 Derwent

2011-08-26T17:03:00.001-07:00

First bit of rain for a while - would have been a shame not to get out. Bit of an eventful one, 1st fish at 19:25 pulled my rod in, managed to jump in and grab rod and land barbel, 9lb 7oz. Had some spare clothes and golf shoes in the car, got changed and carried on. 8lbers @ 21:00 and 22:35 before 11lb 5oz barbel @ 22:55, just a really long fish.

22/08 Trent

2011-08-22T15:28:00.001-07:00

Was looking good with a few fish topping and some possitive reports from the locals. First real action a barbel, all of about 3lb at 21:35....relatively quiet for the next hour or so apart from a few knocks (which were possibly the bats as well as fish), before I hooked into something a bit more serious. Unfortunately it took me into an unseen underwater snag and that was that. Called it a day not long after that.

17/08 Trent

2011-08-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

Same stretch but a bit further up. The 7 or 8 micro-chublets I caught as livebaits didnt last long...caught 6 or 7 perch up to about a pound or so and a pikelet. Bigger livebaits next time methinks.

15/08 Derwent

2011-08-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

Having walked past this spot loads of times and never fished it, pleased to have actually got round to it tonight.

2 jacks and 2 perch, the bigger of the 2 perch weighing 2lb 5oz and the other about the 2lb mark. Definate potential here just not easy to fish due to the big drop to the river. Maybe fishing the other side could work.

12/08 Trent

2011-08-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

Why fish for barbel and catch bream when you can just fish for bream. 4 bream, 5-6lb range. Might have caught more if I'd been barbelling...just took a while to get going.

Caught 1 small perch on livebait and had several missed takes.

09/08 Trent

2011-08-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

Went out with the intention of fishing one swim. Got there and decided to fish a different one. One jack whilst waiting for something to happen on the barbel rods. One bream. Lost 3 feeders - bad swim choice.

05/08 Derwent

2011-08-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

An interesting loooking area not too from home, supposed to hold some big fish although not many of them. No bites or knocks to either of us on pellets/ boilies. Maggot feeder accounted for 3 minnows a small perch and a brownie of about a pound.

04/08 Trent

2011-08-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Not the intended species but at least fish were caught. One small jack and a lost jack before the bream moved in. 8 in the 6-7lb range and one smaller one. Number 10 dropped off part way in. Sometimes if you can find the bream the barbel aren't far away. They were tonight.

30/07 Derwent

2011-07-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

Fished a couple of different areas without a great deal of success. 1st one no trouble catching suitable sized bait fish but no sign of any decent perch. Moved to a different stretch where I could only catch perch, typically about 10-12oz and no bait fish. Did put out a barbel rod here as well but no takers.

29/07 Trent

2011-07-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

A quick late one on the way home. Only there for a couple of hours, left due to coldness and hunger...and a lack of decent fish. Did catch a couple of small bream and a 1lb chub.

25/07 Trent

2011-07-25T15:40:00.001-07:00

Carp swim. River level - super low, water clarity - super clear, weed situation - surprisingly good.
2 bream and a barbel (22:20), all about 7lb.

19/07 Derwent

2011-07-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

A 4lb chub and a 6lb bream in my 1st location before the weed got the better of me, as much as I wanted to fish this swim I couldn't be bothered with re-casting every 10 mins.

Got in the car and drove to another stretch (via the chippy) and fortunately there was no weed problem there. Caught a further 3 chub and a barbel in the 7-8lb price range at 22:25.

Comedy moment of the day came when a guy came running up the bank requesting a set of scales to weigh the barbel he had just caught. He thought it might be a double. My scales said 6lb.

18/07 Derwent

2011-07-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

Finally a bit of extra water in the river, although if you believed the last update on the EA website you could have been surprised. I arrived at the river surprised to find it a couple of feet up on previous levels and rancid with debris. 1st 2 swims were unproductive - knocks but lots of weed. 3rd swim didnt look a lot better but didnt get the weed problem as bad. Caught a nice bunch of fish, probably between 6 1/2lb and maybe 9lb (21:25, 21:35, 22:05, 22:30 & 22:50).

15/07 Derwent

2011-07-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Popped out to a very local bit of river for literally just an hour. More in hope than expectation not having fished it for about 10 years. A nice surprise in my 2nd swim in the form of a 10lb 1oz barbel at 20:45. Theres definate potential here...just not many swims.

