Royalty Fishery Archive - 2004/05
Royalty Fishery Report 23rd February 2005
There is not much to report from the Royalty this week as freezing temperatures have ensured that all but the hardiest anglers shunned the option to be chilled to the bone in the name of their sport. The water temperature has hovered all week around 37 degrees F and the only fish that have fed to any degree have been pike. Indeed the only fish other than pike that was reported were a 3lb 12oz chub taken by Richard Trim and a wonderfull deep golden common carp weighing 15lbs 8oz taken by Jordan Ash from the piles,using a hair-rigged strawberry boillie .The wind was westerly,pretty chilly and the time was 2.20. this was Jordan's first time on the Royalty and his first fish. Interestingly Jordan is the son of Kevin Ash who recently had the superb 16lb 1oz barbel off the Royalty.
Keeping with the theme of Father vs. Son angling exploits on the Royalty, some of you may remember young Oliver Barker catching a 20lb carp and a 13lb 4oz barbel last Summer. Well last week it was Olivers Father Dave who made the headlines with the seasons best reported pike from the Royalty weighing a superb 27lb 4oz
Steve Sullivan had four pike on the 12th one of 10lb 5oz from the hut side of Top Weir Compound, and a 17lb from the bottom end of the Parlour Pool opposite Watersmeet. On the 13th a 4-5lb jack (estimated) from the top of the Parlour pool and a 13lb 8oz from the bottom of the Parlour Pool again. Nigel Challis also had a 11lb pike from the other side of the Top Weir Compound on the 12th.
Jon Perkins took advantage of his day off from working in Davis Tackle on Wednesday to catch a 19lb 2oz pike from the Lower Water, following it up with another of 17lb 8oz from the Railway on Sunday. Both fish fell to ledgered smelt deadbait.
On Friday Bob Brooker took a pike weighing 19lb 9oz from the Lower Water with deadbait being the successful tactic.
Game Fishing Report
The first fresh run salmon was taken last Wednesday by Elaine Savage who was fishing the Great Weir with her husband Dennis. The fish, which was covered in sea lice, took a black tube fly in Jacks Hole. The salmon was estimated to weigh 15lb and, as far as we can ascertain, is the first time ever that the first Spring salmon from the Avon has been taken by a lady. Our congratulations go to Elaine on her first ever salmon.
Steve Sullivan with a 17lb 8oz pike Nigel Challis with an 11lb Compound caught pike
Steve Sullivan and his 10lb 5oz pike from the Great Weir Steve again, this time with 13lb 8oz pike
Dave Barker with his magnificent 27lb 4oz Pike
Royalty Fishery Report
16th February 2005
After the excitement of the previous week on the Royalty we were pleased to see that the long range forecasts were predicting a steady increase in temperatures which, at this time of year, can trigger strong periods of feeding among Royalty fish of all species. For once the weathermen got it right and, as the week progressed, the water temperature crept steadily upwards until it hit an almost unbelievable temperature for February of 50 degrees F on Saturday. As expected the fish came on the feed with a vengence and excellent captures of barbel, bream and pike were taken as the week progressed. There were also reports of a number of large chub, generally taken by anglers fishing for barbel. The highlight of the week was unquestionably a new confirmed Royalty record barbel weighing 16lb 1oz. This fish was a different specimen to the fish caught last week by Kevin Ash and was witnessed by, amongst others, Ray Walton and Richard Wookey. The scales were confirmed as accurate later the same day in Davis Tackle.
Picking up where we left off on Wednesday last week, I had already mentioned Dave Gates and his 15lb 11oz barbel in last weeks report as he captured it whist I was actually updating this website! Later that day Richard Wookey caught yet another Royalty 'double', this one weighing 11lb 2oz was captured from below the Pipes and took rolling luncheon meat. Gary Porter, using the same technique, took an 8lb 9oz barbel from above the Railway. Jim Maclannan fished the Piles using Mexican chilli flavoured luncheon meat and took an excellent bag comprising nine bream weighing between 6lb 2oz and 6lb 14oz. Dave Dean fished above the Railway and was unfortunate enough to lose two barbel at the net although he had some consolation in capturing four bream to 7lb 8oz on halibut pellet.
The fishery was quiet on Thursday with few anglers venturing out despite the near ideal conditions but Dave Dean had a pretty good day fishing above the Railway, taking a barbel of 7lb 8oz along with four bream to 7lb 15oz. Dave, who was staying with his friend Richard Mills at the Royalty View, was definitely having the cream of the sport despite the fact that they were sitting in adjacent swims! Things were about to change as you will see from the report for Friday.
Friday saw the Royalty View proprietor Joe Harrop out on the riverbank and he managed to persuade an 18lb 10oz pike to take his halibut pellet fished in the House Pool. Richard Mills, who had been fishless on the previous two days, came into his own on Friday taking barbel of 7lb 1oz, 11lb 7oz and 12lb 9oz all on halibut pellet from above the Railway whilst his colleague had four bream to 6lb 15oz and another barbel weighing 9lb. A cracking days sport in anyones books! Royalty everpresents Richard Wookey and Ray Walton were also both on the Fishery to take advantage of the excellent conditions with the former catching a 10lb 11oz barbel on rolling meat from Greenbanks, whilst Ray took barbel of 6lb and 12lb along with a chub of 4lb from various swims, all on rolling meat.
On Saturday the pike fed well in a number of areas of the fishery, including 3 pike taken by Trevor Ridley and friends and a 10lb 8oz beauty from the Compound. On the barbel front Mark Smith had an early birthday present when he took his first ever Royalty barbel weighing 7lb 9oz when he was rolling meat above Mugs Hole. He also reported losing a much larger fish later in the day. Best barbel of the day was a cracking 11lb 4oz specimen caught by Mike Page from Trammels, again the successful tactics and bait was rolling meat.
Sunday saw one of the worst hail storms I have ever sat through hit the fishery at about lunch time causing anglers to scatter in all directions searching for cover. It didn't last long but the winds were incredibly strong and the temperature dropped 6 - 7 degrees in a couple of minutes. Despite the awful weather, Essex based Roland Hook stuck it out and was rewarded for his determination by a Hampshire Avon Record beating barbel weighing 16lb 1oz. He took this exceptional fish on halibut pellet from the tail of the House Pool. As you can see from the photo this is a cracking fish that is in great condition. One other capture worth mentioning was by young James Hutton of Davis Tackle who caught an 11lb 8oz pike from Brew House Hole on a ledgered deadbait.
