Big Fish Column: Window of opportunity for barbel anglers able to escape their Christmas chores

The festive period brought somewhat mixed returns for local anglers with conditions running the entire spectrum from good, to bad, to ugly during the course of the holidays.

The good saw consistently warm conditions after a cool spell and although there was still a little road run-off pushing through the rivers it cleared before the weather worsened and there was a small window of opportunity for barbel anglers able to escape the Christmas chores and make a break for the freedom of the banks.

The fish weren’t ‘really’ playing ball but there were barbel to be caught with the best of the bunch reported by a local angler a fish of 9lb 10oz to friend of this column, Maidenhead’s Greg Adams, who fished the River Loddon with a small paste and pellet hook bait presented on a size 10 hook to a 12lb coated braid hook length and 12lb main line. Greg hooked the fish at dusk from a under a near-bank snag and netted it after a five-minute fight.

The best of the conditions saw a few nice local chub falling too, with fish to over 5lb from both the Loddon and the Thames. On the Loddon Wargrave’s Todd Stevenson used a paste bait to net fish of 4lb and 5lb 2oz and on the Thames big fish man Neil Wayte bagged specimens of 5lb and 5lb 7oz.

The ‘bad’ conditions set in over Christmas with some torrential rain immediately followed by plummeting temperatures – never a good combination for angling and the traditional Boxing Day outings saw far more dry nets than usual, thereafter the fishing steadily got ‘ugly’ in the run-in to New Year as inconsistent and mostly poor conditions set in.

Of course, there were a few highlights to brighten the gloomy conditions and a pike of 16lb 12oz did just that for Brendan McCaffrey, who fished one of the Twyford gravel pits. A half-mackerel bait injected with extra mackerel oil and fished just off bottom was the offering that appealed to the predator and Brendan banked it on size 8 trebles to 30lb wire and 15lb line.

Chub once again saved the day for a few anglers and Bray’s Spencer Smith netted one of 5lb 5oz from the Thames on a paste-wrapped mini boilie and Graham Daley bagged one of 4lb 4oz from the River Kennet on what he described as, ‘a piece of leftover Christmas cheese’.

Local trout anglers have fared a little better and over at the Sportfish Game Fishing Centre Chris Hayward tells me that the resident trout have mostly remained close to the bank in small shoals, with many holding up on the main right hand bank - with Duffer’s Point a popular spot.  Buzzers remain the best bet for a pull or two with mini lures and damsels also providing a steady stream of action. The best fish over the festive period was a rainbow of 8lb 13oz that fell to the buzzer fished by Steve Wilson.

The start of the new year is often one of the poorest times in the angling calendar and most of us are likely to be scratching around for a few bites during the next couple of weeks.

Any anglers wishing to report catches may contact me at ian@bigfishtrail.com