Ade Kiddell- January 2020

This entry was posted on 8th January, 2020

Firstly, let me wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! In early December I was in England for a few days, catching up with family and friends but I also found time to visit the team at Angling Direct Norwich store.

Getting hold of tackle items out in France can be difficult, most tackle shops cater for carp, predator and match but unfortunately specialist fishing is only a growing branch of the sport. With this, tackle for barbel, tench, chub, etc. are not easy to come by.



So, whilst visiting AD Norwich I had a good stock up with bait and tackle. The good news is Angling Direct websites are now multilingual, offering brilliant delivery services to most of mainland Europe. An order placed online can often be delivered within a few days and even free if you spend the minimum requirement. Once back in France, fishing took a back seat as I had a major house project to complete prior to Christmas which was not too much of a shame due to the weather being so cold and the river being in flood conditions. I did have a couple of short sessions for barbel but didn't manage a single bite due to the heavy downpour and flooding affecting the speed of the current. Two days prior to Christmas, after the house project was complete and the improvement in the weather, out came my Korum 13ft barbel rods. These rods are perfect for fishing in flooded rivers paired with big heavy feeders full of a sticky pellet mix. Being sticky, the pellets slowly washed out of the feeder, taking 20 to 30 minutes to empty preventing overfeeding.



With the first cast upstream, the rod hooped over and I hooked a barbel around 5lbs. This is the 35th consecutive month I have caught a barbel and Tjitske did the honors with the camera, snapping the barbel and myself in the festive spirit!



 

I fished until dark and I finished with eight barbel, with the biggest going over 9lbs. All the fish fell to three of the 8mm Sonubaits Robin Red pellets that disperse the fish meal scent through the waters. These pellets on one of the Korum ready-tied river hair rigs, that are one metre long and perfect for chub and barbel. Christmas Day, Tjitske and I had our Christmas dinner in the evening due to the lovely weather and decided to put the rods out whilst we enjoyed lunch and a lovely sunny day with perfect conditions for a bite or two. Right in the middle of a delightful lunch, the scream of a bite alarm signaled, being the first of four good barbel taken over the couple of hours. I must admit I cannot recall ever fishing before on Christmas Day, so four barbel in a short session were well worth the effort. With the granddaughter Florence arriving New Years it was another great opportunity for a grandad and granddaughter fishing session. Despite the cool weather, I did manage a barbel of the magic double-figure size. Florence expertly netted the fish, with no issues. A great way to end 2019. With the river finning down I had the bread out this week for the first time. This time of year is prime for using bread with the river clear and cold, fish love it. I managed eight Sneep (Common Nase) all taken on punched bread with mashed bread in the feeder, starting off the new year nicely