Roland Hook with his Hampshire Avon record barbel
Leanne Jaynes returned on Monday to continue her attack on the Royalty barbel and she fished above the falls near the tail of the House Pool and tempted an 11lb 7oz barbel on a boilie. Colin Minter fished the Railway and caught a 4lb 2oz chub on meat. Considering that the water temperature had fallen seven degrees from Saturday it was somewhat pleasing that the odd specimen fish continued to feed on anglers baits. Unfortunately the temperature fell again on Monday night by a further three degrees and it was hardly surprising that no fish were reported on Tuesday.
Dave Dean with his 9lb Railway caught barbel Jim_Maclannan with a 6lb 14oz bream from his catch of nine bream
Leanne Jaynes with another Royalty double - 11lb 7oz. Mark Smith with his 7lb 9oz birthday present!
11lb 4oz barbel caught by Mike Page Richard Mills with his 11lb 7oz barbel
Richard Mills with his second double of the day at 12lb 9oz Richard Wookey with 9lb 14oz of Trammels barbel
Royalty Fishery Report 9th February 2005
It has been quite a week on the Royalty with some truly excellent barbel being captured. The milder weather has finally encouraged the barbel to get their heads down and feed with a vengence and those anglers on the fishery have been rewarded with some cracking fish. The real highlight of the period since our last report has been that the barbel fishery record has been broken on two separate occassions by two different fish! The pike have also fed well and there have been a couple of anglers who managed multiple captures which included large doubles. The odd large chub has also turned up recently, althout admittedly nothing to match the 7lb 8oz monsters that Throop has been throwing up with some regularity this season. Roach and grayling continue to feature heavily in anglers catches from above the Parlour and, despite the unseasonally low water levels the river is providing some excellent sport.
At the end of last month Christchurch AC Chairman Andy Johnson fished sprat in Trammels and caught a fine 16lb 11oz pike, whilst Richard Wookey continued his excellent run of specimen fish with a 6lb 8oz chub which took his rolled luncheon meat whilst he was fishing above Watersmeet.
On the following Monday Sid Fields used halibut pellet in the Railway to capture a 9lb 4oz barbel. Norman Ham fished the Cinder Path on the same day and tempted several grayling and an out of season sea trout of 3lb 8oz on trotted maggot.
Tuesday saw an angler whose name was not recorded in the Bailiffs Records capture pike of 12lb 10oz, 13lb 2oz and 17lb 8oz on deadbaits.
Leanne Jaynes, who has had an incredible season on the Royalty, took her best fish to date on Thursday when she caught a 14lb15oz barbel from the Telegraphs on paste. Another regular, Ray Walton, caught a 9lb 6oz barbel from Trammels on rolled meat whilst yet again we had a publicity shy piker who caught a 14lb 4oz from the Piles on a deadbait.
On Friday, Kevin Ash decided to fish the House Pool using double 21mm halibut pellet and succeeded in catching a fantastic barbel weighing 16lb 1oz. This fish smashes both the Royalty and the Hampshire Avon records but, whilst there were anglers who saw the capture, unfortunately no-one actually witnessed the weighing. We checked Kevins scales and found them to be accurate and the photo's of the capture confirm that this fish is the same one as held the previous record at 15lb 7oz so we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this fantastic fish. Indeed recent recaptures of other known fish suggest that a weight gain of only ten ounces for this fish is below that shown by other similar size fish in the Royalty. Somewhat overshadowed on the day was an excellent 5lb 12oz chub taken by Richard Trim on trotted maggot.
Saturday saw yet another Royalty regular get amonst the Royalty doubles when Richard Wookey had a lovely conditioned 11lb 3oz barbel from Greenbanks on rolling meat. A 12lb pike was reported in the Bailiffs Records but no further information was available. What is it with the pike anglers at the moment? they all seem to want to remain anonymous!
On Sunday, a former Royalty barbel recored holder was down from his native Sussex in the shape of Ken "Wallis Cast" Watkins, and he adopted a roving approach which paid dividends when he reached Harrigans where his rolling meat was intercepted by a lovely 11lb 4oz barbel. Mike Spurgeon fished maggot above the Roadbridge and caught a nice seven pound barbel.
Nothing was reported on Monday which was something of a surprise as the fishery looked in cracking form. However yesterday saw Ray Walton catch his second thirteen pounder of the season from the Royalty when he used his rolling meat method to fool a lovely 13lb 1oz barbel from Trammels. He then followed this up with another of 6lb 3oz from the Railway. Richard Wookey also got amongst the feeding barbel with a lovely clean fish weighing 5lb 3oz from below the Pipes.
This morning I was able to witness and weigh a fantastic first ever barbel weighing 15lb 11oz for David Gates of Aldershot. This fish was in truly fabulous condition and put up one hell of a fight before he was able to land it. It fell to a boilie presented in the hole above the Roadbridge. Like Kevins fish above, this barbel also beats the current Royalty and Hampshire Avon records.
The salmon season kicked off on February 1st and there have been a few early rods out on the fishery hoping to tempt a fresh spring salmon. At the time of writing the only news has been a kelt of 7lb 8oz caught and returned by Kevin Styles and a number of out of season sea trout to 3lb 8oz. Hopefully we will be able to report a fresh fish shortly, possibly when the next Spring tide raises water levels throughout the fishery.
Joe Harrop with a lovely 6lb 8oz chub from Telegraphs Richard Wookey with a chub of 6lb 8oz from above Watersmeet
Ray Walton with 13lb 10z of hard fisting Trammels barbel Kevin Ash with his 16lb 1oz specimen barbel
Richard Wookey again, this time with an 11lb 3oz barbel Richard Trim with a fantastic 14lb 7oz barbel
Ken Watkins with a well deserved 11lb 4oz barbel from Harrigans Dave Gates with his PB barbel of 15lb 11oz - What a fish!!
Royalty Fishery Report 26th January 2005
The fishery continues to be very quiet especially since the temperature fell last weekend. The good fishing and near ideal conditions of last week attracted a number of anglers at the weekend which unfortunately coincided with the very cold conditions. Up till then those anglers who actually fished found the barbel willing to feed provided you could locate them.
Last Wednesday Leanne Jaynes once again showed that she is capable of getting amongst the better fish in the Royalty when she captured an excellent barbel weighing 13lb 9oz from above the Boathouse on a boilie. She also took a smaller barbel weighing 5lb 5oz from above the Roadbridge, again a boilie was the successful bait. Joe Harrrop, of Royalty View fame, took two barbel of 6lb and 5lb 4oz, both on paste from the Stumps.
On Friday Peter Kibby used luncheon meat to tempt a lovely 12lb 4oz barbel from the Falls. The same tactics also resulted in a 7lb barbel from Trammels which is looking particularly good at the moment, particularly near the replacement willow deflectors which Christchurch Angling Club have installed. These have resulted in two new creases in the water which look extremely inviting. Simon D’Arcy fished the Railway slack and was rewarded with a 6lb bream. The successful bait was not recorded.
