()><(((º> A perfect Storm<º)))><()

Hello and a warm welcome back to fishing for memories.


Firstly may I say that I am glad to see that some of you have taken the time to sign the guestbook and more so that your enjoying reading the blog,it is nice to see that you enjoy it and any feedback is always most welcome.



I got out for an overnighter last Friday,knowing that there was a decent low pressure system and felt that the added wet weather would help,when I finally got to my swim it was raining steadily and I decided to get the brolly up fast,apparently my brain was working faster than anything else and as i walked to place my brolly i slipped and landed in a bed of stinging nettles,I can safely recommend this to any angler prior to fishing as it really is most invigorating and does really liven up proceedings.Nettles and stinging rashes aside I got the brolly placed and sat down to set up my rigs,I decided to go with shellfish B5 boilies on both rods to start with,placing one rod into a gravel patch near some streamer weed and the other rod just off a cabbage patch area.


The river looked sumptuous,the extra rains had done it a lot of good and there was a nice flow and light colour to it,I sat back and relaxed for the evening watching woodpeckers tap tap tapping away at nearby trees and Mr & Mrs Kingfisher patrolling back and forth like a pair of mini jets,The dragonflys were in and out as frequently as the sun,lovely creatures.








it was as light faded into darkness that my left rod on the gravel patch sounded and the rod wrapped round and sped off,I was into a very solid,deep running fish,I felt the line ping through some weed and then a thud of a cabbage patch and then eventually freeing up and back in contact with the fish,it was eventually resting in the net,not a long fish but solid and dumpy and weighed 9lb,a very nice start to the beginning of a wet night.






I baited up and clipped on a pva bag with crushed boilie and pellet,opening my flask of tea I noticed that the nettles behind me had been moving,now these reached up to where i had my boilie sack which was in the frame of the umbrella,Mr Dormouse had scaled the nettles Mission impossible style and had been chewing into my boilies much to my rye smile,but kudos where it is due and it was a daring mission and he had his reward,alas I was left with the holes.




I sat back watching the clouds,large,black and very moodily moving by overhead with just the odd glimpse of a star every once in a while,the rain continued to steadily increase,eventually hitting its crescendo,the left rod sounded a bleep bleep and the swinger hit the top,the rod bent over to the left,the fish did not run,I was into a fish that on first contact did not move an inch and just sat still,eventually it came to life and I could feel I was playing a reasonable fish,it hugged the bottom with deep runs then would stop and hug the bottom and then go into another run, eventually in the net I could see I had a nice looking Barbel,this fish would be very easy to recognize in the future,as it had a very crinkled area on the bottom section of its tail,it weighed in at a pleasing 10lb.







I was very happy indeed and sat back to treat myself to a pack of digestives with tea,everything tastes so good when things are going well.


The night wore on,the left rod was now silent and the right rod near to the cabbage patches had been very quiet,the darkness was slowly changing and I could see it was 3am,the rain had eased some what,I considered the time I had left and sat back,my right rod bleeped once and again and slowly run off,I struck and was into to what I thought was a Bream as the fish came in slowly but heavy,it was not until I got it to the margins that two things happened,one being I saw it was another nice Barbel and the other being that it woke from its apparent sleepwalk and decided to play merry hell and tear off from the margins and the welcoming folds of the landing net,with me standing with probably a visible exclamation mark hanging over my head as it decided to try and head off like a torpedo downstream,narrowly avoiding my other rod,the crisis was averted and I eventually got the fish into the net,I was greeted by a very light coloured almost faded Barbel that weighed 9lb 2oz,very nice.







Whilst the rain had stopped and early morning came,I decided to head homeward bound,wet but nonetheless a very happy chap.


I hope everyone's enjoying their fishing,the long range forecast for August is for more rain,so in theory if we do not get flooded,the fishing should be good,but on another note,what happened to the predicted hot summer?

As always tight lines to everyone from myself at fishing for memories.

()><(((º> Wet And Wonderful<º)))><()

Hello there and a very hearty welcome from myself here on fishing for memories.


Well the suns gone for now and been replaced by showery and at times windy conditions,Good! Although the rivers are still running slow considering the rain we have had,I guess the ground is so dry it will take time to make a larger impact on water levels.


However it has no doubt helped and on Friday I just had to get out for an overnighter as I felt certain something would develop given the conditions,when I got down to the river it looked in fine shape and form indeed,I had some fresh freezer baits I had mad in my effort to get the fish to get their heads down and was looking forward to putting them to some use.

I always feel that it is imperative to not allow yourself to become to set in your ways and bang your head against a brick wall,do not misunderstand me,sometimes you can over complicate things,but I always feel if I am not trying something,be it even something just basic,then I feel I am doing myself a disservice,in this case it was just a basic adjustment partly of bait,nothing really earth shattering,but having some fresh freezer baits filled me with more confidence than usual,that and a combination of the weather which I will admit filled me with the most confidence.



I got to my swim a little later than I had planned after Mum had got stuck in traffic.Everything looked great upon arrival and I setup one rod downstream onto a clear gravel gravel area that had some streamer weed,just the right spot to lay a nice little table of food for Mr Barbel,my other rod was cast to a similar spot but directly in front of me in between some very heavy cabbages.

