Ian Welch re-visits St. Patricks Stream in search of barbel in his latest Specialist World piece...
Back On Pats | Specialist World
Back On Pats
Back on Pat's
St Patrick's Stream is one of the waters I grew up fishing on and it holds some very special memories for me. A short loop off the main River Thames it is full of character and with Ranunculus-choked shallows, bulrush beds, slow deeps, snags and glides it is simply packed with features.
Chub and barbel dominate the fish population but there are a good head of the smaller river species too and at the right time of year some clonking great bream and carp.
Although I've done the odd chub trip to Pat's in recent years I've not seriously fished it for the barbel for 20 odd years but this week, having caught the big River Loddon barbel I was after, I thought I'd go back and have a bit of a play to see how things had changed from the barbel perspective.
Back in the early 80's the standard evening tactic was to bait a couple of swims with a bucket of hemp on arrival and then fish them in turn with lumps of meat or cheese. No boilies or pastes in those days, well, nothing more exotic than meat or cheesepaste anyway! The barbel population was quite large and it was not unusual to get from four to eight fish in an evening but they were not large. My best was a terrific specimen for the time of 8lb 10oz but doubles were just not there and the average would have been around the 5lb mark.
These days the grapevine suggested there were fewer barbel present but of a fairly decent average size, pretty typical for so many river systems it seems. The Session
Leaving work shortly after five it was the usual fight to get on the M4 in the rush hour and it was a little after six and well dark by the time I reached the bridge at the end of Loddon Drive that signalled I'd reached my destination.
I could only fish until nine so it would be very much a case of feeling my way on this first session and I wasn't overly confident. I knew where the barbel used to hang out 20 years ago and given that the river had not changed a great deal and barbel habits never really change I headed for my 1980 banker swim!
Tackle was unchanged from my Loddon outing with my old faithful Drennan Specialist Power Barbel rod with 2lb top fitted and reel loaded up with 12lb Sufix Xcelon. At the business end I had a backlead above a Wychwood clear leader with a free running Stonze weight that had been pre-soaked in flavour. Hook length was Sufix Camo Skin with a size 10 Fox Series 2XS hook.
With the forecast suggesting cooling temperatures I was a little surprised that the thermometer registered the water temperature as being 50F, the same as it had been on the Loddon at the back end of last week. There was a northerly wind with a bit of an edge though so it wouldn't be getting any warmer and I opted to go in with the minimum amount of bait.
A sliver of Hi Nu Val cake on the hook was partnered with a tiny micromesh PVA stocking of PGB's bloodworm pellet and two boilies crumbed to dust. A nugget of rig foam over the hook to ensure it landed spot on and the cast went along the margin, tight to the near bank. On the rests, flask out and job done. The Result
Once I know my bait is exactly where I need it to be I don't like to cast out again, barbel on waters that see a bit of pressure are more spooky than many people realise and when you cannot pile the bait in to get them preoccupied I make sure I don't scare them by re-casting. It was going to stay put until 9pm unless, of course old Boris came along
At 7:40pm he did just that and the rod gave a couple of twitches before pulling right round. I clamped down hard and heaved to get the fish away from the margin snags and as soon as I had it in open water it was all over bar the shouting.
The head shaking and jagged fight quickly told me it wasn't a big fish and indeed it wasn't but at 10lb 11oz it was a nice way to start back on Pat's. I've a feeling there may be more to come Postscript
There was indeed more to come!
With the forecast looking half decent I returned the following evening to drop a bait on a little spot I had prepped with a couple of droppers of pellet and boilie crumb the evening before.
The water temperature had dropped off to 48F but with a lot of cloud cover, warm air temperature and some fine drizzle I suspect it was on the up again and conditions felt right for another fish.
At exactly the same time as the previous evening the rod went round again and initially the fish felt like a decent one so I took it a little easy. In the end it was only a scraper double but very welcome nonetheless.
I'll be back for more!
Click on any of the images here to take a closer look at St. Patrick's Stream.