As already mentioned, the weather turned very cold on Saturday and no fish have been recorded in the Bailiffs log since that date. As we have now had these cold temperatures for a few days now we can hope that, as the fish become accustomed to them, they will once agin begin to feed on anglers baits.
Royalty Fishery Report 19th January 2005
As January progresses there seems to be very few anglers prepared to face the cold and come down to fish the Royalty despite what have been, on many days, fairly ideal conditions. Flow rates and levels have been excellent and there has been a tinge of colour in the river for a while now. Even the water temperature has settled down to a cold but constant level encouraging many fish to feed well for the time of year. With so few anglers venturing onto the fishery it has been left to the local diehards to take advantage of the conditions and capture some excellent barbel at the same time.
The first week of the New Year saw Trevor Ridley capture an excellent personal best barbel from just above the footbridge on luncheon meat. Rod Cutting fished the Railway, again using meat, and took a 7lb 6oz barbel. Ray Walton managed a brace of 5lb 3oz and 4lb 15oz in an afternoon from Greenbanks on rolling meat. Later in the week he captured an excellent 10lb 11oz beauty which fell to the same bait and method. Joe Harrup caught an excellent chub from the lower water near Telegraphs on an undisclosed bait and Richard Wookey took yet another twelve pounder when he tempted one of 12lb 6oz from the Point on rolled meat. Pike to 18lb 8oz were also caught from around the fishery.
The second week started quietly but by the Tuesday the river looked in fantastic condition, in fact it looked so good that I left the shop in the capable hands of Jon and Helen and spent the afternoon fishing myself. I say fishing, actually I spent most of my time weighing and photographing fish for Richard Wookey who took a 10lb 12oz barbel from below the Pipes, followed by an 11lb 12oz cracker from the Green Gate and finally one of 7lb 8oz, again from the Gate swim. Richard Trim however took the fish of the month when he tempted a superb 14lb 7oz personal best barbel from above the Roadbridge. It was a shame that there were only three of us out there when the river was in such fantastic condition. The only other capture of note during this week was on the Saturday when, once again, Richard Wookey managed to persuade yet another Royalty double to take his bait. This time the fish came from the House Pool and weighed 10lb 11oz.
This week the fishery has continued to produce barbel to those prepared to fish it. Richard Wookey took a 6lb 15oz barbel from Harrigans using rolling meat on Sunday whilst Leanne Jaynes tempted a 7lb 2oz barbel from above the Boathouse on boilies. Monday saw Leanne Jaynes revert to luncheon meat and captured a 10lb 4oz beauty from above the Roadbridge. Not to be outdone Richard Wookey continued his excellent run of captures with a 10lb 9oz barbel from Greenbanks and Ray Walton chipped in with a hard scrapping 5lb 5oz barbel from the Railway. This morning Leanne Jaynes took a 5lb 5oz barbel from the Roadbridge on a boilie.
The river continues to look good and with the forecast rain for later this week the fishing could well continue in its current form.
Archiving of 2004 CatchesDue to the increased size of the weekly reports and especially the number of photographs published we have archived the catches for this season up to the end of 2004. These records and the associated photographs can now be found by clicking the link below. Be warned, if you are not on broadband it may take a while to load!
Royalty Fishery Report 21st December 2004
The fishing on the Royalty has been very quiet over the past month with very few anglers actually fishing. There have been days with only a single angler on the entire fishery braving the evements. For most of the month the cold water temperatures, coupled with near gin clear water clarity meant that the barbel fishing was largely a waste of time with only the odd fish coming out. Those who came pike fishing fared better with a number of good fish taken from throughout the fishery. Last week we finally got some heavy rain and the water level, temperature and colour levels rose invitingly and a number of regulars made plans to fish as soon as the first dirty flush, along with all the accumilated debris, had passed through. Unfortunately the weather Gods had other ideas and they treated us to an overnight temperature of -5 Degree C, coupled with a really heavy frost. Next time we may be more fortunate!
Looking ahead to Christmas, Davis Tackle will be closed on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day but C.A.C. members will still be able to fish on both days provided they bring their membership books with them. The fishery will be bailiffed on both days so if you do intend to fish please don't forget your book as without it you will not be allowed on to the Royalty.
Finally I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from myself, Helen, Jon and James at Davis Tackle. Thank you for all your support and custom since we took over from Graham back in June and we look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year.
Notable Royalty Fish Taken Since Last Report
Date |
Angler |
Capture |
Swim |
Bait |
18th November 2004 |
Ray Walton |
10lb 10z Barbel |
Roadbridge |
Rolling Meat |
18th November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
11lb Barbel |
Mugs Hole |
Rolling Meat |
19th November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
12lb 2oz Barbel |
Above Boathouse |
Rolling Meat |
19th November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
10lb 12oz Barbel |
Railway |
Rolling Meat |
19th November 2004 |
Ray Walton |
10lb 11oz Barbel |
Pipes |
Rolling Meat |
20th November 2004 |
Andy Johnson |
8lb 11oz Barbel |
Great Weir |
Rolling Meat |
21st November 2004 |
Dave Basher |
7lb 5oz Barbel |
Nursery |
Rolling Meat |
21st November 2004 |
Dave Basher |
7lb 11oz Barbel |
Nursery |
Rolling Meat |
22nd November 2004 |
Ray Walton |
9lb 4oz Barbel |
Pipes |
Rolling Meat |
22nd November 2004 |
Mr Worsford |
23lb Pike |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
23rd November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
9lb 7oz Barbel |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
23rd November 2004 |
Tim Lennon |
19lb 10oz Pike + 2 Jacks |
Parlour Pool |
Livebait |
24th November 2004 |
Ray Walton |
8lb 11oz Barbel |
Greenbanks |
Rolling Meat |
24th November 2004 |
Ray Walton |
4lb 12oz Barbel |
Greenbanks |
Rolling Meat |
24th November 2004 |
Tim Lennon |
15lb Pike |
Not Recorded |
Livebait |
24th November 2004 |
Tim Lennon |
10lb Pike |
Not Recorded |
Livebait |
24th November 2004 |
Not Recorded |
9lb Barbel |
Railway |
Not Recorded |
24th November 2004 |
Jon Perkins |
11lb 2oz Barbel |
Fiddlers West |
Rolling Meat |
25th November 2004 |
