I hate the Trent

[sam vimes]

Well no. For a start the Trent does not have any meanders, its just a big flooded ditch.

Yes, I suppose if we go back donkeys years there was the odd match or two and some bloke called the Trent Vole or something fished it but to compare it to the old father ? ...oh come on ! ...Britains biggest and most famous waterway. Even ouitside the UK everyone knows the Thames.

Who has really heard of the Trent ? ..outside a tiny circle of UK anglers and in the grand scheme of things – no one !

I think the key was in the word "angling" when put before the word "history".
Beyond that, you're both as bad as each other. Knock it off.

 

[ravey]

Johnnyfby,

Don't let the prevailing downstream wind put you off. It didn't stop John Dean, Dave Thomas et al from catching. In fact an upstream wind can affect your catches more negatively. 'Upgate rollers' do more damage to good presentation than a downstreamer in my experience. Worse than a facing wind, they are!

 

[guest61]

A car crime boom in the mid 1990s didn't help the poularity of the Trent, and many landowners simply denied access (they are expected to pick the bill up for clearing burnt-out cars away). By this time, the match regulars had settled in to commercial fisheries, with all the convenience they offer. They had also become used to parking behind their pegs. Ever poorer access has deterred any return to the river (I expect this is a problem with many other rivers), even if the risk of having their car stolen is not as bad as previous thanks to modern security.

Hope this sheds some light.

Many thanks for your replies ravey

 

[Sean Meeghan]

Well thats been an entertaining read, but with all the wind up merchants and the Ron knockers it's probably ruined my weekend. If I blank I'll feel bad for failing to catch a barbel on the easiest river in the known universe and if I catch a decent fish it's pretty much something anyone with half a brain could do anyway.

No wonder Sam hates the bloody river! :w

 

[dangermouse]

...Britains biggest and most famous waterway. Even ouitside the UK everyone knows the Thames.

Who has really heard of the Trent ? ..outside a tiny circle of UK anglers and in the grand scheme of things – no one !

People outside the UK are undoubtedly more aware of the Thames than the Trent, as a river, simply because the Thames flows through London. But as far as knowledge of angling history is concerned the majority of people outside the UK, and probably in the UK, couldn`t tell you much at all about either river.

 

[The bad one]

People blame the shut down of the powerstations, but for every theory, there seems to be an exception to the rule. Winter matches were a lottery, and often limited to one lucky/persistent angler managing a couple of chub. Others pointed to the increasing clarity, sewage etc. The only thing I can identify is that the downturn in sport coincided (roughly) with the privatisation of the water industry.

Don't underestimate the impact this had on the river. The power stations made the river anything from 2 to 4C warmer than it should be.
Come the spring this helped the silver fish stocks spawn consistently every year due to the artificial temperatures. In turn keeping the stocks artificially high.
As the phased closure of the stations kicked in, which started in the mid 80s, the river temperature returned to what it should be by the time the last closure took place. Also remembers the Trent's true river temperature is on the cold side because of where its whole catchment rises. The high Pennines.
The return to the true temperature then left those silver fish spawnings to the vagaries of the weather, as rivers are when in a normal state of water temperature.
It's wrong to assume that riverine stocks spawn consistently and in the same quantities every year because they don't. Weather plays a big part in how successful each years spawnings will be. Cold springs do cause very poor spawnings and with some species no spawning at all.
The process of returning to a natural river stocking on the Trent took quite a few years to manifest itself and probably wasn't helped by the predation of the cormorant explosion that started in the late 80s.

Interestingly, Neville Fickling in one of his articles at the time predicted this would happen on the Trent. And for those that don't know NF isn't just a tackleshop owner and pike angler. He's a PhD in in Fishery Management and worked for the Trent Region of the NRA in the 80s.

 

[dezza]

Don't let the prevailing downstream wind put you off. It didn't stop John Dean, Dave Thomas et al from catching. In fact an upstream wind can affect your catches more negatively. 'Upgate rollers' do more damage to good presentation than a downstreamer in my experience. Worse than a facing wind, they are!

