It's not long now until the end of another river fishing season, but don't hang up your rods just yet—there’s still some great sport to be had in the final few weeks leading up to the closed season on March 15th. Often the temperatures are on the rise and the fish are bulking up after the winter flooding in preparation for spawning, which very often means, if you catch a fish towards the end of the season, they are at their biggest weights —making it well worth getting out on the bank!.
Whatever you're aiming to catch, we have some excellent tips for all coarse anglers that will hopefully help you land a few extra fish and finish the season on a high!
Get meaty in floods
The past few seasons have seen flooding towards the end of the season. When barbel fishing in flooded conditions, switch from boilies and pellets to large chunks of luncheon meat. Don’t go for neatly cubed chunks however – tear off large lumps about the size of half a matchbox with ragged edges and use these, as they’ll emit more flavour and tiny little bits of the meat will break off in the flow and wash down to draw fish closer to your hookbait.
It’s also a great approach to use when trying different swims and staying mobile, as you won’t be introducing lots of loosefeed along the stretch and running the risk of spreading the fish out. You can also try colouring or adding a little flavour to the meat.
MEAT IS A GREAT BAIT FOR BARBEL, CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AWESOME BAITS THEY LOVE!
Search your swim
In swims with lots of fish-holding features like reedbeds, overhanging trees and gravel patches you’ll often find fish like chub and barbel can move between these hotspots during the day. If you only fish one of the features, you could be missing out, so try moving the bait through the swim, taking it to the fish rather than waiting for the fish to come to you.
A good approach is to fish with a leger weight that only just holds bottom. By holding the rod and lifting it occasionally, you can get the bait to trundle through a swim. Often bites with this method are savage!
Locate the perch shoals
A deadly twin-pronged approach for big perch is to walk a stretch casting a small lure to locate a pod of feeding fish, before then adopting a more static approach to plunder the shoal using quiver-tipped lobworms with red maggots as loosfeed. Small shad or crayfish imitation patterns on 5g-7g jig heads are superb for this, and a small lure rod can easily be packed into the holdall without taking up too much space.
PERCH ARE GREAT FUN TO CATCH ON LURES, THIS GUIDE SHOWS YOU HOW TO DO IT!
Short sessions for chub
Quick after-work sessions are often ideal for chub as this is the time of day when they feed most confidently. The water will have been exposed to sunlight all day so it will be at its warmest, triggering the fish to search for food to maintain their energy levels. If you can get away with it, the first hour of darkness can often be the best time of all. Look for undercut banks, overhangs as often dropping in wit minimal feed and a big lump of cheespaste is enough to get a bite or two!
Don't hound the barbel hotspots
If you have a particular peg in mind before you set off and find it to be taken upon arrival, don’t just sit in the next swim. Big fish don’t respond well to pressure and too many anglers in one spot is guaranteed to send them packing. Take a stroll down the river and look for swims that have similar attributes and there is a good chance that big barbel will be sat there waiting. By the late season very often barbel will move away from the pressured swims, so a swim that produces little the rest of the season can become a goldmine.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO BARBEL FISHING, OUR BEGINNERS GUIDE HAS ALL THE TACKLE ANS TIPS YOU NEED!
Try pellets for roach
Maggots, casters, bread and hemp are easily the most popular roach baits, but pellets are now fed in large quantities on most running waters and, as a result, fish of all species regard them as their main food source. The also prevent the minnows becoming a problem which they often can as the temperatures begin to rise when using natural baits.
I pack an open-end feeder with a blend of liquidised bread and 4mm pellets. The bread is bright and stands out while the pellets are loaded with scent that the roach just can’t resist. When it comes to hookbait choice, it is best to match the hatch and use a 4mm banded pellet. This is the ideal size as smaller roach are unable to engulf such a tough bait but anything over 8oz can easily take it.
IF YOU NEED MORE ADIVCE ON FISHING FOR ROACH WITH PELLETS READ THIS ARTICLE.
Try the float
Very often fish that have been caught on baits pinned to the bottom over beds of bait can become very wary as the season draws on. The float, therefore, gives you the perfect way to present a bait naturally to these fish, with very often huge fish like chub, perch, roach and even barbel falling to this method in the final few weeks of the season. Baits like maggots, bread and luncheon meat are great bets for most river species!
Don't be afraid to go big with the float, I have used Avon style floats above 12g to great success, remember it is about getting your bait to go through the swim how it should do, rather than worrying about finesse!
Try a wobbled deadbait
River pike will have their favourite haunts, where they hold up ready to ambush passing prey fish. The good way to try to locate these is to adopt a roving approach, and instead of using a float or leger rig, try a ‘wobbled’ deadbait. Reel it in slowly, jerking the rod from time to time, and this will imitate an injured fish that the pike will readily take.
Release fish away from the swim
If the fish on your stretch have been pressured over the course of the season, it can pay to return the slightly away from your swim. Fish like chub and perch are very easily spooked, so avoid returning fish directly into your swim. Either retain them in a well pegged out keepnet, or walk 50 yards upstream and return them there so they don’t immediately return to the shoal and put them on edge. In the majority of cases chub will bolt upstream when released.
CATCH MORE CHUB BY USING THE BEST FISHING RODS TO CATCH THEM WITH!