Terry Shergold |
14lb 10oz Barbel |
Railway |
Pellet |
26th November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
10lb 12oz Barbel |
Not Recorded |
Rolling Meat |
27th November 2004 |
Jez Brown |
21lb 4oz Pike |
Compound |
Deadbait |
27th November 2004 |
Jez Brown |
14lb 10oz Pike |
Compound |
Deadbait |
27th November 2004 |
Andy Keates |
8lb 8oz Pike |
Compound |
Deadbait |
27th November 2004 |
Mick Spurdon |
6lb Barbel |
Boathouse |
Maggots |
30th November 2004 |
Not Recorded |
18lb Pike |
Railway |
Deadbait |
30th November 2004 |
Richard Wookey |
15lb 7oz Common Carp |
Watersmeet |
Not Recorded |
3rd December 2004 |
Mike Pidgeon |
11lb 10oz Pike |
Trammels |
Deadbait |
4th December 2004 |
Not Recorded |
18lb Salmon (16 hook, 3lb Line!) |
Trammels |
Double Maggot |
5th December 2004 |
Dave Burgess |
20lb Pike |
Great Weir |
Fly |
5th December 2004 |
Peter Gibson |
Jack Pike |
Great Weir |
Fly |
5th December 2004 |
Peter ? |
19lb Pike |
Roadbridge |
Not Recorded |
9th December 2004 |
Alan Escot |
6lb Barbel |
Edwards |
Maggots |
11th December 2004 |
Andy Johnson |
7lb Barbel |
Boathouse |
Not Recorded |
11th December 2004 |
Kristian Ramsier |
3lb approx Barbel |
Trammels |
Rolling Meat |
12th December 2004 |
Not Recorded |
12lb 8oz Pike |
Great Weir |
Deadbait |
16th December 2004 |
Ray Walton |
10lb 11oz Barbel |
Pipes |
Rolling Meat |
17th December 2004 |
Ian Timms |
8lb 8oz Barbel |
Railway |
Pellet |
Jez Brown with his 21lb 4oz Compound Pike Andy Keates with his first Royalty pike weighing 8lb 8oz
Ray Walton and a 10lb 11oz Barbel from the Pipes Terry Shergold with a fantastic winter barbel of 14lb 10oz
Richard Wookey and a 12lb 20z beauty Jon Perkins of Davis Tackle with an 11lb 2oz caught on meat
Ray Walton with his 10lb 12oz Roadbridge fish. Tim Lennon with a lovely 19lb 10oz Pike
Royalty Fishery Report 17th November 2004
The Royalty Fishery has been strangely quiet over the past week with hardly any anglers fishing the venue. Conditions for those who did were pretty consistent with cold clear water and reduced river levels, hardly ideal and unsurprisingly, the fishing was pretty hard. The weed continues to die back making float work easier but there is still a fair amount remaining in certain areas of the fishery. On my visits to the fishery over the last week I have seen few fish moving. A couple of large carp continue to be spotted in the lower Parlour/Watersmeet area and others are to be found in the pools on the Clockhouse Stream. Few barbel were visible and the bream were absent from most of their regular haunts. Grayling continue to show throughout the fishery in increasing numbers as well as plenty of out of season sea trout both of which are being caught on trotted maggot. The pike continue to feed well and once again large eels are falling to ledgered deadbaits.
On Wednesday Leanne Jaynes fished boilies near the Roadbridge and captured barbel of 6lbs and 8lbs in difficult conditions.
On Thursday Mr Garvill had a good day when he fished Trammels, taking sea trout and grayling along with an excellent pike of 19lb 12oz.
Hardly anyone ventured onto the fishery on Friday and Saturday, no doubt put off by weather forecasts predicting temperatures down to minus three. However the conditions didn't put off Paul Greengrass who fished the Railway and captured an 18lb 2oz pike. His friend Phil Sharp also got in on the action with a pike of 6lb 10oz which took his bait just after the firtst fish was landed.
Conditions on Sunday were much better than predicted and a few anglers finally ventured onto the fishery around 10:30 to enjoy clear blue skies and warm sunshine. Pike to ten pounds were reported along with eels to 3lb 8oz although the Duty Bailiffs failed to record the names of those anglers who were successful.
Monday saw two anglers on the fishery and one of them, Derek Roots, had an enjoyable day trotting maggot catching grayling to 1lb 4oz along with dace and out of season sea trout.
On Tuesday once again only two anglers visited the fishery, one of whom was Ray Walton who caught a seven pound two barbel using rolling meat from above the Railway.
To conclude a very quiet week in terms of both anglers and fish caught!
Paul Greengrass with his 18lb 2oz Pike taken from the Railway Ray Walton with a lovely conditioned barbel weighing 7lb 2oz
Royalty Fishery Report 10th November 2004
The Hampshire Avon is now running fast and clear with the streamer weed finally beginning to die off with the recent colder weather. A couple more frosts and those who enjoy trotting will find the Royalty perfect for float fishing for the roach, chub and barbel. The coloured water we enjoyed last week is now just a distant memory and once again it is possible to see the fish moving around the fishery. Barbel have been present in reasonable numbers from the Railway up to Watersmeet as well as above the Road Bridge up to the Telegraphs. Carp have been showing well around the Parlour down to the Stumps, as well as in the Clockhouse Stream. Many of the bream have taken up residence in the slack by Brewhouse Hole as well as around the mouth of the Clockhouse Stream. A reasonable number of chub have finally been showing up in catches from Fiddlers and above the Railway and grayling have once again started to show from the Cinder Path. With the arrival of November 1st the pike season got off to an excellent start with fish taken from the Parlour, Great Weir, Piles, Brewhouse Hole and the Clockhouse Stream.
On Sunday young Gareth Wynn caught a fantastic 13lb 3oz barbel from above the Boathouse on luncheon meat whilst Mick Spanswick fished the slack above the Railway and used the same bait to tempt a slimline 6 pounder. He then moved to the Pallet Swim where he captured a 7lb barbel, again on meat.
Monday was the first day of the pike season on the Royalty and several hardy anglers were to be found waiting outside the shop well before 7:30am despite the dreadful weather. The pike obliged and R Mathews took two from the Piles using livebait, one weighing 16lbs and the other a jack of six pounds. G Aggar fished the Trammels and took two pike of 12lb and 5lb but his tactics went unrecorded. K Crittal chose to fish for the barbel and was rewarded with a lovely 8lb 8oz beauty from the Pallet swim on luncheon meat.
On Tuesday the pike continued to feed with the Piles again producing fish to Mike Pidgeon who used sardine to catch a 11lb 3oz pike and Dave Garthorne who tempted fish of 7lb and 11lb on livebait. Darryl Cook also reported a pike of over 15lbs from the Railway slack on an unrecorded bait.
On Wednesday the fishery was unusually quiet with hardly any anglers at all fishing. Mr Worsfold took full advantage however of the empty banks and he captured pike of 9lb and 7lbs along with five eels up to an incredible 5lb 6oz, all on dead baits. On Thursday he fished the Housepool where the fish were less inclined to feed but he still managed to catch a six pound pike.