12/07 Trent

2011-07-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

First wander down the 'Traipsy Path' this season ended in a blank for both me and Ant. Not even a bite or knock to report. Did get a few stings thought when we were set upon by a bunch of angry wasps though...

08/07 Derwent

2011-07-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Couldnt trust the weather so took the brolly and holdall and just about everything else so fished the static approach. Slow going, one small (again...) barbel - about 6lb @ 21:30. Just about stayed dry but the weed coming down steadily increased throughout the evening.

04/07 Derwent

2011-07-04T23:23:00.001-07:00

I seem to have gone all traditional, 1 rod, wandering around fishing multiple swims, touch legering...

Only caught in 1 swim though, 3lber @ 20:50 and 7lber on my return to the swim @ 22:20. Maybe I'l get a decent one soon, still nice to be catching though.

30/06 Derwent

2011-06-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

A similar start to last season, catching barbel but no big ones. The wandering approach again, lost a fish before catching one in the same swim 5 mins later, about 7lb again at 20:50. Also one chub but the barbel were still spawning on the shallows.

26/06 Derwent

2011-06-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

A lot of walking for little reward, a chub of about 3lb to be precise. Good tanning weather though.

24/06 Derwent

2011-06-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tried the more static approach due to the impending rain which started 1/2 hour after I arrived. Took a bit longer for the fish to arrive, about 3 hours then caught a chub and 2 barbel. Chub about 4 1/2 (but quite a long and empty fish) and both barbel about 8lb (22:00 and 22:20). Have since found my isotopes so can maybe stay a bit later now if I want.

21/06 Derwent

2011-06-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Nice to finally get OTM with my first barbel of the season, 8lb 5oz @ 19:10. Only other action was a foul hooked gudgeon and a small perch on a spinner. The riverbanks are looking considerably greener than they did a few months back.

18/06 Derwent

2011-06-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Had the stretch to myself, the only other guy there was leaving as I arrived, thought it was going to be busy on the 1st weekend of the season. Had a wander about with a lure rod but just a few follows from small perch before settling down for a couple of hours with the barbel gear. A chub, a roach and a bream on corn, nothing on pellet.

16/06 Trent

2011-06-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ended up just fishing a few hours in the afternoon, nothing too serious just nice to be back on the river. A mixture of dace, roach, bleak and perch on the maggot feeder whilst the meat rod just caught me a few pieces of weed. Was quiet all round on the stretch, glad I took the maggots.

Closed Season Update

2011-06-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Probably done about as much fishing in the whole of the closed season as I do in a week sometimes during the river season. Played lots of golf though...

3 trips to one fishery which has produced some very good perch. Not to me though, just small perch, carp, bream and roach.

One tench fishing session, caught one tench.

One visit to the commercial I perch fished last closed season...quite productive for perch, caught a few but again, no big ones. Apparently the place did a 5lber this year as well!

As usual the tench had a liking for my prawns, the last of which fancied its chances against my match rod and took me all round the swim, tangled up with my livebait rod in the process and leaving me with the choice of tackling up both rods again or going home. I went home.

Apparently the fishing season starts on 16th june this year.

14/03 Trent

2011-03-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

A windy end to the season, a cold one blowing straight at me...but had planned to fish this swim on the last day so stuck to my plans. Blanked. Should have fished somewhere else. Time to put the fishing rods away and get the golf clubs out...

13/04 Derwent

2011-03-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

Made the even longer walk today and fished a few 'experimental' swims, unsuccessfully before heading back to a couple of swims I'm more used to. Caught 3 perch but none would have been over a pound.

Put the customary barbel rod out when it got a bit later and after about 10mins (17:35) was into a decent fish. Looked quite big in the water and in the landing net...estimated about 11lbs. Left it to recover and got camera and scales ready. By the time I got back to the fish and lifted it out the water it had shrunk to 8lb 11oz...

A couple of chub just after dark, 4lb 14oz and 5lb 1oz, the bigger one loked like it had seen better days.

12/03 Derwent & Trent

2011-03-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

Thought I would have an early one on the Derwent to start with. Nothing too taxing, fished from 7 'til 9 for 2 graylings and an acrobatic trout.

Back out on the Trent later on for what is probably my last trip to the carp swim this season. Just bream this time, landed 3 and lost one at the net. All a decent size but the wrong species.

