FishingMagic Forums - Blogs - Digital Diary by Graham Marsden

Ed Catches a S********* Barbel

Graham Marsden — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:28:37 GMT

Sorry about the asterisks in the title but this could be a touchy subject.;)

Me and Eddie Bibby had another dabble with the margin poles last week, but fished a different water to the ones we usually fish.

This one has a decent (or should that be indecent?) stock of barbel, and it's a stillwater. To compound the sin it's also a dug-out, albeit a long time ago, canal-like fishery built especially for match fishing.

Our mate Eric came along with us and fished his usual rod and line, and we all caught barbel. None were bigger than about 3lb but all were fit and healthy looking specimens that I'd like to say were happy in the place they lived. But I can no more say they were happy than I can say a river barbel is happy.

Whether they were wilder than a recent river stocking of barbel I don't know, but the ones we caught went wild when we hooked them.

Anyway, here's a video of Ed catching a barbel on the margin pole:

YouTube - Ed's Stillwater Barbel on Margin Pole

Another Upper Trent Double

Graham Marsden — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:23:58 GMT

Enjoyed another late afternoon/evening's fishing with EC on the upper Trent.

10lb 1oz barbel from the upper Trent

We went to a different stretch this time and didn't really expect to catch much being as the water was so low and clear, hence the late arrival at around 5pm so we wouldn't have to wait long until it went dark, giving us our best chance.

I chose the shallowest peg along the stretch; I don't really know why as it made more sense to fish a deeper peg in the low water. But I'd already said to Eddie on the way that I fancied that peg which I'd had a good look at on a previous visit.

There were two other anglers fishing when we arrived neither of whom had caught anything, which didn't do a lot for our confidence.

I used two rods being as the swim was new to me. One bait was cast to the edge of an overhanging tree and the other one about a third of the way across. Both were on boilies (for no other reason than I fancied them to catch more than pellet) and both were on leads and PVA bags; again because I fancied bagging it more than a feeder.

Also, I wanted the bait, the feed, and the presentation to be identical, with the only difference being where the bait was fished. That way I'd be able to learn where the best spot was and not have to wonder if it was some other factor that had made the difference.

The 1oz gripper leads held firm in the sluggish flow, with loose weed not being a problem at all.

Both me and Ed had a few chub or bream knocks but my barbel was the only fish of the evening.

Twice it made it under the overhanging tree and twice I had to haul it out before it headed upstream and tried to get under another upstream tree.

I was lucky as it happened, for the fluoro hooklength was rough and frayed in two places. The fish weighed 10lb 1oz; another double from the upper Trent in three visits, so I'm really pleased about that.

Tackle was my FishingMagic Torrix rod, 11lb Incognito to an 8's Korum Seamless hook, a 1oz gripper lead and a PVA bag of mixed pellets and crumbed boilie. The boilie hook bait was a WAKA Crab and Liver.

A Good Week

It's been a good week for me as a couple of days previously I'd had over 20 carp on the margin pole, with 5 of them weighing between 10.5lb and 12.5lb. We had decided to weigh a few just to make sure our previous guesstimates were close to the mark. As it happened we had been estimating on the light side.

Good things never last though, for my eye infection has got worse and I can't go fishing at all for a few days. At least until the steroid eye drops off the doc kick in, which should be early next week she says.

Estimated 20-pounder on the Margin Pole

Graham Marsden — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:41:18 GMT

Forgot to tell you about this one, it was caught a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I'd stepped up to 10lb line on the pole as I was targeting the bigger fish with bigger baits.

Anyway, I'll keep it brief, but I managed to catch a carp on the margin pole that must have been around 20lb. I didn't have any scales with me as I don't catch anything I'm interested in weighing when I'm pole fishing, but on this occasion I wished I had taken them with me.

It took me about 20 minutes to land, and if it hadn't have been for the Preston Innovations Pulla Bung I was using it would have taken me a lot long as it was one hell of a job getting it into the net at the end. Netting big fish is probably one the hardest parts of fishing with elastic, but the Pulla Bung really does help.

YouTube - PB on Margin Pole

Charity Auction Day - Dave on the Fly

Graham Marsden — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:08:26 GMT

Over the past few years FishingMagic has raised several thousand pounds for charity through the Charity Carp Fish-in and James Farrow Memorial and this year was no exception.

Most of the donations come via Cakey's Charity Auction where members donate tackle and other items and several members offer a day out. And so it was with me, I offered a day's fly fishing or barbel fishing and Dave Bassett, who made the highest bid for the second time, chose to go fly fishing.

Dave has done plenty of barbel fishing over the years and thought it would be interesting and a nice change to have a go at fly fishing for the first time. So the date was set.

To add a little spice to the day Eddie Bibby and Dave Chilton came along. (To save confusion between the two Daves, Dave Bassett will henceforth be Dave and Dave Chilton will be Uncle Dave). It was a bit of a risk as Uncle Dave hadn't been released for a while and Ed, well, he's Ed, and you never know what might happen.

