Weir Pool Magic - Part 2

By Tony Runnalls

Do you remember when you were little and it was Christmas Eve? You couldn’t sleep and your belly was doing cartwheels - well that’s me on Sunday night, because I know I'm going fishing in the morning.

Lisa knows she has got to lay next to me all night tossing and turning, I just cannot sleep. Even after all these years it's still the same. I've set my alarm for 4.30am and I am up and in the shower at 3am and on the road by 3.30am.

Darren my fishing partner, is up and waiting when I get to his house and we both think there is 'something in the air' and are hopeful for a good day.

We take a nice easy drive to Aldermarston arriving at the door of the café as it opens, after a Full English we are at the gates of the mill by 6.45 with a 1hr 15 minute wait - the gates don’t open till 8am.

We talked away the hour and it was decided that Darren was going straight on the lawns, the same swim he had his double from last week and I was going into the swim on the big weir - were I had lost one previously.

I am fishing very much the same as last week but I have reloaded my centrepin with 10lb Maxima. I will cast a 2oz lead with two hair rigged 10mm Scopex Squid Liver Boilie Pellets wrapped in paste into the main flow. I have my hook lengths slightly longer and will rely on the fish hooking itself and giving an indication on my bite alarm, as I cannot concentrate on the tips of both rods at the same time.

With the lead out and settled, my second rod has got two swan shot pinched onto 2lb line tied to the main line via a sliding knot positioned just below the loop on the hook length which is 2ft of 8lb Fluorocarbon with a size 6 Drennen Specialist barbless hook. I put the shot below the loop so I can pull it nearer to the hook if need be.

The reason I use a weaker link for the shot is down to the snaggy swim, the bank I am sitting on is concrete and I suspect that I may be fishing on footings so if my shot falls down a little crack and locks up I am sure it will create a situating were I might lose fish, this way I can afford to lose a bit of shot and still land the fish.

My old bait dropper is loaded with hemp and 3mm pellet, gently swung down to the bottom. Over the next five minutes I have put down nearly half a kilo of bait and 5 lumps of meat torn away, rather than cut into squares.

A big lump of meat on my hook and with a gentle under-arm flick I let the spool spin and feel the line slacken off as the meat hits the bottom. Taking up the slack line I rest the rod on my knee.

I was stretching my legs when the first bite came and I thought the rod had slipped off my knee. As I lifted it back I felt the thump of a fish and struck instinctively. The fish went straight into the main flow and was taking line at a terrifying rate, easing my thumb on the edge of the 'pin and slowing the spool down, the rod arched over - now this was more like it!

After the initial run the fish just made a few small runs and was gracefully netted. I made the call to Darren and he came along to do the pictures and weighing. The fish was just over 7lb and looked fantastic!

Returning the fish I thought to myself - 'today is going to be a good day!'

I introduced two more droppers full of mixed pellet and hemp and another three bits of meat and rebaited my hook. Before Darren had got across the little bridge I had a massive thump on the rod and I was in again!

I shouted at Darren and he turned, looked at my rod and said something I couldn’t hear because of the noise from the weir. The fish lunged into the main flow and as I moved above it, it didn’t feel right, You know when the fight is different and after a couple of minutes the fish come to the surface side-on and we could see the hook in it's side, the fish flapped on the surface and the weight of the fast water soon saw the hook come free and the fish was gone

Needless to say, five minutes later Darren appeared on the horizon, rods in hand and he settled in opposite me on the other side of the big weir. Now I am thinking about loading it out with bait, I've heard that barbel can sometimes be caught in numbers and if they are any thing like carp and they are having it, I probably haven’t brought enough bait.

I put in another five loads and half a tin of meat torn into pieces, I put them in via the dropper as I wanted to ensure they were as tight as possible when they hit the bottom, the currents are very strong and I didn't want the meat going off down stream.

I had been touch-ledgering a lot recently and the bites are electrifying, you can really feel the fish at the end of the line. A 10.45 my fingers felt the beginnings of a bite and as the tip registered the bite, my rod was swept high in the air and took on a beautiful curve as the fish powered off to the fast water. I took up my usual position high on the wall of the weir and Darren came around and did the honour of netting the fish for me.

Now at this point Dal hadn't had a sniff, so I didn't make too much fuss as we weighed it at just over 7lb but I must say it was a lovely looking fish. It was returned and more bait was churned into the swim - I knew I was going to catch more.

Over the next two hours I foul-hooked another three fish all in the same place and lost them all the same way, two of them were only small but one of them was a lump. I think I was hitting the fish too early and the twitches and pulls I was responding to were the fish settling over the bait. I decided to let the bites develop a bit more and sure enough after sitting on my hands for a bit longer the tip went right round and I had hooked my next fish.

Again Darren was there with the net and the fish was landed, this one was only small at about 4lbs so it was returned without weighing and no photos.

By now Darren was getting itchy feet and decided to drop into a deep hole on one of the long runs behind the main weir, five minutes later I heard him call and as I looked up he was holding up a chub of about 3lb in his net, unfortunately that was his only fish of the day but my swim still had some more to offer.

I took another two fish mid-afternoon on the same rod and they were both about 4lb. I hadn’t had a touch on my lead so I brought in both rods, re-baited the swim with more meat, pellet and hemp and left it for an hour while I packed away my second rod, sorted my box and went for a cup of tea and a chat with Darren.

I returned to my swim and loaded in some more bait and recast to the same spot, after about 30 minutes and just as the light was starting to fade, I had a really good thump on my tip and struck into thin air. I rebaited my rod and went straight back in - and ten minutes later I had another good thump and connected with a big fish that just burrowed head first into the main flow. I called out to Darren and he came over, the fish fought really well and made three good runs, by the time I got the fish to the net I had cramp in my hand and my arm felt dead!

The fish was weighed and the scales pulled round to just over 13lb. I was chuffed to bits - not only had I caught a barbel - I had caught a good double.

After the fish was returned the light was fading fast and we had a long drive home, so we decided to call it a day. I am sure had I stayed on and had more bait, the fish would have responded. It’s a shame that you can only fish through to 7pm, because I am sure that on the right night mega-catches could be achieved here.

Fishery details:

The Old Mill, Aldermarston, R67 4LB. Tel: 01189 712 365

Contact: Bailiff Peter Arlott on 0118 971 2365 [office] or 07881 620554 [mobile].

Join me for my next day out at Hoe Mill Fishing for bream.

Good fishing to you all

Tony Runnalls