Team Barbel (the lads)

[Baz]

Thanks for the excellent read Adrian.
Come on now, did you stack that rubbish up behind Gingers peg? The fishing sounded hectic, but I found the whole story riveting. Not having fished the Trent myself, I have never faced those conditions, but you made it sound exciting and enjoyable, (bacon rolls with lashings of tea) and that?s what it?s partly all about at the end of the day. I would have thought that the river rising the way it did would have given the rats a good flushing out, unless they bivied up with one of the other lads. There was also some good points you continually made about safety. A good all round read, and I look forward to the next one.

 

[The Master]

I enjoyed writing it as much as you did reading it mate. Rats not been so much of a problem for us this year on the Trent we have either been lucky or word has got around we carry a couple of traps each to kill them.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

One thing about the tidal Trent is that you don't have problems with rats. The banks are too gravelly and hard for them to make holes.

The extreme flood conditions as described are perfect for barbel. I've had some of my biggest catches in these conditions. And mostly you only need to fish under your rod tip.

Adrian is quite right about the warnings. The Tidal Trent can be very dangerous at night, especially below Dunham where you can get the odd Tsunami coming up the river. Don't fish it alone as I used to do.

Carry a set of tide tables. If you see a tide in excess of 4.5 metres at Dunham, it might be an Eiger tide.

If the river drops suddenly, beware.

 

[Baz]

Why beware if the river suddenly drops? as I said this would be newish ground to me so I wouldn't understand the danger.

 

[swordsy aka The barbarian]

good read even better fish!

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

Simple Baz. A fast drop in the depth of a tidal river means that it is going to rise quick. On the Trent this could mean that the Aiger (Tidal Bore) is imminent. They wave is not unlike a Tsunami and comes up the river in an enormous rush of water with a white water crest that makes a roaring sound.

Such tides take place mainly in September and on my tide table the height of the tide is measured at Dunham Bridge. The highest tides are almost 5 metres high, which is the difference between the river at low tide and the river at high tide.

That's 15 feet of water in a short space of time.

Keep well clear of the river during spring tides and consult the tables.