11/03 Derwent

2011-03-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

Ended up in the wrong place due to people fishing all the swims I wanted to fish...kept finding snags close in on the worm rod but did snare a bullhead on maggot feeder. Forgot my special boilies and made the long walk to the car and back to to fetch them. Gave it an hour or so into dark in the same swim and did catch a 4lb chub before moving to one of the newly vacated fancied swims.

1 barbel, long skinny one about 7lb at 19:45 and lost one at 20:30 which was probably some sort of record breaking fish.

06/03 Derwent

2011-03-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

Struggling to catch perch this winter...one small trout, a grayling and a 3lb chub today. At least I always seem to catch fish here, even if theyre not that big or even the species I'm after.

05/03 Derwent

2011-03-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

The 2010/11 Barbel Cup, for the 2nd year running no barbel caught. It went to a worthy winner though, Ants 7lb 2oz chub more than deserved to win. Out of 17 of us only 3 caught (and all chub) so not a great day for catching fish. Except for Ant obviously.

03/03 Derwent

2011-03-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

With the nights drawing out managed to get to the river in time for the last hour or so of daylight. No perch again...Nothing else either, did see a couple of decent fish rolling though.

25/02 Trent

2011-02-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

A shortened version of my start to the evening...parked car, locked key in boot, paid £25 for a taxi to bring me my spare key.

After a late start the fishing started slowly. Moved swim twice, caught 1 bream in swim 1, nothing in swim 2. Swim 3 was where I fished the day before so at least had chance of a bream. Fortunately no more bream came along but 2 barbel did - 7lbish at 20:45 and 11lb 5oz @ 21:05.

Not sure why some of these photos are going sideways, I know I'm not very good with the camera but I think I'm holding it the right way up?

24/02 Trent

2011-02-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Not the carp swim but not a million miles away either. Water temp just under 9, river up a bit more with a nice colour to it, thought it would be ideal barbel conditions. Ended up with 1 small bream and 2 bream, 3 bream in total. Missed a few bites and lost something that felt OK but not sure if it was a barbel...and the fact I'm not sure probably means it wasnt. Maybe a bream.

23/02 Trent

2011-02-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

After a whole week without fishing, the weather has warmed up a bit so I headed back to the carp swim. River a little up on previous visits here but nothing silly and reliably informed that the water temp was 44 degrees.

Quite a slow frustrating evening though, 2 bream tappy things that didnt hook up, one bream that hooked up and came off (not a great loss) and a barbel that came off at the net. Didn't see it properly but don't think it was particularly big but would have prefered to have landed it to find out.

16/02 Trent

2011-02-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

Similar conditions to mid-week last week did not fill me with confidence, the main one being the big drop in water temperature. Just gave it a couple of hours, fished from 5 - 7 for the same result, zilch.

13/02 Trent

2011-02-13T12:49:00.001-08:00

Same swim as Friday, carp rods again. Even got there early, about 2.45pm, and started catching virtually from the off. 12lb 6oz carp (common), 4lb 15oz chub, 16lb 2oz carp (leather), bream, bream, 7lb 7oz bream, 7lb 10oz bream, 5lbish barbel (19.05), bream (about 7lb). Probably close to 70lb of fish in 4 1/2 hours fishing.

Last couple of times I've fished this swim I've been one off completing the barbel, bream, carp, chub quartet, actually managed it today. Using carp rods really does help bringing those hard fighting bream in. And the carp. Went a bit photo crazy but plenty of subjects to photograph.

11/02 Trent

2011-02-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

Same swim as last Friday as I caught a few fish there. And as theres always a chance of a carp there, I used my carp rods which always feels strange on the river.

A good choice of venue as I caught a bream, a carp, a bream, a barbel (19:10) and a bream. Or as some people say 3 bream, a carp and a barbel.

Thought it might be similar to last week after the carp and a bream came early on but this week the fish came steadily through the evening.

Only a small carp of about 8lbs, not as deep bodied as last weeks but still quite chunky across the shoulders. Barbel about 6lb and the bream ranged between 4 and 7lbs.

08/02 Trent

2011-02-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

With the England match Wednesday thought I would have my midweek fish Tuesday. However...not confident at all, clear skies, high pressure, the fish were probably full from feasting in the flood a few days earlier, temperatures dropping and there was a frost the night before. And any other excuses I can think of.

Would have loved to have proved myself wrong but another blank. Conditions are looking a bit more favourable towards the end of the week.