Friday saw Royalty regular and proprietor of the Royalty View guest house Joe Harrop catch a wonderful 11lb 13oz barbel from the Gate Swim on Paste. Peter Barnes fished the Trammels using sardine and captured a lovely condition pike of 13lb 8oz on sardine. Derek Roots had a surprise when an out of season Sea Trout of 1lb 4oz took his maggots in the Housepool and put up a spirited fight before being returned to the water.
On Saturday Peter Barnes fished the Top Weir for pike and caught a 13lb 12oz beauty. Jez Brown fished the Parlour using a popped up smelt deadbait and caught a season best pike of 18lb 4oz, again the successful bait was livebait. Mick Scarborough fished the Railway from the West bank and caught three chub to over 7lbs on Trigga boilies for a total weight of 20lbs, easily the best chub capture this season from the Royalty where the chub fishing has to date been very disappointing. Simon Webber fished the Piles and took a pike in excess of 15lbs on livebait, one of a number of fish he caught on the Fishery during the week. Mr Turner used maggot and caster in the Railway and caught two chub weighing approximately 5lb each.
Only one fish was recorded in the Duty Bailiffs book on Sunday, and excellent 12lb barbel which fell to paste fished above the Road Bridge whilst on Tuesday only two bream were recorded, again from the Road Bridge, bait and anglers details were not taken. It is unclear whether the fishing was really this poor on these two days or the record keeping that was not up to scratch.
On Tuesday few anglers were about but those who were found the fishery in near perfect conditions. Ray Walton took two barbel and a chub from Harrigans weighing 10lb 8oz, 9lb 10oz and 4lb 12oz respectively before moving downstream towards the Railway where he caught another barbel of 7lb 12oz. All his fish fell to rolling meat. Capture of the day went to Mike Thompson who, on his first visit to the Royalty, fished just above the Stumps caught a new Royalty record common carp of 32lb 3oz on a popped up halibut boilie. This fish was in fantastic condition and I was lucky enough to be able to witness the weighing and return of this cracking carp. A great fish to end this weeks report on!
Michael Thompson with his fantastic Royalty record common carp weighing 32lb 3oz taken from above the Stumps on 9th November
Jez Brown with his PB pike weighing 18lb 10oz Peter Barnes with a lovely marked 13lb 8oz pike
Ray Walton with a lovely 10lb 8oz barbel Ray again, this time with a 9lb 14oz taken on his following cast!
Dave Basher with his new PB barbel weighing 14lb 13oz Steve Curtin with a wonderful 13lb 13oz barbel
Joe Harrop with a lovely 11lb 13oz barbel
Royalty Fishery Report 31st October 2004
Over the past fortnight the Royalty Fishery has finally received the additional water and colour we have been crying out for all season. The only problem was that we appeared to get the whole lot in one go and the river rose and rose. For the first few days the amount of weed and debris that came downstream made fishing rather difficult but the barbel, as you would expect, fed well. The difficulty was finding a way of successfully presenting a bait in the fast, high coloured water. Although at times difficult, the Royalty did remain fishable throughout this period and a number of excellent fish were captured. Highlight was a new Royalty and Hampshire Avon record barbel weighing a phenomenal 15lb 7oz although a 12lb+ brace ran it a close second. The roach and bream were to be found in the slacks throughout the fishery but the carp seemed to have all migrated into the pools on the Clockhouse Stream. Few other species were recorded during this period. The dominance of halibut pellet seen in recent weeks ended along with the colder water. Traditional favourites such as maggot, caster and luncheon meat scored well along with boilies and John Baker type pastes.
As we were asked last week to withhold our report to allow the angling media a ‘free run’ at the story of the new Hampshire Avon record fish it has been necessary to restrict this report to a summary of the fish reported. Normal style reports will resume next week.
Date Angler Capture Swim Bait
12/10/04 Leanne Jaynes 5lb 8oz barbel Telegraphs boilie
13/10/04 Ray Walton 11lb 7oz barbel Shallows rolling meat
13/10/04 unknown 6 x small barbel Pipes not recorded
14/10/04 Leanne Jaynes 11lb 2oz barbel Road Bridge boilie
14/10/04 Bill Godman 3 sea trout to 2lb Cinder Path maggot
15/10/04 Michael McCulloch 12lb 9oz barbel [1] Above Boathouse boilie
15/10/04 Michael McCulloch 13lb barbel [1] Above Boathouse boilie
15/10/04 Mr T Welch 4lb 0oz barbel Stumps boilie
16/10/04 Steve Curtin 10lb 11oz barbel [2] Gate Swim boilie
16/10/04 Steve Curtin 11lb 11oz barbel [2] Gate Swim boilie
16/10/04 Steve Curtin 13lb 13oz barbel [2] Gate Swim boilie
16/10/04 Steve Curtin 5lb 0oz barbel Gate Swim boilie
16/10/04 unknown 2 barbel + 1 salmon Greenbanks boilie
16/10/04 Trevor Wilson 2 x 6lb barbel Nursery paste
16/10/04 G Attwood 8lb 8oz barbel Stumps boilie
18/10/04 unknown 7lb bream Gate Swim not recorded
19/10/04 Bill Ward 9lb 14oz barbel Point boilie
19/10/04 unknown 6lb 9oz barbel Not recorded not recorded
20/10/04 Will Ward 15lb 7oz barbel [3] White Stile boilie
20/10/04 Brian Ringsell 7lb 0oz barbel Trammels meat
20/10/04 Brian Ringsell 8lb 0oz barbel Pallet Swim meat
20/10/04 Frank Saunders 9lb 8oz barbel Trammels meat
21/10/04 Brian Ringsell 7lb 0oz bream Trammels meat
22/10/04 Dave Basher 14lb 13oz barbel Nursery rolling meat
22/10/04 Trevor Wilson 7lb 0z barbel Stumps boilie
22/10/04 Trevor Wilson 5lb 0oz barbel Stumps boilie
22/10/04 Trevor Wilson 8lb 0oz barbel Stumps boilie
22/10/04 Trevor Wilson 11lb 10oz barbel Nursery boilie
23/10/04 Richard Wookey 7lb 14oz barbel Lower Water meat
23/10/04 Mike Spurdon 8lb 1oz bream Pipes paste
23/10/04 Graham Rowing 6lb 8oz barbel Above Boathouse maggot
23/10/04 Dave Basher 12lb 3oz barbel Nursery rolling meat
23/10/04 Dave Gaukrodger 8lb 0oz barbel Boathouse meat
23/10/04 Graham Attwood 9lb+ barbel Cattledrink paste
24/10/04 Eddie Widdup 13lb 8oz carp Trammels boilie
24/10/04 Dave Basher 8lb 0oz barbel Railway meat
24/10/04 Oliver Barker (age 12) 20lb mirror carp Parlour boilie
25/10/04 Leanne Jaynes 8lb 0oz barbel White Stile boilie
25/10/04 Trevor Ridley 6lb 0oz barbel Greenbanks rolling meat
25/10/04 Oliver Barker (age 12) 13lb 1oz barbel Stumps meat
26/10/04 Leanne Jaynes 9lb 4oz barbel White Stile boilie
