Back on Top. Return to Skjervoy, Northern Norway

Dave with the weeks biggest at 31lb

It's been a month since my last post on here and during that time I've enjoyed a couple of successful trips to the River Wye where I've caught barbel to 9lb 8oz and chub to nearly 5lb. The highlight of the last four weeks though has to be the holiday to Skjervoy in Northern Norway that my friend Dave and I have just returned from. This was our second visit to this part of the world and we had six days to catch a few fish. Day one and after only five minutes we were doing just that! Cod to 10lb, coalfish and a small ling were soon boated which meant we had dinner sorted! Day two saw some bigger fish to the boat. I had cod to a new personal best weight of 19lb and Dave caught his first ever halibut, it weighed 14lb. The next couple of days saw lots of fish caught. Plenty of cod, more coalfish, a small halibut for me and a torsk. We were however struggling to find the bigger fish that Norway is famous for and so we asked for help from a friendly bunch of Geordie lads that were staying in the camp. They had been doing well catching cod to over 30lb and a 60lb plus halibut and were more than happy to offer advice, even suggesting that we follow them out to a couple of marks that they thought would produce a few lumps. We were quick to accept their kind offer and the evening of day five was spent drifting over a plateau some six miles out. We were straight in to fish and they were, as hoped for, bigger! Cod of 18lb and 19lb kicked things off before Dave hooked in to something clearly a lot bigger. Stripping line and fighting for a long time, the fish turned out to be a cod of 31lb. What a result! I soon found myself in a similar arm aching situation and after heaving it up from the depths I was holding up a new personal best cod of 28lb. I was very happy! More good cod followed but these two fish were to be the biggest of the day and indeed the week as day six produced only smaller examples. A great week! We arranged our trip through Anglers World Holidays and flew with Norwegian.

My biggest cod weighed 28lb

A 14lb halibut for Dave

Barbel Fishing on the Wye at Bishopswood

Its been a while since I have fished the River wye , And its was certainly nice to be back to this lovely part of the country, I would be fishing the Worcester Angling beat at Bishopswood, with Friend Roy ,
we travelled up after lunch arriving at the River at 2'o'clock, giving us time to walk the stretch,
after an hour of searching we settled on a couple of swims a 100yds apart with deep water and settled in , I for one was not expecting any action until later in the evening and usually for me set up 2 rods to start with on feeders with Halibut pellets ,

A view Down Stream

 Around 5.30pm I had a text from Roy he had caught 2 barbel a small one of 2lb and one of 8ish just goes to show they will feed all day in the right swim , as I had had only one small chub of around 12oz's I decide to give my swim half an hour then move , packing down 1 rod I moved along the river looking for faster water which I found nearing the end of the beat a long walk but it was to prove worth the effort , between 7.30 & 9.30 I caught 4 Barbel and 3 chub all which fought really well in the fast water reminding me want I had been missing ,so in all a very successful day cannot wait for my next session in September,

The first of 4 Barbel

Inshore Wrecking With Devon Bass Pro Charters, Seaton, Devon

A day out with John Wallington of Devon Bass Pro Charters, Seaton, Devon was in the diary for Tuesday and with a lovely, warm day and light winds forecast, Dad, Dave and I were all set for a days fishing targeting bass from the many inshore wrecks found in Lyme Bay. After a quick introduction to Paul, the chap taking the boat to it's maximum capacity of five, we were off and making our way to our first location. It wasn't long before the first fish were hooked and landed and I wasn't at all surprised to find that they were cod and not our intended target species. As I reported recently the wrecks off the south coast are currently alive with cod and getting through them to get at the bass and pollock is not an easy task. You can't be unhappy with catching cod however and we all enjoyed battling these hard scrapping fish on the light tackle that John provides. It wasn't until late in the day that bass number one made an appearance, followed soon after by another few. More cod and the occasional small pollock made up the bulk of the catch though and we were soon heading in after a great day of rod bending action. Information on Devon Bass Pro Charters can be found at www.devonbassprocharters.co.uk John is a great skipper and an enjoyable day out is guaranteed. Go book yourself a trip!