06/02 Trent

2011-02-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Not sure where all this extra waters come from, couldn't even get to where I wanted to fish as the route to it was underwater. Still rising and debris coming through at all levels...should have been ideal. Think I lost a fish that turned out to be a branch, sure it started as a fish anyway.

04/02 Trent

2011-02-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Bit of a strange one, started fishing at 16:45 and by 18:15 had caught a 12lb 13oz carp, 2 bream (well one dropped off at the net but it did touch the net so I'm counting it) and a 3lb chub (just to be consistent).

That was it for the night even though I stayed on until 21:45, no sign of my intended quarry - barbel. Should have started earlier...

New camera seems OK apart from the sideways chub.

02/02 Derwent

2011-02-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

Thought that the milder weather might encourage the barbel to feed. Probably too soon, the river was still only 6 degrees (up 0.5 degrees since Sunday) and running very low and clear. Quite active early on with plenty of knocks and taps on the rod tip and caught 2 small chub of about 3lbs each before it all went very quiet...

30/01 Derwent

2011-01-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

I think I need a change of tactics...perch fishing with a pike rod out just in case seems to be OK for pike but not for perch. Next time going piking with the spare rod out for perch.

Caught a long skinny fish of about 10lbs, lost another which looked a bit smaller. Not a bite on the floatfished worms again.

23/01 Derwent

2011-01-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

No perch again. Maybe I should stop going back to the places that I'm not catching perch and expecting to catch perch. 3 chub but not particularly big ones, biggest about 3lbs. Water temp only 4.8.

19/01 Trent

2011-01-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

Back to where I had been catching fish...
Some interesting looking features which look great for perch and with the temperatures dropping seemed a sensible option.
Also took some dead baits just to hedge my bets. Not a good perch session but very good for pike - a 14lb 0oz (top photo), a 17lb 0oz (middle) and then pike 1 again (I'm 99% sure it was).

When I packed up found this little perch attached, so they are there, just hope the pike havent eaten all the big ones.

16/01 Trent

2011-01-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

This stretch was very good to me a couple of seasons ago, now I can't buy a bite on it. There is the big advantage of being able to park behind your swim, ideal for a quick session on a wet sunday evening like this one. The big disadvantage is that theres no fish. Hopefully they'll be back next season. Blanko.

14/01 Trent

2011-01-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

Back again lol. Just the one bite this evening, a good fish though, 13lb 2oz at 20:40. Unfortunately the camera decided to play up so just got a unhooking mat photo on crappy camera phone.

Not had many big ones this season so most welcome. Might even allow myself a day off tomorrow.

13/01 Trent

2011-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

Water temperature up to 7.8 degrees and river up again on yesterday. Even managed to catch barbel today. A cheeky looking scamp at 17:50 followed by a better fish of 9lb 3oz at 18:25. Half a tree floating downriver decided to settle right in front of me so I moved to the next swim down for

another smaller one at 19:50. Got one rod in a tangle that I couldn't get out just as it started raining so decided to call it a day at 20:45.

12/01 Trent

2011-01-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, I actually caught a fish...

Hedged my bets by fishing deadbaits and boilies/ meat. A missed run and a couple of knocks on smelt before hooking and losing one all in the 1st hour and a half or so. Went quiet for quite a while so changed to a roach head and caught my 1st fish of the year. 5 mins before home time at 20:55. Even weighed it in the excitement, 6lb 14oz. Gave it an extra 1/2 hour and even managed to lose another one at 21:15.

Nothing on the barbel rod, but nothing new there.

Water temp 6.5 and river level not too high, think the temperature and level will be rising over the next few days though.

09/01 Derwent

2011-01-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

Found the Derwent considerably higher and more coloured than expected with a water temperature a fraction over 5 degrees. Just to make things more difficult for myself I managed to leave my deadbaits on the side in the kitchen and ended up fishing with just worms. Another blank. At least the weather forecasts are a bit more possitive for the week ahead.

08/01 Trent

2011-01-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Trent up a bit and coloured, just under 5 degrees, small amount of debris coming down, level maybe even falling very slightly. Tried smelt, 1/2 a roach, boilies and halibut pellets. Blanked.

05/01 Derwent

2011-01-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Another short session and another blank. Lost 1 hook.

A passer-by stopped and shouted that he had caught 4 pike to 18lb something from where I was in 10 minutes the other day! Unfortunately I was fishing boilies and unable to match his remarkable feat of angling. An entertaining story to me anyway.