Yes, get yourself or make yourself a fluted float - a float that grips the current. It will soon sort out winds from difficult directions.

On the Trent in the old days they used large cork bodied curved swan quills for both stret-pegging and trotting.

I have had a lot of success with flat floats (lollipop floats). On the Trent you need a big one, ideally fished using a reasonably powerful 15 foot rod.

"Still another method adopted by many of the best barbel fishermen is by what is known on the Trent as 'stret pegging', 'stretting', and sometimes plain 'pegging'. In other waters this style is known as 'long corking', and also 'tight corking'. For this plan the heavy number 4 cork float is used, and the tackle with the long corking lead in the centre , exactly the same as described in fishing a heavy stream; but in this case there can be a couple of shots extra on the gut line.

Swims. or rather eddies , where this plan can be adopted will be the best if very near the bank on which the angler sits or stands, a deepish hole close under an overhanging bank , where there is a shelf under water , or where a stream hits hard under the bank at the bend, and then flows outwards again, leaving a curl or eddy on the inside. Sometimes in places like this there is a considerable depth of water, even as many as 10 or 12 feet. These are capital places to stret peg; in fact, it is best performed where the curl or hole can be reached with the point of the rod."

JW Martin (The Trent Otter) 1896

How many times in recent years have I fished such swims and done well with perch, bream, barbel and roach.

 

[ravey]

What I don't understand about the powerstation shut down is that the roach have had plenty of time to get used to the reduced river temperatures, but yet aside from a few locations (there is always an exception!), they seem to be uncatchable after the first few frosts.

It's largely chub that make up the bulk of catches in winter. In the warmer months, roach seem to be caught everywhere.

I understand the erratic spawning successes of the various species - the dace explosion from three years back, the fresh emergence of gudgeon after a long absence, the appearance of masses of minnows over the past few years, the decline in chub numbers and so on. But why can't the roach which have grown up with the colder river be caught in winter? It's all a bit of a puzzle, and my own observations. Still a cracking river, though...

 

[The bad one]

Ravey
It's no great mystery really they migrate from the summer haunts. Find where they migrate to and you'll catch them. On the Ribble they migrate anything up to 6 + miles down river into water that's tidal.
Dace are another species that do this on most rivers here in the NW. Eden Cumbria down from the Penrith area to Carlisle and below. Chester's river Dee, from the Welsh boarders to Farndon and below to Chester.
Ribble same as the roach.

On the Fens and the river Delph in particular the roach migrate to the deep pool at Welney. Old Bedford river, Welches Dam area.

Why they take on this winter migration I really don't know, but it's very clear on the rivers I mentioned they do.

What's also interesting is that weirs seem to be no obstacle to their passage up or down river.
This is a little easier to understand if you understand a little about fluid dynamics, frictional drag and laminar flow on their upward migration back.

In essence when the river(s) are in full spring flood the low head weirs flatten out as the floodwater rages over it, more or less equaling out the depth either side of the weir. Most weirs are designed to filter the main flow of the water down the centre of the weir. So that's where the most water pressure occurs. However, due to frictional drag the very sides of the river channel are much slower and less turbid, allowing the fish to pass the weir(s) obstacle on their upward migration.

 

[dezza]

I understand the erratic spawning successes of the various species - the dace explosion from three years back,

You have to catch the big dace whilst you can. Dace do not live very long, even if a predator does not get them they only make 6 years at the outside, perch might live a year more.

This is the case with virtually all big dace. You get a year on a particular water when there are lots of big dace, and by big I mean in excess of 10 oz. Then they all seem to disappear. The answer is that most die of old age.

 

[ravey]

Interesting replies; thanks, guys.

 

[Mark Wintle]

The local Dorset Stour survey results (including the Avon for comparison) show dace living to 11+ years.

 

[Titus]

The Severn silver fish migrate as well. Ironbridge used to be stuffed with them in the winter months and matches were won with twenty pound plus and plenty of back up weights.....Until the cormorants moved in and wiped them out a few years ago.

Nowadays you are lucky to catch a couple of pound.