Steve Pope's Barbel Fishing Adventures

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Steve Pope's Barbel Fishing Adventures

Steve Pope's Barbel Fishing Adventures Guided Days on the River Severn.

11/02/2025

This cold weather is really getting me down.
Yes there have been very small opportunities but given other difficulties such as pollution, predation and very low numbers I would have got better odds on Spurs winning rather than me catching a barbel 😀😀

Checking back February has been productive these past couple of years but I’m not holding out much hope of getting out until the last few days of this month.

As soon as the water temperature gets up a bit and remains stable I’ll be out there trying to catch another Welsh barbel.

Fingers crossed.

23/01/2025

Throwback Thursday on my fishing page.

Kings Weir is now the undisputed Mecca for monster barbel and I’m very pleased because it was the place I caught my first barbel in 1965.

I’ve included pages from my diary, very neat because I had aspirations of perhaps becoming an architect 😀I had just turned fifteen when I made those diary entries.

We called the river the Waverley after the club that controlled it, basically the current members stretch below the weir.

Kings Weir also loomed large in my barbel life although I never fished it again after those early days.

I joined the Barbel Catchers around 1991 and became friends with the likes of Ray Walton and Chris Holley in our London Region and they conducted interesting surveys at the venue.

And then of course Fred Crouch came along and he became synonymous with the weirpool and we became great friends.

Kings Weir is a place that every London based barbel enthusiast has probably visited and it’s held in affection by all.

19/01/2025

Just read some very sad news, Keith Archer has passed away.

Over the past seven years I’ve enjoyed many conversations with Keith when booking the weir at Collingham.
We connected on many levels.

My sincere condolences go to his family and many friends, you will be sorely missed.

RIP Keith.

08/01/2025

It may be minus six outside but today I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the Barbel Society.

Our latest magazine is set to reach members letter boxes over the next couple of days.

This evening along with the other committee guys we had a zoom meeting to discuss our new website and this year’s show.
A new year and lots to look forward to 👍

06/01/2025

I’ve made a decision, I’m going to write the book that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

I have enough spare time to apply myself to what will be a big undertaking.

My first barbel came from the Lea in the early sixties and from the mid eighties to the present day I’ve devoted a lot of my time to all things barbel.

I’ve been fortunate enough to know pretty much all the leading players during the past forty years and hundreds of wonderful people sharing this passion - there’s many a tale to tell.

I’ve already written enough to fill half a dozen books, now is the time to pull it all together.

Just need the discipline to sit at the computer and knock out 100K words that people will find interesting 😀😀

31/12/2024

This past year on the fishing front has been a strange one, I put quite a bit of time into my fishing on the real upper reaches of the Severn for just two barbel, granted they were nice fish but hopefully I’ll improve on that return during the new year.

That’s my resolution for my fishing, to keep unlocking the puzzle on my favourite stretch of river 😀

A big thank you to everyone who looks in on here, I wish you all the happiest and healthiest of new years and success in your own personal quests.

Here’s to 2025, have a good one 👍🎣👍

28/12/2024

Now Christmas is over it’s time to think about my barbel fishing.

I haven’t been out for a while and I’m missing it.

But from a purely personal perspective I’m only interested in one thing and that’s the capture of a really big barbel from the Welsh Severn, Afon Hafren.
Plus of course any smaller fish that come my way 😀

I will be doing some very limited guiding in the summer, next year could be the end as I’ll be 75!!

23/12/2024

Merry Christmas to you all 👍🌲🎅🏼👍

Hope Santa is generous 😀

See you in the new year when I’ll be continuing my quest for big Welsh barbel 👍🎣🤞🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

10/12/2024

First off, many congratulations to James the captor and to Andy and Loretta who run the fishery.

This venue is where I caught my first barbel sixty years ago so I have many memories. Back then it was the LAA stretch and we called the river The Waverley, some may well remember.

But my overriding thought is what would Fred be saying!!😀😀

Fred Crouch was synonymous with Kings Weir for so many years, I don’t think even he would have seen this coming!

I’m pleased to see my old home river holding the record, I’m sure there will be more to come.

But the moment now belongs to James- well done 👍👍👍

08/11/2024

In my happy place waiting for my warrior queen.
She’s playing very hard to get but I’m nothing if not persistent 😀

She will succumb before the season ends😀

28/10/2024

Didn’t manage to get out much last week for one reason or another, hopefully putting that right this week.

The weather is holding up still and looking back I’ve often done well at the end of October, beginning of November.

Looking forward to trying the Dynamite worms👍👍👍

23/10/2024

A thought came into my mind and it’s a thought I’ve had before but is now being drummed home.

It isn’t coincidence that on a difficult water it’s the local angler who has a big advantage, more so if he is a specialist.

I say this because it’s so much easier to deal with the blanks!!

If you spend more than an hour on your journey to the river you really want a result, today long stay sessions are quite common but that’s a different subject.
So the tendency is to go to productive stretches, not everyone wants to be a pioneer!

When an interesting but very tricky venue is on your doorstep it is easier to deal with mentally and ultimately that usually leads to success.

The fish and the stretch become very personal and looking back over the years it’s easy to understand why “ Fish chasing “ was so frowned upon especially on the smaller intimate venues.

I’m very fortunate in seeking out fish that are not caught often, it’s where my personal barbel journey has taken me and I will enjoy every waiting moment until the reel spins once again 😀😀

22/10/2024

Made it to the river, very muddy 😀
Fingers crossed.

20/10/2024

Had an interesting discussion with my cousin who is also a barbel angler.

Basically question everything, don’t be dogmatic, create your own theories.

That’s the way to go and to take your own fishing to another level.

We are all guilty of following accepted beliefs and I’m absolutely certain we miss out at times because of it.

The late Merv Wilkinson had a saying that summed it up, “ Don’t follow the news - make the news!”

He was absolutely right.

Radical but obvious…….😀

15/10/2024

This came up in my memories from 11 years ago and reminds me how one really good photo beats a hundred standard shots.
This picture of a 13 plus was taken by Matt Rand an absolute diamond, top angler and just a great guy.

I’m fortunate enough to have lots of nice photos taken by skilled photographers and one day I’ll put them together.

I’m hoping it won’t be too long before I get another quality shot with a big barbel from the Welsh Severn, fingers crossed 😀

10/10/2024

Let’s be perfectly clear about something, I’m not in the business of undermining or point scoring, the fact that it’s being publicly stated that the River Severn is the most polluted river in the country should send shock waves to anyone who has the slightest interest in this once majestic river.

I support Feargal Sharkey 💯 and so should everyone who fishes the Severn, he is fighting our battles.

The foam as an indicator does cause problems, too many first class anglers are saying the same and they are not to be ignored or indeed underminined by one or two stating different experiences.

We need to be united in this war against those who wish to destroy this and other rivers, if we are not then we deserve all that befalls us.

09/10/2024

Arrived on the river just as it’s getting light.

Sickened to see the scum/ foam running on the surface covering half the river.

Conditions otherwise are perfect for barbel but I’m not confident and will only give it a couple of hours .

Has anyone caught a barbel on the Severn while the foam is running?

This isn’t natural, I know the difference, this is pollution.

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