Blog 2019

Erdington Brook Section BAA Water on The River Severn

Steve takes one of the early swims upstream of the brook section and Rob selects the famous power lines swim.

Two gents leaving the power lines swim had been there since early morning with nothing to show for their efforts. Both lads are using 10mm pellet and 10mm Halibut Boilies. Rob looses his first run after it spat the hook. He does however go on to take a 3:1/2 lb Chub on pellet followed by a 2lb Barbel on the same. These two fish come from open water about a third across the river just off the main flow.! The next four fish he takes are all taken on 10mm Halibut Boilies on his right hand rod tucked down the edge very marginal no more than 6 foot from the bank. They are a 3lb Chub a 6lb Barbel, a 3lb+ Chub and a 7lb Barbel.

Steve Takes 2 fish a 5lb Barbel and a 3lb Chub. Steve was finding it hard work and did have some pacey water running through the center of his swim which may have added the difficulties he encountered. At one point he sent a text to Rob asking if leaves count? the late evening breeze was put a lot of leaves in the water.

Rob is not sure Leaves count?? But, Steve did point out they were harder to bring in than a Bream!

Therefore: following the democratic values of the team, they decided they would pose this as a question and following a period of discussion (yet to take place) they will attempt to seek a conscientious among team members before any final decision is made on this issue.

This was a pleasant evenings fishing following the hottest day of the year so far topping 32 degrees, and we should remember catching one or two fish is better tan a Blank! A bad days fishing is better than a good day at work! It only takes one Bite!

Erdington Brook Section River Severn

It's a very hot day again and the walk from the car park makes the sweat pour out of the lads. They decide to share a swim and be sociable . Or put another way Phil has no idea and needs a bit of tuition. (his Landing net is not up to the task either, PHIL get a new one MATE)

With one rod each on Rob's River Pod, Phil looses his first but catches first with a 6lb Barbel, and Rob takes a 5lb Barbel shortly afterwards. Its a bit of a wait for the next fish. Phil takes a 6.5lb and Rob takes another which could have been his twin as it was also 6.5lb Barbel. Phil looses another just before they pack up and head back to the car and make their way home.

A pleasant evenings fishing watching the wildlife, a Robin looking for a bit of loose feed (pictured), also saw A Swan or two, an Heron, 2 Kingfishers, and heard an Owl in the trees above at dusk.

TWATS on Tour Clearwater Lake Brittany France Sept 2019

Friday 30^th at 1pm with the van loaded the lads head south on the M5 towards Plymouth for a night crossing to Roscoff. The traffic south was not too bad heavy, but it kept moving unlike those heading North on the M5 as the lads saw 40 miles of stationary traffic south of Bristol.

A Kentucky in Plymouth and a few drinks on the ferry saw the lads arriving in Roscoff at 7am and were at the lake by 9:30. They saw a familiar Camper Van in the car park and a fridge stacked with Stubbies lead the lads to believe Birmingham Bob was on site and probably fishing on Mill Pool.

As soon as the others booked on the lake arrived (Terry, Dave, Baz and Steve) Pegs were drawn and they all began setting up their bivvies’ and rods.

Steve Jones (the Parson) in peg 10, Steve S in 2, Baz in 4, Dave 5, Rob in 6 and Terry in 7.

They manage to set up in the sunshine before some rain late afternoon lasting up to tea at 6pm. Cottage Pie and Red Wine.

Rob was scattering Boilies on the far bank, Essential Cell and TNT by Steamies. This approach as worked well for Rob in the past in both pegs 10 and peg 5. He had a 3^rd rod placed down his margin with Cream Seed boilies by Munch Baits being the choice of bait for this spot.

To avoid Knit One Pearl One Rob was fishing 3 rods in the day and 2 at night.

Steve S had a couples of runs on this first night but both time the fish spat the hook or broke him! Steve is convinced that he had actually hooked the BIG Catfish of unknown size which proved too difficult to pull up. It is difficult knowing exactly where a fish is and is running to in the pitch black of night. This fish ran straight down the margin away from peg 2 in to peg one having already run from the far side of the lake towards Steve just after the take. The Host Jordan estimates this Cat is 90lb plus? I guess we will only find out when someone banks it!

Breakfast on each day consisted of a half Baguette filled with Sausage, Egg and Bacon.

Sunday was a quiet day for the lads, there was sunny periods with some cloud and it was a bit chilly in the breeze.

It was Monday morning at 4am when Rob took his first fish a 37lb Mirror Carp on a Cell pop up critically balanced against a size 4 Crank Hook. And after a couple of hours sleep Robbie woke to a beautiful dawn with mist rising off the lake. At breakfast it became clear Terry in peg 7 was the only one getting in to a few fish, He had taken 3 in the night.

