Worth The Wait

We have been testing reel lines at Korum for a while now,, plenty didn't even warrant any more than a quick look others failed under test but the new XPERT REEL LINE in the shops made the grade.

I am sure you will agree once you've tried it

Its Been A While

Its been a while since I last posted in my blog, mainly because I haven't had too much fishing wise to post up, 1 good barbel just short of 12lb the day before the weather changed and we entered the cold spell we are now in.

Had a pike session with Tom, Ginger and Tjitske plenty of runs but no pike bigger than 6lb, still had a great day out as always with the Team Barbel Crew.

I have spent a bit of time in front of the computer and been editing some video guides for old mate Nick Larkin over at Nisa Feeders

http://www.nisafeeders.co.uk/index.html

They will be live on his website in the next few weeks.

Also spent a bit of time editing my own review of the last years fishing adventures

Hope you enjoy it

Just before Christmas I submitted a piece of writing to the Barbel Society for their upcoming book Barbel Tales, the piece was accepted and will be used when the book is released in June, along with the  article I also sent plenty of images to illustrate the piece, I am proud to say that one of the pictures will be used as the cover shot, its a shot taken at sunset on the Trent by Tjitske and i think you will agree its a great shot.

Not Stopped

I have not stopped since we got back from Spain, I had promised T some fitted wardrobes for over 2 years so got down and on with it over the last couple of weeks and I must say we are both pleased with the outcome, will leave T to post on No 20 site about them.

So because of that and the weather fishing has been out but decided to put that right this week.

Monday we decided to fish the Riverside stretch in the Centre of Norwich with great Success, using simple feeder tactics with chopped worm and maggot we absolutely bagged up with close to 150lb of bream before we packed in, the bream fed from the off and with fish over 6lb included in the haul we went home well satisfied.

T had some of the better fish, but she was not sure about the chopped worm and grounbait under those well manicured nails.

Had an otter pay us a visit and I got very close to it to take some pictures, is wasn't scared at all by my close presence as you can see, Semi tame and I would say one that is well used to plenty of human activity, likely an unofficial release from a local animal sanctuary or wildlife park.

Had a Consultants meeting yesterday At Korum HQ, great as always to get together with the team, the good thing about the team at Korum is no big names nobody who thinks they are something they are not, just a team of anglers who are just that ordinary every day anglers with passion for our sport.

Look out for some new tackle items hitting the shops soon, my Favourite is the Stalking Rucksack, this will suit most river anglers and I think will soon become a big hit on the banks  

5 Minutes In Spain

Another video in the 5 minute series, this time it's Spain

Have a look on You Tube.. to find the rest search.... Ade Kiddell

Sad News

Very sad but not surprised to hear that fishing on the Cauvery River in Southern India has been banned.

Several organisations including Jungle lodges and Angling Direct Holidays are busily fighting the ban but I don't hold out too much hope.

My feelings are this has been caused by the action of one or two individuals who are very jealous of the  whole situation regarding fishing on The Cauvery, basically they want to control it and Angling Direct and Jungle Lodges all ready have that under control so they have stirred and stirred and now this is the result.

Watch this space for further announcements

Comizo, Cats and Carp

We have just returned from a trip to the Extremadura area of Spain in search of Comizo barbel, joining us on the trip was Cees and Heike our great friends from Germany.

Fishing one of the many man made lakes in the area we were targeting barbel but were of course happy to catch anything, which was a good job as it was hard not to catch carp and cat fish as well as barbel, I was happy to land over 200 fish during the trip, with the majority of these being barbel and the best going over 15lb, I was well satisfied with the result

The weather was in the main very good with a couple of days of blustery showers, but in general it was very good with mid 20's a couple of days.

The barbel in the main were in the 5 to 8lb, class scrapped like crazy and were very photogenic

We also had plenty of catfish and carp with mid doubles amongst them, the catfish were ugly brutes but put up the best scrap of all, the smaller ones were a real pain just as the light fell in the evening, making it hard to target the barbel at the best time.

Tjitske took some great pictures as always, well done T.

A big thanks to Korum and Sonubaits for supplying the tackle and bait for the trip, Simply The Best........

A big thank you also to Cees and Heike for organising the accommodation and all the domestic arrangements for the trip, and Cees for transporting tackle and bait half way across Europe we really appreciate it

Blogging on the move

Good news it's now possible to blog direct from your i phone and add pictures as the action happens

Watch this space

Cold and Wet

Been in the Severn Valley this week with old mates Ginger and FFFisky river is cold and fishing hard but Ginger has caught one today,, not a biggie but who cares they all count..

Fisky is looking forward to sleeping in a snoring free zone tonight as we are going to make Ginger sleep in the car.

Happy Days :-)

First Double For Lady T

After a hard weeks fishing with only a few fish being caught, it was very special when my partner and best friend caught her first ever double figure barbel

A beautiful barbel for a beautiful person..

Well done T from all your barbel friends

Rinkos Turn

On The Severn with Rinko today and it's his turn to sample the barbel action.

Hard work today

The Severn is a foot up and full of cold water so fishing is harder today, but this one couldn't resist an ellipse pellet along with a good helping of F1 monkey..... Thanks Sonubaits for the best baits money can buy...

First Cast Frankie

Just sat down with frank on the Severn in a peg called "night like it" and frank has a fish on the bank in under 2 minutes

First to Lady T

Extreme Germany Part 2

The Danube is a very scenic river and one of the most scenic places I have ever fished, I also think the fishing potential is massive so will definitely be returning as soon as possible.