26/10/04 Johnny Miller 4lb 8oz chub Not recorded not recorded
27/10/04 Jon Berry 9lb 4oz barbel Below Pipes meat
27/10/04 Jon Berry 6lb 10oz barbel Below Pipes meat
28/10/04 Ray Walton 3 barbel to 10lb 2oz Various rolling meat
28/10/04 Michael Spurden 7lb 4oz barbel Piles maggot
28/10/04 Leanne Jaynes 7lb 4oz barbel Road Bridge rolling meat
28/10/04 Matthew Barr 11lb 2oz barbel Below Pipes maggot
29/10/04 Dave Basher 11lb + barbel Railway rolling meat
29/10/04 Graham Rowing 5lb 0oz barbel Boathouse maggot
30/10/04 Graham Rowing 7lb 14oz barbel Boathouse maggot
30/10/04 Andy Johnson 7lb 12oz barbel Railway Slack meat
30/10/04 Andy Johnson 9lb 4oz barbel Railway Slack meat
[1] Best brace to date [2] Best triple to date [3] New Royalty Fishery and Hampshire Avon River Record
Will Ward with his fantastic 15lb 7oz Hampshire Avon Record Barbel .....and here's Dad with a rather smaller 9lb 14oz beauty
Dave Basher with yet another Royalty monster - 12lb 3oz Ray Walton with an 11lb 7oz fin perfect barbel
Oliver Baker with his 13lb 1oz barbel from the Stumps Oliver again, this time with a 20lb mirror carp from the Parlour. Two cracking fish
Michael McCullen with his 12lb 9oz beauty Michael again, this time with a 13lb barbel. What a brace and taken in difficult conditions.
Thanks for the kind words in this weeks Anglers Mail Michael, it is greatly appreciated!
Royalty Fishery Report 12th October 2004
Over the past week the Royalty fishery has been quiet, both in terms of fish caught and anglers fishing. On some days there has been as few as six people on the whole fishery, probably as a result of the cold, wet weather conditions we have been experiencing. Whilst the number of barbel caught is far lower than in recent weeks, there have still been a few excellent specimens landed by those who braved the conditions. Despite the rain that has fallen, the water level and clarity remains unchanged and large barbel continue to be seen moving around the Road Bridge, Railway and Parlour. The resident carp are showing far less than in recent weeks as are the bream shoals which have moved down from Trammels. Roach, dace and the odd chub and grayling continue to fall to trotted maggot and caster as does the odd bonus barbel.
The early part of the week offered those anglers on the water early the chance to fish in rather more ideal conditions than of late due to the eel trapping activities upstream at Winkton. With the weir closed overnight and the river restricted to passing through the eel trap, river levels above this point rose noticeably. When the weir was re-opened at 8am the Royalty subsequently received a welcome flush of higher, coloured water which lasted for an hour or so, during which time the barbel fed well. Unfortunately there were few anglers on the fishery to enjoy this short lived period. Local angler John Stack was on hand to take advantage of the temporary conditions on Tuesday and was rewarded with an 8lb barbel which fell to trotted maggots.
On Wednesday former British Record holder Ray Walton fished his preferred method of rolling meat and took a new personal best Royalty barbel of 13lb 10oz from the Car Park area of the fishery. Bruce Townsend caught a 5lb chub from the Falls on the same day, again the successful bait was luncheon meat.
Thursday saw Colin Gooden fish a rewarding day in the Parlour’s Garden swim where he tempted an excellent 6lb 3oz chub, along with a 9lb 13oz barbel.
No fish were reported to the Bailiffs on Friday but two club members were known to have taken barbel from above the Pipes, details of which have not been forthcoming.
Saturday showed little improvement with only Darrell Cook recording success with the resident barbel, tempting a respectable 8lb 4oz fish from Greenbanks on an undisclosed bait. On the same day Christchurch AC Chairman Andy Johnson took chub to 3lb on trotted maggot.
The weekend ended slightly better as Richard Wookey managed to persuade a nice barbel he had spotted above the Road Bridge to take his ledgered luncheon meat. This fish, which took at last knockings, turned out to weigh 10lb 10oz and was in splendid condition.
On Monday Leanne Jaynes continued her excellent run of success on the Royalty this season with a truly superb new personal best barbel weighing 14lb 6oz. This fish took a boilie presented by L:eeanne in the vicinity of the Telegraph’s.
Tuesday saw two barbel recorded, both taken by Leanne Jaynes. Again she fished the Telegraph’s area, this time catching barbel of 8lb 5oz and 5lb.
Sea trout fishing on the Bridge Pool has been steady over the past week with catches averaging seven fish per day with fish up to 3lb reported. Best catch was made by Mr M Perry of Teddington who recorded 14 sea trout for the day.
Ray Walton with a new Royalty PB of 13lb 10oz Richard Wookey with a lovely coloured 10lb 10oz beauty
A very clean 8lb 4oz barbel taken from Greenbanks by Darrell Cook
Royalty Fishery Report 5th October 2004
Fishing on the Royalty over the past seven days has been tougher than in recent weeks with the fish proving far less willing to get their heads down and feed well. The river has been in reasonable condition although we are still seeing summer levels despite it now being October. Having said that we have finally had some reasonable rainfall down here in Dorset so hopefully we can expect better levels sooner rather than later. Water and air temperatures have also been pretty consistent so the difficult fishing that anglers have experienced cannot really be attributed to the prevailing conditions. Perhaps we will have to start paying closer attention to tide tables and moon phases in the future!
Good size barbel are still being spotted above both the Roadbridge and the Railway along with the runs above the Boat House. Plenty of smaller barbel are patrolling in the general vicinity of Watersmeet and the Stumps, sometimes drifting back to the Pipes area. Fewer carp and bream have been showing although Watersmeet and the mouth of Little Weir continue to offer the opportunity to catch these species. Roach and dace are still being caught on trotted bread, maggot or caster although few larger specimens have been caught. The larger chub continue to be conspicuous by their absence except in the lower area of the Parlour.
On Wednesday Leeanne Jaynes took two barbel, the best weighing 9lb 4oz, but unfortunately no further details were recorded by the Duty Bailiff for the day. Trevor Ridley used luncheon meat to tempt a 7lb 8oz barbel from the Railway.
