My second trip to the River Trent, and despite it being high on arrival, we went to work. I, Brother Jack and my dad Mike were ready for a good weekend trying to catch big river Barbel. I had fished the part of the river before and armed with this knowledge, I knew that we were in for a good weekend.

We arrived on the Thursday night unpacked and away we went, the river is in the front garden of the B&B we were staying at which is just a little bit convenient. The first fish went to my dad on 10mm meat punch on the feeder, fished in the slack water just of the main flow. Then my brother had two that evening, I had a 5lb Chub, river Chub fight like buggery, and a 4lb Bream.

The river itself was about two feet higher than usual but no problems on the Thursday , the Friday however was a different story, the river was the same height when we started fishing, but the rain was coming down now. I had lost a big Barbel the day before so i was gunning for one to make it a Barbel each. I lost another one that morning and then my Avon rod hooped over and the bait runner screamed off, pulled into the fish and it stripped over 100 meters of braid of my reel, and vanished down river. River Barbel fight with everything and in a fast current there is no better fighting fish in my opinion. When I got its head up with my arms on fire and my back aching, we netted it and it was the biggest I have ever had or seen on the bank. There has been plenty bigger caught by better river anglers than me but this one was special.

As the rain came down I lost another two, but at this time the current was hammering through and it was becoming un fishable, as the river swelled are feeders were tossed about and not holding bottom, whole trees were floating by and every cast resulted in are lines being covered with weed and feeders carried into the margins, so we called it a day on the river, even went out at 04:00 Saturday morning to see if it had dropped, but it continued to rise and were we fished two days ago was under 6 meters of water now.

As the river was un fishable, we decided on a still water fishery for Saturdays fishing, there was two to choose from, both in the small village we were staying.....again very convenient, they do love there fishing in that part of the world. We visited A1 pits, the nearest and had a good day catching small Roach and Perch with a few nice Bream coming out.

All in all, the river only had at least half a day’s good fishing in it before the floods, but it still produced great fish, which we will always remember. The B&B is fantastic and Cathy the owner does a mean breakfast and is always supportive of us with our fishing, it is a very relaxed and friendly house with great rooms, I even took Kathryn on this trip and she loved the B&B, as we were driving home she said it felt like we had been staying at a good friends or relatives for the week end.

I really recommend this B&B and part of the river, for some great Barbel and convenient relaxing fishing.

Follow this link for the B&B details. http://www.themuskhammoorings.co.uk/

 A1 Pits.

From the A1.

• Exit A1 at the B6325 / Newark.
• At roundabout, take the THIRD exit onto B6325.
• Turn LEFT onto Church Lane.
• Through the village then straight after the railway lines turn Right into fishery.
• Access to the River is by the same route just keep going past Pit 6 and take the righthand fork.
• For Sat Nav's or Route Finders, enter the postcode: NG23 6EQ                                           Contact (Bailiff)  Steve on Tel:07970209433
• http://www.a1pits.co.uk/content.php

Water.

River Trent at Muscham Moorings B&B.

Tactics.

Feeders in the slack water, just inside of the main flow.

 50-60 gram Drennan open ended feeders,

 Braid mainline 8-10lb.

6lb mono hook lengths 4-5 ft, size 10-12 korum hair rigged barbed hooks.

10mm punched meat on the hook, with halibut pellets and ground bait in the feeder.

Remember for big River Barbel, a good Avon rod or 12-13 foot feeder with a good strong test curve is needed, also feed a lot and often, to bring the fish on to your bait.

Photos.