Early Morning Session on the River Kenn, Clevedon

With the weather improving a trip to the River Kenn in Clevedon for Bream and possibly a Tench presented it self a early Session just 10mins down the road from my house ,
So prebaiting a swim with 2kg of sweet corn the night before and rigging up a pair of 1 1/2lb TC rods just in case there was a carp about , I was ready for a 5'o' clock start ,
The day was all ready heating up as I arrived at the waters edge and swung out two ledgered rods of artificial corn hair rigged to size 12 gardiner specimen hooks on 9lb guru hook length to the bait on the far side I had put in the previous evening,
I had to wait until 8 30 for my first fish a bream of around 6lb which unlike lake bream put up a thumping fight to the net , this was followed by a smaller fish of 5 lb ish
by now the sun had risen and so had the temperature so time to pack up,
Clevedon AA control the Kenn on a £20.00 a year ticket which besides the Bream has good Stocks of Roach ,Perch the occasional Tench and a few Carp,  

Biggest of the morning

Tench and Perch in the Cotswolds

Spurning the pull to fish the rivers on the first day of the season, I decided to give the tench fishing on my club gravel pit in the Cotwolds  another go, the approach was to be the same as before spodding out dead maggot and hemp and fishing 2 rods one with rubber maggots and maggot feeder one on a method feeder and 10mm boilie ,but unusually for me I made an early start arriving at the lake a 6 am. I didn't have to wait long for my first fish a tench of around 4 1/2lb   on the maggot rig , then a surprise perch of 3 lb  6oz, a PB for me and a lovely fish which made my day ,
I followed this up with 5 more tench , 3 on the boilies. A great day proving the early angler catches more fish!

Not a bad photo for a selfie -
My 3lb 6oz perch

A tench of about 4lb 8oz

    

June 16th 2015 on the River Wye, Courtfield, Lower Lydbrook

One of the River Wye's smaller residents -
Great to know that the big barbel of tomorrow
are thriving in this fantastic river

June 16th, opening day of the river season! A day every keen river angler looks forward to and although for many, with expectations set high, it can often be a disappointment, for some it can be a great day. I have been lucky enough to go fishing on this special day a number of times but I have never had what I would call a "good" June 16th. This year I hoped to change that and it was back in January that I booked a place each for me and my dad to fish my favourite stretch of my favourite river on opening day! The Courtfield beat at Lower Lydbrook on the River Wye. We arrived late morning and I was pretty excited despite the less than ideal conditions we were presented with. Bright, clear skies and a very low and clear river are not exactly what you want when targeting a river full of barbel and chub, but that's what we were faced with and so we would have to try our best and cross our fingers for a little luck. Fortunately, I'm pleased to say, luck is something I usually enjoy plenty of and as our baited rigs splashed in to the river I sat back quietly confident that today was going to be my first "good" June 16th. After only half an hour dads rod hooped over and the reel screamed in a way that could only mean a barbel had slipped up and picked up the hair rigged halibut pellet that they just can't seem to resist. A good scrap resulted in barbel number one, a great start and weighing in at 7lb 15oz. My turn next for a fish, a chub of about 3lb. Another followed soon after, bigger this time at 4lb 1oz. Dad was soon bent in to another barbel, another good fish at 8lb 9oz. My first barbel was next and I was really chuffed with it, not because it was a big fish but because it was a small one, the smallest barbel I've ever caught in fact. Weighing no more than 1lb 8oz it was proof that the Wye barbel are thriving, ensuring good fishing for hopefully years to come. The hours ticked away and we continued to catch well. Dad landed the biggest barbel, a beauty that weighed 9lb 1oz, I wasn't far behind with a 8lb 12oz fish. We both caught decent chub, with fish to over 4lb. So there we go, my first ever "good" June 16th! Courtfield rarely disappoints and it's for this reason that I have another six trips booked between now and October. For information visit www.wyeuskfoundation.org

A 4lb chub - Average size now for this part
of the River Wye

English Channel Cod Fishing is Spot On!

The cod fishing in the English Channel at the moment is the best it's been in years! South coast charter boats are all reporting boat loads, with fish up to low doubles in abundance around both inshore and offshore wrecks and reefs. I was lucky enough to get in on the action recently during a day out with Ross Parham aboard his Brixham based boat Spot On! As I've mentioned on here before Ross is a fantastic skipper and he put myself and nine others right amongst the fish recently. All on board caught plenty of cod, the odd pollock showed also and a few ling and whiting were caught too. It wasn't uncommon for all ten of us to be hauling up fish all at the same time! Not something that happens every time out and so something to be thoroughly enjoyed when it does. Tackle and tactics used by all were pretty similar with either 12lb or 20lb class rods matched with decent multiplier reels holding 30lb to 50lb braid being the preferred choice. On the business end, lures of varying shape, size and colour were tied to long, strong traces and sent down to the depths using 10oz or 12oz ball leads attached via long tube booms. A reasonably tangle-proof, cheap and very effective fish catching set-up. Pretty standard wrecking gear really! A bit of barbel and chub fishing is next on the list. I'm fishing the River Wye at Courtfield, Lower Lydbrook tomorrow. June 16th! Opening day! Very exciting! Next week should find me out bass fishing with John Wallington and Devon Bass Pro Charters of Seaton, Devon. Then it's back to the Wye before heading off to Skjervoy, Northern Norway for a week targeting the cod, coalfish and halibut that this part of the world is famed for. Lots to tell you about hopefully, so check back soon to find out how it all goes.