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Fishing Under New Lockdown Rules - with Ade Kiddell
The last few blogs from me have been all about the lockdown and things we can do whilst unable to get out fishing, so with the lifted restrictions on our favourite pass time, let’s make this one all about getting out there for some fishing.
Out here in France, the first steps of removing lockdown took effect on Monday the 11th of May. As I am sure many UK anglers were, I also found with 8 weeks of no fishing that I was keen to get back to catching some fish. I decided on a midnight start, targeting the big river carp that present a tough challenge, but with high rewards.
Preparing Your Chosen Swim
I had been pre-baiting a couple of areas and had seen evidence of feeding fish, with the river very clear I could see areas of clean gravel where the fish had been feeding and literally tearing the bottom up to get at every last morsel. I like to feed a particle mixture made up mainly hemp, maize, wheat and other mixed seeds along with a few crushed boilies. I only introduce whole boilies once I put a baited rig in the swim and then either use a PVA bag or sprinkle a few around the area if its close enough to do that by hand.
As I would be fishing in my own garden, I set up camp during the afternoon of the 10th. After getting everything ready to fish I enjoyed the evening indoors before going outside in anticipation of my midnight start. What hit me straight away was the huge change in the weather, the wind had changed direction and grown in strength. I had tucked my bivvy out of the way, so felt once the rods were out I could tuck in for the night and be warm and snug. How wrong I was, that northerly wind was getting stronger and colder, so my plans to use my small rowing boat to take my baits out was out of the question as the river looking more like the North Sea!
First Attempt to Land a Fish
A strong breeze would not put me off, 8 weeks of enforced lockdown meant that still at midnight, when it was officially 11th May, out went the rods. It was not easy casting in a crosswind but after a little effort, I was fairly happy the rods were at least close to where I wanted them and I would be tucked up in my warm comfy bed until the first fish.
Unfortunately, it didn't work like that, I gave it an hour, never made it into the sleeping bag as the wind was getting stronger and stronger. My alarms were playing a merry tune as the lines were being constantly battered by the gusting wind, dropping the rod tips helped but then the extra tow put on the water by the wind meant the leads were shifting in the flow. I stuck it out for just over an hour and called it a night. Even though the bivvy was tucked out of the wind I feared it might take a battering so decided the best thing was to pack everything away, chuck it in the garage for the night and go to my bed calling me indoors.
Fighting the Windy Weather
The next morning was no better, the wind was very cold, strong and gusty with rain showers every now and then, so I decided it was best to stay indoors and finish a book I was reading; The Barbel Tales. This fishing book was released by The Barbel Society and encompasses a compilation of barbel related stories and articles with each chapter by different contributors. It is perhaps biased to recommend as I have a chapter in the book and even feature on the front cover with a fantastic sunset picture taken by my wife, however, this book is a great read for any barbel angler, with varied content from some very well-known barbel anglers.
I was up early Wednesday morning and had planned a couple of hours of barbel fishing, only to be greeted by a sharp frost. Nonetheless, I gave it a few hours and managed a couple of small barbel on maggot and with no fresh bait available I had to rely on frozen dead reds.
Patience is Key When Fishing
I decided better to stay in the warm and wait for improvement as the northerly winds were due to ease and turn to a milder direction by the weekend. With that in mind, I kept my chosen swim topped up with a bit of bait and went back to the books and Youtube! There is so much information available to view on the various Youtube channels, Angling Directs own channel is great and I really enjoy the ESP Terry Hearn carp films, they have to be amongst some of the best on the internet.
Up at first light, Saturday morning dawned much milder, no frost and the strong wind had completely gone. I was fairly confident of a carp after seeing the area had been cleaned of free offerings. I topped the swim up with a little Sonubaits F1 corn and lowered the bait into the swim with a small PVA bag of boilies to match my chosen hookbait of a couple of Sonubaits Code Red, 15 mm.
The sunrise eradicated the early morning mist, the birds were singing. I even saw a kingfisher chirp its way fishing and returned a few minutes later with a beak full of small fish and a beaver of which there are many out in France dived under just in front of me as he spotted my presence in his territory. These are just a few written words as to why I go fishing, to be part of what goes on in nature every day but many never see.
A Lengthy Waited Triumph
A week later of post lockdown fishing is when a single bleep of the alarm was followed by another than a screaming run developed as a well-hooked fish powered out into mid-river. The strike of the fish met solid resistance and a great scrap resulted in a tug of war! I got the fish to within a few feet of netting and off it powered again, three times to the net three times back to mid-river. On the fourth attempt, I slid the net under a plump river carp, just reward for loads of effort over the previous few weeks.
I prepared the cradle, sling and scales. When I lifted the fish from the water I suspected 30 plus and when the scales showed a healthy 32lb 8oz I was over the moon. Tjitske, my personal photographer, as always took some cracking pictures. I had vowed during the lockdown I would not have a shave until I had put a decent fish on the bank and so Tjitske commented that maybe I would shave after this picture!
It is great to see that lockdown has been eased in the UK, even better to see that providing rules are followed then it's possible to go fishing. Like here in France Tackle shops are not seen as essential so it will be a couple of weeks before they can reopen but don't forget Angling Directs online shop is still open with everything you need to get out fishing again delivered to your door.
Hopefully, the weather will stay good and over the next few weeks, I can put one or two more carp on the bank, my target still being that elusive forty pounder. I will keep you all updated!