To take in the best of this beautiful we chose a boat trip into some of the more inaccessible areas, what can I say, it was amazing.

With Barbel swims like this it doesn't get much better, I also swam across the Danube at this point, Tim who is a very strong swimmer accompanied me, the powerful flow took us as fast down stream as we could swim across, but it was something very rewarding to do and great on a very hot summers day.

Frank is a cool customer and for years he had kept his cafe in germany a secret but now Frankie your secret is out, Coffee and ice creams on you.

Cees and Heike arranged for us to visit a falconry display, now I didn't understand a word what the German commentator was saying, but the birds did the talking, and I have to say its the best display I have ever seen, with at one point 7 different birds flying, awesome stuff.

Extreme Germany Part 1

Just back from our long anticipated trip to the River Danube in deepest Germany, and wow what a trip.

We took the overnight ferry from Harwich and arrived bright and early next morning in a very warm and pleasant Holland, a couple of hours later we were taking a cold refreshing drink with great friends Cees and Heike, after an early night we started on the 6 hour drive to Regensberg.

All was going well until we came upon this cruise ship washed up on the runway at Frankfurt airport, but in fact on closer inspection it turned out to be the Hilton hotel, what a mighty impressive site it is.

Our hosts for the trip the Danube Pirate Franz Dirmeyer and match fishing legend Berti Bovens were awaiting our arrival, and after some warm introductions and a cold beer they were keen to show us the river and swims they had been preparing for our arrival.

Also on the trip were fellow members of Team Barbel International Frank Pulles and Tim Jannasan and their partners Riny and Pattie. with the temperatures well into the 30s daytime fishing was always going to be very hard so it was no surprise it was into darkness before my first fish of note came to the net.

I was more than happy Berti and Franz were on hand to witness my first Danube barbel and for me thats another milestone achieved, barbel from the 5th country so far this year and a new river.

Steve Scores His Goal

>
> Black Country Steve has Just spent a day with me on the Severn,, he set himself a goal this year of a River Severn barbel and managed that in style with this corker along With plenty of others.

>

European Adventure Deel Drie

We had some great fun with our hosts and searched out other parts of the river, we found some deeper slower areas of the Vienne that looked good for some big barbel and carp, plenty of French carp anglers seemed to visit these areas, and tales of "Grande Barbeau" had me thinking we had the right areas.

Martin was the first to hook a decent fish and it took several minutes to land a wild river carp that had taken his bait before roaring off about 100 metres downstream and tangling with other lines on its way, but to Martins credit he managed to land it.

As well as a holiday we were also happy to help our hosts with work around their home, so most morning after breakfast we were out and about and working hard, the fantastic weather made it all that more enjoyable.

(PLEASE NOTE THIS IMAGE IS NOT AN ADVERT FOR GAY LOVE ON PINK MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Sadly our trip was all to quickly over and we had to make the journey back through France and home to No20, its great to be away but as we all know its good to get home.

We stopped for the night on the way home at the small seaside town of Le Treport, we had a great evening on the bikes taking in some great views

We were also proud to visit the War cemetery at Etaple and pay our regards to the Fallen.

They shall grow not old,

As we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun,

And in the morning

We will remember them.

A Big Big thanks to Bianca, Hendrik-Jan and Martin for such a Great time, we will be back!

Don't forget you are welcome in England anytime 

Great Read

Just got my copy of the new Korum magazine "Fishing made easy"

What a great publication you can see why Korum is the best brand by miles when it comes to quality specialist fishing tackle.

Pick up your free copy from any good tackle shop

European Adventure Part Deux

After our epic journey from Holland to France it was good to arrive and meet old friends Hendrik-Jan Bianca and Martin, after a nice meal and a beer it was time for bed and dream of some relaxed fishing over the next few days.

Our hosts had done all the hard work and licences and permits to fish were ready and waiting, bait was also sorted so it really was easy for us just off to the Vienne to catch some fish.

First cast and first fish and a new species for me in the shape of a Sneep (Nase)

Not long after our host Hendrik-Jan showed us how it should be done and produced the first barbel of the trip

Over the next few day we fished different areas of the river but not before Martin had been out early and collected the bread from the local bakers and Tjitske also cooked our hosts a full english breakfast.

My whole life has evolved around road transport and driving different vehicles from tracked vehicles to buses and motor bikes to tractors but our hosts set me a new challenge in the form of the French luxury car the Citroen Ami 8, this super high -tec vehicle tested my driving skills to the limit, and was also cracking fun to drive.

The big worry was that the french had put the steering wheel on the wrong side and also the French drive on the wrong side of the road, I always thought they were funny people now I know for sure.

As we explored more parts of the river we found some better quality fish and Bianca also managed a nice catfish, something I was hoping to catch during the trip.

To Be Continued

Here's to the next time

Tim and Nico have returned to Holland after a great few days with us in England, all too quickly the short trip was over but not before we managed to catch plenty of barbel from both the Severn and the Trent.

As a humble angler who just enjoys his fishing and good friends I can say I feel privileged to have met and enjoyed the company of some great friends over the last few weeks, I am not going to name any of you incase I forget anyone but you all know who you are, but rest assured my life is richer from the fact I feel I can call each and everyone of you a true friend.

Thanks from us to all of you

There is one exception and that is to Tjitske who really is my best friend and without her love and support my life would not be what it is today.