Steve S on the other hand was not having a great start to his holiday as he had picked up a cold from somewhere and was both looking and feeling a bit rough. A sore throat and tight chest?

Tuesday saw Robbie changing his tactics a bit stepping down to a size 6 hook and he began introducing a bit of Clearwater maize in to his margin spot.

Dave from peg 5 was also looking to do something different and was off to peg 8 for a day stalking?

At 1:30 just after lunch Robbie took a 46lb 4oz Mirror from the spot opposite on a Cell pop up. This fish sure had some energy running to the right first and then back to the left, trying to get in to a bush between peg 6 and 7, Robbie took an opportunity to net it a bit earlier than he would have liked but sometimes you just must do what you think is right at the time. This fish gave Rob a shower by splashing around in the net while Rob was trying to pick it up for a picture. A Big Thank You to Terry for helping with the pic!

At Teatime Steve S is looking worse his cold/flu is taking hold and he is fearing a chest infection, just what you need when on a week’s fishing holiday with 5 days to go. No fish on the bank either to help him feel a little better.

Only Terry in Peg 7 is catching in any numbers, he has lost a few but has banked more than he has lost!

Wednesday am sees some light rain and overcast conditions which the lads around the pool are hoping will turn the fish on and they will start feeding.

Robbie is called upon by Terry in peg 7 to help lift a brace out of the pool, it just doesn’t seem right to have 2 in the net while others are struggling for a bite.

This happened twice on Wednesday! Terry really is the man, Rob is considering dropping to his knees chanting” I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy”?

At 11pm Steve S takes what turns out to be the fish of the week and a PB at 54lb Baz from 4 gives him a hand to weigh this fish known as fungus face due to a sore on its cheek. Barry had this fish earlier in the year around April Time and Steve S has caught his fish twice before in 2018 and 2017.

Thursday morning at 7:30 am see rob take a 32lb 2 oz on a Cell pop up. He has to wait until 5:30 pm to take his next fish a 27lb Common Carp also taken on Cell. The TNT (Tiger Nut Boilies) just don’t seem to work for Robbie this year? They have always done well here in the past, but this session is not at all what was expected with the fishing being slow going and its hard work to get a bite.

Steve (the parson) Jones in Peg 10 takes a 50lb just before tea!

Rob puts both rods out with a Cell Popup on the hair for the night ahead. At 4:15 am on Friday morning he took a 22lb Common Carp.

Friday Morning sees Birmingham Bob try his luck stalking up in peg 8, it is so nice to see him up on the Spring Lake in search of big carp. His current PB is 33lb and he sticks every chance of beating that and with a bit of luck he will. It is not long before I hear a big woop woop from peg 8 as just before lunchtime Bob does in fact take a fish just 1oz short of 36lb. I last saw him celebrating by strangling a can of Strongbow. Well deserved and well-done mate!

Rob Takes a 33lb 4oz common carp at 4pm and just before packing up on Saturday morning 7th Sept 2019 he takes his last fish of this trip at 21lb 3oz Mirror Carp.

Bob goes on to take another 2 30lb plus Carp from his spot in peg 8.

The Fishing sure was hard this trip and very unlike this lake which usually fishes well.

I’m not sure of the actual statistics for all those around the lake But I do know Steve S in peg 2 took one fish at 54Lb a PB to boot!

Rob in Peg 6 took 7 fish and 46lb 4oz being his biggest.

Birmingham Bob took at least 3 30lb plus fish from peg 8 and a new PB of 35lb 15oz

Terry in Peg 7 took 38 Fish including some low 40lbers and was the man of the session.

Steve Jones in 10 took at least 8 fish including some low 50’s

Baz in Peg 4 took at least 6 fish

And Dave in Peg 5 took around 6 fish.

It was great spending time with these lads for our week in France, they were a good laugh at meal times and it’s always nice to share a story or two over a bottle of beer or a glass of Red Wine. You never know paths or lines may cross again in the future and both Rob and Steve would be happy to meet and fish with any of them again in the future.

Robbie has been reflecting on this session and having seen other using Spomb’s and Bait boats he feels this is something he should look to adding to his armoury as it was clearly an effective way of getting bait in to a small tight area. He did feel that his scatter bait approach which held it’s own in the main could have been improved fishing a tighter area.

Steve and Rob would like to express their Thanks to Jordan and Temar for their hospitality during their stay!

2019 The last 4 months of the year can be summed up by one word "Flooding." Here in Worcestershire we saw heavy rain and floods with the rivers going up and down almost on a weekly basis, no sooner they dropped in level more rain arrived and they were on the rise again.

Work commitments and rain on the days Team Members were free to fish meant that the Team didn't get to spend any if much time on the bank.

Rob did get to catch up on some of the Fishing TV he had been recording in the black box.

Roll on 2020 perhaps a new decade will bring new opportunities and a few PB's to shout about!

Happy New Year Everyone!