Thursday saw Leeanne fishing above the Roadbridge where she used boilies and caught barbel of 12lb 7oz and 5lb, along with a 6lb + bream. Martin Cornish was another angler who managed to tangle with a Royalty ‘12’ when he took a superb barbel of 12lb 2oz which was a new personal best specimen. His bait was halibut pellet which also tempted a second barbel for him weighing 8lb 8oz. Terry Emmins was so close to a double when he caught a barbel weighing 9lb 14½ oz on halibut pellet.
Fishing on Friday was very tough with only one reported barbel, a 6lb example taken on pellet from Greenbanks. No other catches were recorded. The weekend continued in the same vein with the best fish reported a 10lb 12oz barbel captured by Tony Judge from the House Pool on luncheon meat. An unknown angler also caught a 6lb 8oz barbel from the Point above the Boathouse using caster.
On Monday the fishery finally returned to its recent form with plenty of barbel reported from around the fishery. Best fish on the day was caught by John McGough who fished opposite the Rod Room. It weighed 12lb 15oz and the successful bait was paste. Local angler John Stack fished the Pipes and took barbel weighing 10lb 8oz and 4lb on luncheon meat. Malcolm Phillips also used meat in the same area and caught a 6lb barbel, also on meat. C Missey fished the Stumps and caught one of the elusive large chub at 5lb 2oz along with a six pound barbel. J Driscoll trotted maggot in Fiddlers West and caught a lovely 7lb 12oz barbel.
The sea trout fishing in the Bridge Pool has continued its recent improvement with catches reported of up to 35 fish in a day, with the best fish reported at 12lb, taken by Mr A King. Despite this reported improvement, the fishing is still rather inconsistent and it remains necessary to experiment with different techniques until a method is found that works well on the day. A number of anglers have reported that the sea trout have been more willing to feed in the top 3 feet of water rather than hard on the bottom. Maggot has also consistently outfished worm recently, with bites to either red worm or dendrobaena hard to come by. Silver Blue Bumble and Invicta have both taken fish in the past week as has the old favourite the Alexandria.
Few anglers have fished the main river for sea trout over the past week but Bill Godman reported a lovely 2lb 8oz fresh sea trout taken from Johnsons on a falling tide.
Dave "Happy" Cartwright with his magnificent 13lb 12oz barbel The same fish being safely returned after recovering from the fight
Dave - nearly smiling - with a 12lb beauty from the Pipes Dave yet again, this time with a 9lb 12oz cracker
John McGough with a truly beautiful 12lb 15oz barbel Leeanne Jayne with a lovely 12lb 7oz specimen
Dave and his 11lb 6oz fish from the Gate Swim Jon Perkins of Davis Tackle with a 3lb 8oz sea trout
Royalty Fishery Report 28th September 2004
After the excitement of last week, it would not have been that surprising if this week had been something of an anti-climax. As things turned out this was not the case with more specimen barbel being caught and an increase in the number of multiple catches being reported. The good head of common carp that the Royalty holds have also been feeding well, along with the roach, perch and dace. Only the bream and chub declined to join in the fun with few reported catches at all, despite the near ideal conditions. Water temperatures have been constant, the sky has remained overcast and there was even a hint of colour in the river at times, what more could we ask for? (ok higher water levels if we are to be totally honest!).
It appears that many of the barbel have moved upstream and areas that have been so productive in recent weeks, such as the House Pool and Car Park, have now gone off, probably due to sheer angling pressure in this area. In contrast the Railway, Greenbanks and the Pipes have really switched on along with Fiddlers and Gate swim area which has returned to its early season form. It only remains for Trammels to start producing as we all know it is capable of doing so and the Royalty will be flying again.
On Wednesday it was reported that an unnamed Christchurch AC member captured a 14lb 8oz specimen from one of the swims in the meadow but did not report it. John Stack rolled meat through the Railway and caught an excellent 10lb barbel. Mr Webber used halibut pellet when he fished the Pipes and caught a 7lb 8oz barbel and an 6lb bream while Mr Tarrant used a pellet maggot cocktail to tempt an 8lb bream from below the Great Weir. These were the only two bream reported during the entire week although rumour had it that Rod Bordley continued his success with bream this season, managing to winkle out the odd slab or two despite their unwillingness to feed.
Thursday saw Graham Allen fishing the Pipes where he tempted an excellent 12lb barbel which fell to halibut pellet, the same bait which proved successful for an angler who fished above the Roadbridge and caught a 10lb specimen. Frank Sperring chose to fish maggot in Brew House Hole and it resulted in the downfall of a 10lb 12oz barbel. Trevor Ridley tempted a 9lb 12oz barbel from the White Stile on luncheon meat and Graham Newton caught two barbel weighing 6lb apiece. Joe Harrop fished the Pallet swim and captured an excellent 10lb 2oz barbel.
On Friday Richard Wookey was once again in the headlines when he caught a tremendous barbel of 13lb 9oz, his second ‘13’ in two weeks. He captured this fish, along with another of 8lb 6oz, from the Railway. Both fish fell to luncheon meat. The Railway was also the area from where Mr Morris used meat to tempt a common carp weighing 14lb 8oz. Finally Paul Cooper chose to fish the Boathouse using boilies and was rewarded with an 8lb barbel.
For a change the Royalty chose to offer up some good fishing on a Saturday and Dave Cartwright - a name you will hear more of later in this report - took advantage of this to capture a magnificent 11lb 8oz barbel from the Gate Swim on static meat. Mike Spurdon was also in on the action when he took a 10lb 12oz beauty from above the Boathouse on halibut pellet.
Sunday was quieter but Jim Townsend caught an absolutely cracking barbel of 13lb 3oz on caster & hemp feeder fished with caster hook bait, whilst his fishing mate Jed Dearlove used the same method to tempt an 8 pounder.
Monday was something of a red letter day for Dave Cartwright who once again fished the Gate Swim and caught the first ‘double double’ of the season when he captured barbel of 10lb and 11lb 6oz, the best brace of the season to date. Both fish fell to halibut pellet. Another angler with a smile on his face at the end of the day was Ian Jones who chose to fish the stumps using pellet and he enjoyed excellent sport with five barbel, the best going 6lb 14oz. His father, fishing nearby, unfortunately didn’t share the same luck as he lost what appeared to be a large double. John Parkhill fished the Railway on pellet all day without any joy and decided on last knockings to try meat and was instantly rewarded with a fantastic 24lb 14oz common carp!
