Written by James Denison. Follow on Instagram @james_denison_angling
32..... .....Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said, my first ever visit to the S.Tame, the Trent' biggest contributor was a blazing success, but my day / journey didn't start there. My alarm went off at 0330 for an early start as I had some filming planned which was time sensitive, so decided to head to the R.Severn to do that filming, the river temp measured 19.8c late morning which…
That is a header I've wanted to write for so long! 22 trips, across 4 seasons, 2684 miles driven to accomplish one objective, find and catch a double figure Barbel. This is so far my single biggest hurdle cleared in this challenge yet. Let's wind it back to 6hrs...arriving on the river around 2pm I set about searching for Barbel with the polaroids which I always do, with the river running gin…
June 16th is always ringed or highlighted on my calender every year, not even birthdays get that level of note, it was and still is the day I get most excited about fishing, once again on running water and the thought of pootling around the Fens in my boat, stalking R.Thames and R.Lea carp or in this instance getting straight down to business with the 40 Rivers Challenge where I am currently on 30…
This is without doubt my worst spring in many years on the fishing front, yes I've been busy away on holiday, working a lot and lots of family engagements, but somehow I have still managed a "meaningful" amount of time on the bank. I like to eat well! Only one of those trips was for Bream which I blogged about on my last post where I lost a massive Bream, a fish I had been after for a few years…
Sometimes in angling you do wonder why you are dealt cruel blows, like you are being punished for something and the world conspires against you in a moment you wish it wouldn't. I decided to drop on to the Stow for the first of two overnighters in May, I knew conditions haven't been great of late and the reports off there in the main have been very poor considering the calibre of anglers who ply…
Always nice to get some fishing done with my middle broski (Richard) and given his departure permanently for the west coast of Scotland it was a good option for us to buddy up and get some fish on the bank and thats exactly what happened. Within 15mins of us arriving and getting the rods out I was away with a nice hard fighting upper double Catfish. The average Catfish in this particular lake is…
This is a trip I have wanted to embark upon for over a month now but the rivers up there have been in the fields for months on and off, for me as a travelling angler I have to have the conditions partially in my favour, no point making the journey if I can not reach the actual river! On Thursday ( 12th March ) I drove up fully loaded from home to north Yorkshire as my first port of call was the…
The R.Blackwater has been rubbish all season barring a 1 Chub, 1 Bream, 1 Barbel and 1 Carp...it really has been that tough. So imagine my delight when I was finally getting some bites! First of the last three trips I had one Chub, 4lb 14oz. Second of the three trips I managed three bites and three Chub!, where were these Chub hiding? One of them was a lump too and not far off 6lb! They have been…
Always nice to get out fishing with my Dad, 73 this May and still keen as mustard to get a bend in the rod, this desire to get out I'm sure is fuelled by their impending move down to Gillingham in Dorset, some cracking fishing down that way available but would be nearly 3hrs each way from me so these types of sessions will be no more which is a shame. We opted to rove around on the small river as…
I can't believe it's been almost two months since I was last on here! Truth be told I have been out a fair bit so I will hopefully get through it all over the next day or so. Since my trip to the Hants Avon we have had biblical amounts of rain and has rendered certain parts of the country totally un-fishable so naturally where I could fish I chose Barbel, primarily the Bristol Avon and Blackwater,…
I've barely fished since my last blog post, work and family reign supreme, that said I have been out twice, both in search of Roach, where I am currently targeting real big ones are possible, an outside chance of a three-pound specimen which would certainly be a truly momentus catch should I manage to find and land one! On my first trip I struggled for the first half day as a solid high air…
I have been out on the banks for a couple trips, two on the Blackwater, another Bristol Avon venture and a local trip to the 'Small River" for some fun and much needed bends in the rod as my challenge this season is proving to be quite lean on the runs front. The first of the two Blackwater trips yielded a fish in the shape of a nice Chub weighing 5lb 7oz which was pleasing, just not a…