We met at my house and stopped at the roadside diner for breakfast and to get aquainted. When we arrived at the fishery Uncle Dave lent Dave a #7 Sage Z-Axis rod and the reel and line to go with it, so Dave was starting fly fishing with the very best tackle. Both Uncle Dave and I gave him a few lessons to begin with and then let him loose on the trout. As was to be expected Dave struggled for a while, making the usual coarse fisher's mistake of trying to cast the fly rather than the line, but was soon getting the fly out a few yards, but not quite far enough to put his fly where the bulk of the trout were.

With more lessons and tips from all of us through the day, with occasional breaks for a brew and to swap a few stories, Dave struggled on but assured us he was thoroughly enjoying himself. I offered to cast for him and let him try to catch a trout on the retrieve and also offered to hand him my rod when I had a trout on so that he could have a go at playing a fishing on a fly rod and line, but he refused, being determined to catch his first trout entirely unaided. I understood that completely.

Dave had a few pulls and on two occasions had a trout kicking on the end, only to lose one through a hook pull and another through the leader breaking. Playing fish by pulling on a fly line is quite a bit different than winding a reel with the drag offering a good safety factor. Of course you can play a trout on the reel when fly fishing but most often, unless the trout runs far enough to take up all the loose line, its via the fly line being pulled by hand. Also, rainbows, and most of the ones we were catching were around 4lb apiece (Ed had the best at 8lb 5oz) go off at a hell of a pace and if you're not used to hand-lining fish it can take you by surprise.

Dave came good in the end though. He lost another fish and then not long afterwards landed a fine specimen that was duly dispatched and taken home for the pot. That trout will probably taste better than any trout he's had before. Well done Dave!
To top off a good day Uncle Dave and Ed had been on their best behaviour.

YouTube - First Trout on the Fly

YouTube - First Trout on the Fly

Double from the Upper Trent

Graham Marsden — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:46:53 GMT

Along with Eddie Cardus I made my third barbel fishing trip of this season and used the rod presented to me by FishingMagic's members when I retired from full time editing this web site.

We went to a stretch I knew on the upper Trent, one that I hadn't fished for several years and one I visited only infrequently as it had very poor access, so poor in fact that if it rained for several days it was almost impossible to negotiate the farm track other than in a Chelsea Tractor.

But for some reason I fancied it, the good news being that the ground was dry, the bad news was that the river was low. Better news was that the dreaded loose weed that hangs itself like washing on a clothes line, that is often so bad you can't keep a bait in the water for more than five minutes, was tolerable.

The upper Trent

The swim I had fished a couple of times in the past was long gone, floodwater eroding the long, sweeping bend and washing away the ledge on the high bank that someone had dug out at the time. Another swim, 30 yards or more upstream had been made, and I plonked myself in that while Eddie chose one yet another 50 yards or so further upstream that was less comfortable but certainly looked the part.

It was 4pm before we were settled in and fishing, full of the usual hope and anticipation. I fished my usual semi-fixed rig, using a blockend feeder filled with dampened mixed pellets, along with a 2ft long 11lb Kryston Incognito hook length to an 8's hook. Bait was 12mm halibut pellet in a bait band hair rigged to the hook.

I used a 2ft fluoro hooklength

The conditions were bright sunshine and windy and with the clear water we didn't expect to catch anything until the sun had fell away.
And that's how it worked out. I hadn't had a bite at all by the time the sun was disappearing, although Eddie had had a couple of enquiries but none that developed.

My feeder rig (minus the silicon sleeves)

I decided to try a boilie, one of Chris Roadknight's Waka boilies he'd supplied me with last year. They were crab and liver flavour and at least smelled the part. I hair-rigged the 14mm boilie and cast out. Within no more than a minute of it hitting the water the rod nodded, I lifted it, and soon landed a chub of around 31/2 lb.

This was followed by two more chub of around 4lb or so in the next couple of hours.

Then I had the big bite, you know, the one that curls your toes and bends your rod to a full fighting curve and almost before you've realised what's happening you're fighting a powerful fish and the adrenaline is pumping through your body in a mad rush. It's why we go barbel fishing and if you could bottle it like a bait flavour you'd make a fortune.

It took me a good five minutes to get it under control and bring it up through the powerful current. Eddie held the net ready and on the first glimpse of it when it broke surface I said those magic and poetic words. "**** me, it's a double!"

And so it was. It weighed 10lb 10oz and was obviously destined to be at least a pound heavier from late autumn onwards.

Try as we might we couldn't get another bite. But the hope and anticipation for our next visit, wherever it is, is running at divorce level.

Nice Variety

Graham Marsden — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:48:27 GMT

More fun at the local club water (before I start barbel fishing this year).

On the margin pole again and this time I took my grandson Calum now he's off school for 6 weeks. It would be his first taste of fishing with a margin pole.

