Casting around River Nene – Barbel
Waiting game, pin and rod at the ready.
Venue – River Nene, Castor backwater.
Prices - Day Ticket Prices
- Adults £5, Juniors (12-16) and OAPs £3
Season Tickets
- Adults £24, Juniors £5 and OAPs £12
No Night fishing allowed
Website – www.peterboroughfishing.co.uk
Target Species – Barbel
The river Nene at Castor must be one of the most stunning places I have had the pleasure of fishing. Situated less than 600 yards from the A1, it is hard to believe that a stretch of water could be so idyllic.
I had been looking forward to fishing the Nene for the first time and was joined for the day by Baz Fisher. We met at a trucker`s café a mile or so away from the venue, from there he would show me the way to the venue. Surely even Baz could manage one mile? Of course he couldn’t and got us lost again on the A1, we had to do 2 laps of the motorway to get back on track.
We were met at the Nene by the Bailiff, Mark Smith. He gave us a guided tour of the venue peg by peg, pointing out every gravel run and deep spot on the whole stretch – you really couldn’t wish to meet a more knowledgeable guide.
We decided that, for the morning, we would fish in one area and see if we could bring the fish to us. If that failed then, in the afternoon, we would go stalking and try all the hot looking pegs. Every peg looked like it could hold fish, so we decided we would both fish the pegs that Mark described as bankers. No pressure then!
Baz looking keen and eager as usual.
The day before I had been fishing on the Trent and was using 6oz feeders that barely held the bottom, so to be using a 1oz bomb was total opposite, to quote Mark “It was backwater barbeling at its best. Searching out the nooks and crannies where the 1oz lead rules – you can`t beat it.”
The setup couldn’t have been simpler. I used my 1 3/4lb Diawa Twilight barbell rod and a shimano 8000 reel loaded with Gardner Hydro tuff 10lb main line, then at the business end used a 12lb Garnder subterfuge hook length of around 30cm with a size 12 Mugga hook and a 1 oz. free running lead.
After scattering a few handfuls of broken boilies and pellets into the swim, I also added a few handfuls of hemp using the bait dropper. I started off by using Teme Severn Lamprey boilie wrapped in Lamprey paste, casting it on to a gravel bed and leaving it a good 30 minutes before adding some fresh paste.
A few hours passed by without and action until I finally caught a small chub on a lobworm. Over on the next peg Baz was also having a slow morning. The first real frost of the year and the gin clear water appeared to turn the barbel off. So it was decided that we would start roving around, using the same tactics but only having 45 minutes in each swim.
From its starting point where the Nene runs down the weir into the backwater, through the narrow mid reaches where the water is no more than 10 yards across and all the way down to where the backwater re-joins the Nene half a mile away, every peg just cries out to be fished. Every peg was packed with features, whether it was a gravel run, a weed bed or over hanging trees; there were just so many options, which was what I really loved about it.
We started as we meant to go on, fishing each peg hard, baiting it up and then sitting it out for no more than 45 minutes before moving on. We tried every bait possible from the humble worm and luncheon meat right the way through to boilies and pellets but we never even had a knock.
It was a frustrating day given that we didn’t catch any barbell, but that’s what draws us back – if it was too easy then there would be no challenge. This was one of the few days that you do not mind blanking in a picture postcard setting.
We later discovered that nearby Rutland water had been running off surplus cold rain water and maybe that change of temperature had turned the fish off. Not to be put off by that, I retuned a few days later; this time the water was up a good 6 – 8 inches and there was a tinge of colour to the water – the conditions looked ideal. From the off I adopted the roving approach, moving between swims – I really enjoy this style of fishing.
Eventually I was rewarded with my first Nene barbel, which fell to a Teme Severn Salips pellet. It might have only been 5lb or so but the
fight was explosive.
On the very last cast of the day, on the very last peg of the day I hooked into the second and biggest fish of the day of around 8lb. It was like submarine as it shot off downstream heading towards any snags it could find.
Fortunately the 10lb line came into play and I was able to bully her away from them and eventually turn it around before guiding her into the landing net.
This really is a stunning stretch of water and is ideally situated just minutes away from the A1 motorway. With barbell over 10lbs regularly being caught and chub to over 5lbs, this is a place I will be returning to again and again.
Fin perfect River Nene Barbel
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