Fishing With Friends - Ade Kiddell

This entry was posted on 10th August, 2016

It’s always good to fish with friends and this week has been very good as ex-work colleague and good friend Hayden Cook joined us in France for a few days. Hayden is a good all round angler but loves his carp fishing, so we planned a bit of barbel fishing with a crafty rod aimed at the big carp that frequent the river close to my home.

Hayden is Customer Services Manager for Angling Direct at their Norfolk HQ. He heads the team that ensures that AD customers get the best possible service and after sales support. We worked closely together for a good few years and I always promised to take him barbel fishing but for various reasons we never got to make it to the bank until now.

The weather has been very good for the last few days and a couple of evening sessions earlier in the week had produced some decent hard fighting barbel, with sweetcorn being the best bait. We don't use sweetcorn so much for barbel in England; I have had mixed results using corn, with some big barbel from the Trent on corn but I have also seen barbel bolt from the swim in smaller rivers when I have introduced free offerings of it into the swim. In Europe it’s much more effective; I have had countless barbel in France, Belgium, and also Spain. Usually I feed corn and use its much tougher cousin, maize, on the hook. For me, the best way is to hair rig it rather than straight on the hook. If small fish are a nuisance, substitute the real stuff for a couple of pieces of fake maize. It’s very effective and unaffected by the attentions of small fish.

With Hayden’s arrival in mind I had been baiting a couple of areas with a mixture of particles, plenty of wheat and mixed corns, as well as a bit of hemp and rape seed with only a minimal amount of pellet. I was also sure Hayden would like to try for a big river carp, so I had baited a couple of margin swims with a few chopped boilies.

Hayden arrived late afternoon with his fiancé Abby and after the normal catch up over a cup of tea we left the girls doing what girls do and retired to the river bank. I ran Hayden through the best tactics for the area and we rigged up the rods ready. We hadn't been fishing long when the downstream rod signaled the first action of the day and Hayden’s first French barbel, a couple more small barbel and chub followed that evening before we decided on a cold beer before bed.

Next morning the weather had taken a turn for the worse and with the mountains shrouded in mist and heavy clouds rolling round the valley it wasn't long before it started raining and fairly heavy rain at that. It was after lunch before we ventured out and with waterproofs on and day shelter up we were well protected from the worst of the weather. Although he was enjoying the barbel sport the carp angler in Hayden had him trickling bait into a margin swim downstream of our swim, with a double boilie bait fished over the top. During the afternoon the Delkim covering this rod blipped and then screamed as a hooked fish tore off. The take was so violent if it hadn't been for the snag ears we would have been chasing the rod down the bank. Both of us were thinking it was a big carp and we were as surprised as the barbel we had hooked was once we slid the net under it. We ended the day with a dozen decent barbel a couple of chub but the carp had eluded us.

The weather was a little better the next day and again it was after lunch before we got out fishing, although we had managed to top the bait up a couple of times during the morning. The margin rod sprung into life a couple more times during the afternoon, again a lively barbel and not the carp Hayden was after. It was late afternoon when, for the first time, we spotted a large carp turn over the baited area, followed 20 minutes or so later by another. Our confidence was growing and surely it was only a matter of time before the rig was picked up by a hungry carp. Just before we stopped for a meal Hayden topped up the margin bait again.

Gutted underestimates how Hayden felt when, returning to the swim after our food stop, he found the local dog owner teaching his three dogs to swim in Hayden’s margin swim! What had started to look so promising was now a complete mess and with three large rottweilers doing their best to scare every fish in the river the chances of a carp were now very slim.

The barbel continued to feed and, with over 25 to show for his efforts, I am sure Hayden was well happy with the result. His quest for a carp wasn't satisfied but I am sure it wont be long before he is back! The images of a 21kg carp caught a stones throw from our house will be on his mind for a while, as will that first crazy barbel that screamed of on his margin rod fooling us into thinking big carp hooked.