Hmmmmmmm......the Blackwater is fast becoming a drain on my brain, god it's been a slog and not sure when its going to offer up that big chest of treasure, hours of moving, feeding (little bits here "n" there and putting a decent bit in when I know I'm coming back within a couple of days) and nothing seems to be working. I know the odd Barbel is still coming off the river but its so infrequent.…
Last Saturday with the conditions holding up well enough to sneak back out for Barbel I made the effort to go and that turned out to be a good decision, another long drive to Somerset was in order as I revisited the Bristol Avon and really try to make good of the successes of recent trips. It was wet, squalid, muddy and quite frankly everything I love about fishing in the autumn, gusts of wind…
With cooler weather on the way I thought I would try and sneak in a 24hr trip after work on Thursday as I was a day ahead on my work schedule which opened up my Friday, with the trip planned unfortunately it coincided with a very cold night which was very uncomfortable with so little cover. A trip of mud, rain and cold it wasn't pleasant but I was rewarded with a 6lb 4oz Avon Barbel within 40mins…
Now, after that difficult spell on the R.Aire and those two Barbel off the R.Wharfe myself and Dad opted to stop by somewhere that given my limited knowledge I felt we would have more success. After a short 40mile drive due south we arrived at our destination, the diminutive R.Idle, this was my second visit to this gem, it was to be my Dad' first and we made a beeline for an area I had done well…
After a few weeks of planning and sorting out a couple tickets the time had come last Wednesday to get set, this time around though my Dad decided he wanted to come and I thought it would be good for him to get out for a few days. After I finished work I swung by my parents gaff and picked Dad up and drove to mine where we loaded the car and had dinner before setting off for the Wharfe with an…
As usual fishing has been hard going and I thought about going somewhere else as I needed to break up the blanks on the Blackwater that are starting to get on my wick, I am fishing well I just don't think there are many Barbel in there (to some that may come across as making excuses but I would have expected something by now). Anyway, I headed off to the Bristol Avon in search of a double figure…
Since my visit to the Yorkshire Rother and Idle my 40 Rivers Challenge fishing time has been met with hours of motionless tips and the blanks are beginning to rack up again. For a moment back in late August I thought I had turned a corner and things were going to get better, however the Blackwater chiefly has been a major thorn in my side and I've really struggled to engineer bites, the Barbel…
On Thursday I had a day booked on the Wye with a couple of friends who wanted to catch a Barbel, both chaps are very good anglers on the fly front but do love to dabble in coarse fishing too when the opportunity presents itself. I left home a lot earlier on as I wanted to get some fishing of my own done but I had no real plans, just fish and catch what came along, for once I visited a river with…
Leading on from that incredible trip up north and following through with my plan to finish at 3pm on the Idle I decided to drive back down to the R.Blackwater for further punishment, that big Blackwater barbel has to come along at some point, just two bites in 6 trips totally 55hrs!. Given the circumstances that preceded this visit I felt confident of finally catching a Barbel, so I set about…
Well....what can I say! Having managed to catch a wonderful Yorkshire Rother double figure powerhouse I found myself searching for where to go next, the idea was to head to the Aire so once I had loaded the car I sat in there checking distances and first up I drove to Leeds town centre but being a Saturday night it was packed in the areas I wanted to fish, so I bailed out on that and headed down…
Well....it has been a poor start to the season, eight trips since June 16th - mostly on the Blackwater and being plagued by hoards of Crayfish, thankfully up north crayfish aren't a problem...or so I thought. I set off nice and early from home around 5am and with a 206 mile drive to Sheffield I got on with chewing into the miles and by 8am I was popping into a Morrisons to get my grub for the next…
With a 24hr gap in my hectic diary became free I decided upon a trip on the fly to Bath to fish for Barbel on the Bristol. I have had a trip there a couple years ago but it was only to have a look around with not much time spare after my successful trip to the R.Severn. This time around I opted to head there straight away and with the van loaded I was off. With very little information to go on I…
After 10 years of "near" perfect service, run ragged, rode upon by a few hairy arsed men holding rods aloft my trusty fishing boat finally gave up as a rogue overwintering rat had a part of my right gunwhale for dinner. It took me 96 miles of driving and organise a couple days of angling for Rudd with my mate Chris to realise the hole that was there. Chris had himself made the journey over to the…