At around 4pm Martin entered with his very close friend and
accomplished Barbel angler David Foster. With Martin on standby doing pictures
for a magazine feature, David was to be my guide for the trip and the plan was
to help me catch my first river Barbel. As soon as we all sat down and looked
through the menu, Martin and I were at it talking about fishing’s past, Dick
Walker, Jack Hilton and all manner of other Carping history. We hit the ground
running and could see straight away that this was going to be a session of
adventure and lots of chit chat. We had a meal and left at 6pm for the river.
We arrived at the river Kennet, it was the Wasing stretch, a
private syndicate where Martin could gain guest tickets. When we got there Will
Cater was there to see the prototype of Martin’s new book “At The Waters Edge”,
David and I looked on in awe as Will turned the pages of what was obviously a
book destined to be a classic, everything about it looked quality and the
content was unreal. I really can’t wait to get my copy!!!
Will, Martin and David
The plan for the evening was just for me to get a rod out,
no prebaiting had occurred so to get a feel for the river and trickle a little
in was the order of the day. I began fishing at around 7pm, it was dark and a
torch on a tripod lit up the rod tip so that bite indication was clearly
visible. Tackle was so simple consisting of a size 4 barbless palatrax hook
tied straight onto 10lb mainline and 5 LG shot pinched around 6 inches above.
The reel was a small Shimano and the rod a 1.75tc Barbel rod. With everything
set up I was ready to talk baits. Martin and David told me that Barbel fishing,
much the same as Carp fishing, had gotten too complicated, this rig, that rig,
this bait, that bait. All Martin had was bread and sausage meat. “If they won’t
take either of those they’re not hungry” was his motto.
I was set and ready to go with a baited hook, David told me
to flick just off a branch that was leaning over the water, the flow wasn’t too
strong and the bread flake was flicked out onto the spot, I paid off a little
line until the rig settled nicely where the crease was. I sat back, watched the
illuminated rod tip and awaited events. After ten or so minutes I had a small
pluck on the rod tip. I wound in to find the bread had gone. David then said to
try some sausage meat so a nice walnut size piece of meat was tossed in the
direction of the branch once again.
Another ten or so minutes went by and again I felt a tap on
the rod tip, followed by another, then it arched over and instinct told me to
strike. Strike I did and the rod arched over as a hard fighting barbel tried to
take off in the opposite direction. I had hooked my first ever barbel. The
fight was great in the fast flowing water, although not a large Barbel (8lb is
a good fish for the Kennet), I was still as happy as I could possibly be, I
wanted to catch one and doing it so early just showed how much my two
companions knew about this sport. The net was slipped under a nice 4 - 5lb fish
and Martin obliged with the pictures.
My first Barbel
After this I carried on fishing with a huge smile on my
face, I was on cloud 9 and was chatting like a lunatic!! Martin made the tea
whilst David and I tried for another fish. I only had to wait another half an
hour or so until I had another violent pull round on the rod tip. I hooked the
fish but unfortunately the hook pulled soon after. I cast back and within
another 20 minutes I was in again. This fish felt much bigger and was pulling
even harder, surely a bigger fish. I steered the fish away from the snags and
guided it into David’s awaiting net. It was amazing, like a bar of solid gold.
I can’t really describe how I felt but I remember thinking that that fish was
perfect, strong, beautiful, elegant, majestic, all those things and more. It weighed 7lb 14oz and I was thrilled at the fact that not
only had I caught my first one; I had bettered that and broken the PB set just
an hour previous!!!7lb 14oz
The fish was released and we decided that the evening had
been kind to us and that to get back to the lodge, have some supper and a drink
and get some relaxation ready for the next day was a good plan. We left the
river and arrived back at the lodge around 10pm. David opened a bottle of red
wine whilst Martin made Cheese toasties. We sat, raised our glasses to a
wonderful evening and after supper got some much needed rest.
A Toast
It was nice to see the river during daylight, the night
times seemed to be the most productive but the days can be spent watching all
around. We set the rods up, David and I fishing this time, and David gave me
some more advice on baits, when to use certain ones, what sizes for what
situations and so on.
Tutorial
Concentration
It got a little frustrating and after a while Martin took
the rod to feel if they were Crayfish attacking the baits. He said he didn’t
think they were and handed the rod back to me. Next cast and this time the rod
tip went over nicely and I pulled into a good fish. I had to apply a fair
amount of pressure to this one as it charged down the pool in the fast flow
towards the danger of some submerged trees. I finally managed to steer it back
upstream and into open water, there it cruised around almost as if it didn’t
know it was hooked. I saw the fish for the first time and saw that it was again
bigger than the last one I had.
In action
David expertly netted the fish, a handsome specimen which
was to weigh 8lb 10oz. I was made up, this session had exceeded expectations
already and it wasn’t even over. Martin once again took some amazing pictures
and showed why he has done so well with his photography over the years, a true
professional.
8lb 10oz
3pm came and it was time to return to the lodge for lunch, a
nice bowl of Martin’s wife Kate’s hot pot, and very special it was too, I even
phoned her and told her!!! This was washed down with tea and at 5 pm we
returned back to the river for the last night.
Back at the river Martin told us to bait the area we’d be
fishing but not to cast out yet, just leave the area quiet and let them get
down to feeding in peace. It started getting dusky at 7pm just as the Bats and
Owls started to get busy and we promptly cast our baits on to our pre-baited
spots. David was first into a Barbel of around 3-4 lbs. After that the bits
slowed up a bit and things were looking rather quiet. The cold easterly wind
made things feel decidedly cold but I was still happy and determined to catch
another of those wonderful creatures. I had to wait until around 10pm until I
felt a twitch of my rod tip, this was followed by a good arching and the strike
told me I had connected with yet another Barbel. Again a smallish one and it
weighed about the same as David’s last one although I could honestly catch them
all day long!!!!
At somewhere after midnight Martin decided to move swims and
I fancied a go in the spot I was in the previous night. I got to the swim and
David said that there could be some Chub feeding as there has been a guy in
there all day feeding a lot of bait. We attached a nice lump of bread flake and
flicked it downstream. Within a couple of minutes I felt a good bite, struck
but only pricked the fish and it was gone, I repeated this 3 or 4 times until I
changed bait to the sausage meat. Next cast produced and more smooth bite and I
bent into another fairly powerful fish. This time I netted the fish by myself
as David had gone to help Martin pack away. By the time the fish was in the
landing net, Martin and David arrived to congratulate me, it weighed around 3-4
lbs again and was retuned to the fabulous river.
5 Barbel was a dream and the whole session was one I’ll
remember forever. Whilst at the lodge Martin did an interview with me which
will go on the radio show “At the Waters Edge” on BBC Radio Lancashire on
Thursday evenings. He’ll also let me know what magazine the feature will be going
into and when. Very exciting stuff.
All in all, Martin was, indeed, the legend I pictured him to
be, you name it, he’s done it. And a more generous man you’ll never meet. The
guiding on the river he offers free of charge, help with tackle, putting you in
the right spot, sorting the bait and even feeding you and making the tea not to
mention buying the guest ticket. All he asks is that you make a donation to his
charity “The Army Benevolent Fund”
It was a couple of days I enjoyed more than any other, and
something I could get quite used to. I have a feeling I’ll be visiting that
river again, maybe over the winter…watch this space!!!
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