And boy, did he enjoy it. He caught carp to around 10lb, but it was the variety of species that made it a good day for both of us.

We had skimmer bream to about 2lb, rudd to around 12oz, small golden orfe and ghost carp, and a beautiful fan-tailed common.

Now he can't wait to go again, and just like me he'll be obsessed with margin pole fishing for a while, before the next obsession comes along.

But as long as it's fishing and we're having a good time, what's it matter?

Now it's time for barbel though, for me, but I'll probably still have a few hours each week on the local stillwater - just to keep my hand in......and, because I like it!

Broken Pole Section

Graham Marsden — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:42:29 GMT

Crunch!

That was the sound of my number 4 section of my Daiwa Yank and Bank margin pole when I lifted into a fish.

The section just shattered at about the midway point. I think it was my own fault as I was reaching for my flask and took my eyes off my float for just a second or so when I felt the pole being pulled from my grasp and overreacted.

I still managed to land the fish, a carp of around 8lb, but now I've got the inconvenience of waiting for my new pole section to be delivered - as well as a hole in my wallet to the tune of about £25!

To make matters worse I cut my finger on the sharp edge of the break and it was a poor day's fishing anyway, which is probably why I allowed my attention to wander. When those carp take, they take with a vengeance. It's not a matter of seeing your float go under but rather seeing the float disappear and the elastic shoot out all in the same second or so.

Damn good fun though!

Tench from a Cheshire Mere

Graham Marsden — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:03:40 GMT

Had a great evening's tench fishing on a Cheshire mere with EC (Eddie Cardus) the other week. We fished the mere together a number of times last year with both of us catching quite a few tench to over 6lb.

Ed playing a tench

Graham and a nice male tench

Last year I stuck to conventional waggler or legering tactics, but this year, being as I'm currently experimenting with margin pole fishing, I decided to try it for tench. First time out I had three, plus some nice roach and rudd.

YouTube - EC Returns a Tench

More on Margin Pole

Graham Marsden — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:07:22 GMT

Me, Ed and Eric are still having a lot of fun catching carp on the margin pole, but before I tell you more about it let me make a comment about margin pole fishing in general.

There seems to be a misconception that all margin pole fishing is about fitting a stiff pole with very heavy elastic and mauling carp out with no finesse at all. Yes, I do know that happens, especially in some matches where it's only the winnings that matter.

But I can assure anyone who cares to listen that such heavy-handed stuff bears little resemblance to how most margin pole fishing is done. The majority of it is with balanced tackle, not to the point where the fish are given a fair chance of getting away, but certainly not so heavy you can just haul the carp into the net. I mean, apart from it being totally unsporting, where's the fun in that? Done properly, margin pole fishing is no different than using 15lb-plus lines and 3lb-plus TC rods to catch bigger carp.

Believe it or not - and I dare say those who have not done a great deal of margin pole fishing will not believe it - there is probably more skill and finesse required to land a good sized carp on a margin pole than there is on rod and line.

Knowing when to bend into the fish a little and when to ease off to suck some of the elastic back into the pole needs experience. Being adept at attaching and detaching extra sections whilst still playing the fish is not for the feint-hearted, and landing a big fish that is still, to some extent, still bouncing around on the elastic, doesn't half get the adrenaline going.

Anyway, enough of the words, here's another three video clips:

YouTube - A Double on a Margin Pole

YouTube - A Double on a Margin Pole

YouTube - Another Double on Margin Pole

YouTube - Ed on the Match Lake

Return to Coarse Fishing

Graham Marsden — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:54:00 GMT

I'm currently re-introducing my old mate Eddie Bibby to coarse fishing. Ed hasn't coarse fished for a few years now and I thought it was about time he got back into it.

Although he's enjoyed the occasional fly fishing trip there's still nothing like coarse fishing for the great variety of methods it can offer.

We're fishing Border Fishery in Cheshire, one of Bay Malton AS's waters, which is an ex commercial fishery but is still run along similar lines. We're varying our methods between margin pole, feeder, and pellet waggler and thoroughly enjoying it, especially as we're fishing alongside another old mate, Eric Barnes (above).

YouTube - Ed on Margin Pole

I'll keep you informed.:)

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The Story Continues
Friday, 3rd July

Although we're using pellet waggler and feeder rod at times it's the margin pole we're having the most fun with.

We're not using bullying tactics, 20's elastic and such, but 14's elastic. Eric has a margin pole now and he's been quite surprised at how light it is and how easy to play fish, letting the elastic do the work, and working the pole so that it releases elastic at the right time and then sucks it back in when the fish comes towards you

The usual plan is to start of feeder fishing across to the island, and feed the margin while you fish, picking up the margin pole following 20 minutes or so of activity over the bait.

Last time we went I managed to catch the biggest fish of the day on margin pole. We didn't weigh it but it must have been 11 - 12lb.