My Rod cast directly in front of me had fresh shellfish freezer boilie dumbbell shape 18mm size and with this I opted for a pva bag of crushed boilies,however not the same as the hook bait in flavour,I like to try never matching boilie free offerings to the hook bait as I feel sometimes this helps if the fish are wary,the pva bag was filled with crushed banana and caramel boilies.

On the downstream rod I opted for the old faithful 15mm halibut pellet with a pva bag or 8mm pellets.Both rods on running rigs with size 8 Animals and 2.5oz flat pear weights,Drennan sink braid hooklinks of 10 and 12lb respectively.


The scene was set and a wet evening drew in,feeling peckish I opened a Hotbox meal of Tika Masala and listened to the last few overs of the Ashes test match,lets hope we can ball them all out today and get a needed win at Lords!

Anyhow all was quiet,with just the odd Perch and Chub along with the freshwater Sardines that are Bleak breaking the surface,I was at peace though and a man could die a happy soul at such times,My Tika Masala was about ready and I tucked in.at 10pm my rod with the freezer bait on signaled one bleep followed by another and then just went into a full blooded run,I was into a good fish that powered off downstream and somehow managed to avoid my other line,it tried to snag me a few times but eventually was sat very lively in the net a lovely well proportioned linear of 11lb 9oz and a very nice looking Carp, 1-0 to the freezer bait,I was most happy indeed.









My central rod was placed back out and I sat back and had a cup of tea as a reward,however half way through the cup of tea and the downstream pellet rod tore off,no bite no warning just a single tone run,as soon as I set the hook i knew I was into a good fish which decided to tell me where it would run to and proceeded to bully me like hell on a stick or more aptly put,like hell on a Carbon stick.This fish just did not wish to give in and tried every trick in the book,but was in the net after one last long run,I was staring down on to a very nice Barbel,slipping it into the weigh sling i knew I was into a large summer double,sure enough it went 12lb on the dot,I was made up and thinking "I could get use to this".









So it was 11.15, I was sat thinking "Ok two fish in a short time,possible red letter incoming?".My central rod answered with another screamer,I was into a smaller but very lively Barbel of 5lb8oz and for its small size it put up a good spirited fight,I guess it was taking lessons from its larger cousins,perfection in miniature.








By this time I was wondering who had decided to bless me,so I paid tribute to the rain gods by sprinkling a cup of tea on the ground (no word of a lie).After this fish all fell silent and I was sat so pepped up I could not relax,so opened a pack of Hobnobs, no fisherman should be without a pack of hobnobs on an overnighter seriously!


I sat listening to the owls and foxes calling out as well as mosquitoes dive bombing me,least this time I had some deet protection.1 am came and went,a dormouse was sat at the side of my empty hotbox meal,eating some left over rice and was clearly enjoying what was for it a banquet. At around 3am my left rod gave a fast bleeeep,the swinger was back up and down in a swift jerky motion,half of me said Chub,but all fell silent again,I dozed slightly,nodding off,head rolling forward like the nodding dog from the Churchill insurance adverts,I was gone,awash with thoughts of what had been quite an overnighter,it was then that my rod placed downstream sounded again,this time tearing off,I was pulled out of my sleepy dream cloud and was playing a fish that has to go down for me as one of the most moody and agressive Barbel on and off the bank that I have had the pleasure of catching and weighed in at 9lb 4oz,happy times indeed.








The downstream rod was re-cast and I opted for a change in pellet size to some older 17mm pellets,which I unfortunately cannot seem to get hold of any more,so keep them for hook baits only,this with another tiny pva bag clipped on the hook.



I sat down to finish off my Hobnobs and have a cup of tea or ten,there I was thinking to myself "heck seems like my lucky night". 4am called to say hello,the cloud and rain had lifted and the night was clear,stars were out along with the moon,not full but still very bright,eventually the morning was making itself ever more evident as the sun rose to oppress the stars twinkling overhead the time drew on and it was gone 6am,I was sat considering that as it was clear and the sun was up,it would perhaps be curtains,apparently my central rod did not agree and single toned off upstream,I was into another good fight and had to lock the reel down more than usual as I felt the fish was going too far too fast,the Exage`s progressive and responsive drag replied and still gave a little,just enough but also with enough sternness that allowed me to bully the fish into the security of the near bank once more and back out in front of me,there sat in the net was a superbly proportioned and pristine Barbel of 9lb 8oz









Well what a session,was I happy? I think if I was not then there would have to be something very very wrong with me,four Barbel and a Linear makes Mark one happy fellow,at 7am I decided to pack up and head for home one very happy lad indeed,whilst packing up I saw a deer having its breakfast and sauntering my way,so got a small video of it and have added it to a montage video which you will find below,along with a couple videos of the 9lb8oz barbel and the 12lb fish as well as the pictures you see here.








I hope you have enjoyed this latest update,feel free to sign the guestbook,I have also added another anglers fishing Blog to my blog list that is the blog of Dave Lumb a very high quality and well written blog it is too.


Until next time on fishing for memories it is a very happy goodbye wishing you also some good catches with the current weather system we have.


tight lines and best fishes!