At the time of writing this, early Tuesday evening, Dave Cartwright is absolutely caning the barbel in the Pipes with six fish to 13lb 12oz so far! The details are 13lb 12oz, 9lb 12oz, 8lb 8oz, 6lb 8oz, 6lb 4oz and 5lb 6oz all falling to halibut pellet. Kevin Denny fished the Parlour using hair rigged 14mm halibut pellet fished over a good bed of hemp and caster and managed his first ever Royalty barbel weighing 7lb 9oz. His fishing colleague, Paul Greengrass lost a really good barbel that stormed into the white water before breaking him. As most anglers are still fishing it will be necessary to complete the report for today next week.
The sport in the Bridge Pool continues to pick up and the reports we have received have been much more encouraging with up to 20 sea trout to 3lb being recorded by anglers. Likewise Johnson’s is producing the odd sea trout to anglers prepared to walk and fish this pool. Few anglers have fished the main river this week for sea trout but those who did reported the odd fish but nothing of any size.
Richard Wookey with his magnificent 13lb 9oz barbel Eight pounds of fighting fit barbel taken by Richard Wookey
Jed Dearlove and his 8lb Parlour barbel Jim Towsend with is excellent 13lb 3oz barbel taken on the same day
Mike Spurden with a 10lb 12oz barbel from above the Boathouse A happy John Parkhill with his fantastic 24lb 14oz common carp
Kevin Denny and his 7lb 9oz Royalty 'first'' Bert Crawford with a lovely 10lb barbel
'Happy' Dave Crawford and his 11lb 8oz cracker
Royalty Fishery Report – 21st. September
The run of large barbel that have come out of the Royalty this season continues unabated. It was only two weeks ago that the fishery record was equaled by Ken Watkins and now it has been well and truly beaten by an absolutely wonderful 14lb 12oz specimen taken by Dave Basher. This is the largest reported barbel from the Hampshire Avon this season and is only 5 ounces off the river record of 15lb 1oz.
The past week has been fairly quiet on the Royalty with many anglers finding the barbel and chub fishing quite slow, particularly during the daytime. Water temperatures fell rapidly as the week progressed and this may well have contributed to the slow sport. Fish continue to be spotted all over the fishery but they have been unwilling to get down to any serious feeding spells except as darkness approaches. The bream are still coming out in reasonable numbers for those anglers who target them and the carp have been very active from the Railway up to the Little Weir although few anglers have been fishing for them. The increased head of perch continue to make their presence felt with good specimens being caught from the Piles on maggot and minnow baits. Good catches of roach, dace and small chub continue to be taken by anglers fishing maggot and caster.
On Wednesday Edwin Carr caught a cracking 11lb 14oz barbel from the Pallet Swim on luncheon meat whilst not to be outdone Ann Carr caught her first ever barbel weighing 4lb 2oz from the Boathouse.
Thursday saw Joe Harrop fish the Gate swim where he used pellet to catch an excellent 11lb 14oz barbel and a six pound bream. Ashley Bowers also got amongst the bream on Trammels where he used worm to tempt them to six pounds in weight. Joe Tanneta, who recently caught his first ever barbel weighing 12lbs, returned to the Railway where he took a barbel of 6lb 12oz on halibut pellet. Martin Moyers fished the Pipes from the West bank to capture an 8lb 12oz barbel on luncheon meat. Patrick Hogan fished maggot to take a good bag of small chub, dace and trout from Fiddlers East.
On Friday the fishing was fairly hard and only two catches were reported to the Duty Bailiffs. Dave Derby caught an 8lb 5oz barbel from the Pipes whilst an unnamed angler fishing the Parlour captured an 11 pounder. Saturday was equally tough although Dave Basher caught a 9lb 13oz barbel from the Railway on halibut pellet. Two other fish were reported, a 7lb 12oz barbel from above the Boathouse and a 4 pounder from the Stumps near Watersmeet. No further details were recorded. Sunday wasn’t much better but Dave Pryor had a good days fishing above the Road bridge. He used luncheon meat to catch a 7lb 8oz barbel along with two bream. Dave Pryor returned to the same swim above the Road Bridge on Monday and was rewarded with a superb 12lb 4oz barbel which fell to ledgered boilie.
Local chef Dave Basher has had a fantastic season on the Royalty so far capturing some superb barbel up to his new personal best of 13lb 8oz but on Monday he topped the lot by taking an absolutely fantastic specimen of 14lb 12oz which, as I said earlier, is a new fishery record. The fish was caught during a short session in the morning before Dave had to go into work and fell to a halibut pellet and once again I was lucky enough to see the fish weighed and returned. It was simply stunning. One can only guess what weight this fish will reach later this season as it packs on weight for winter.
On the game fishing front sport has continued to be patchy in the Bridge Pool. Best reported catch was twelve sea trout to 2lb in weight all caught on trotted maggot. The odd sea trout has also been taken from the main river on both fly and maggots. Large numbers of sea trout continue to be seen in the harbour so hopefully when we finally get some rain sport will improve considerably.
Neil Webb with a wonderful 25lb 2oz common carp Darren Hawen with his 11lb 4oz barbel
Dave Basher with his Railway caught 9lb 13oz beauty Derek Roots with his 9lb 7oz fish taken from above the Boathouse
Dave Derby and 8lb 5oz of fighting barbel Dave Pryor with his 11lb 40z specimen from the Road Bridge
Dave Basher with his Royalty Record 14lb 12oz specimen For traditions sake, Dave getting wet in the process. (poor effort Dave)
Stop Press - New All Time Royalty Record Landed 20/09/04
Just under two weeks ago the Royalty Record barbel was equalled by Ken Watkins when he landed a fantastic 14lb 8oz specimen. Today I can report that this record has now been smashed by an incredible 14lb 12oz beauty caught by none other than Dave Basher who, this season, has really managed to get amongst the large double figure barbel that inhabit the Royalty, capturing fish up to 13lb 8oz in the process. This fish was in perfect condition and, in the words of the captor, fought like a demon! Once again I was privelidged enough to be there and witness the weighing and returning of this fish; absolutely brilliant. A full report will appear in this weeks Royalty Report later this week.
Dave Basher and 14lb 12oz of Royalty Record barbel Same fish from the other side - still fabulous
Royalty Fishery Report – 14th September
I am sorry that this weeks report is later than normal but we are in the process of expanding Davis Tackle into the premises next door and to say that we are in a state of upheaval would be putting it mildly! Hopefully when it is all over we will be able to provide our customers with a much greater range of stock and a bit more space to move around in. Anyway, this week the Royalty really produced the goods with a string of quality barbel topped by a new joint fishery record weighing a fantastic 14lb 8oz. The seasons best common carp also came out along with good catches of bream, roach and perch. The Great Weir was re-opened after being shut for a week and Trammels is now looking really good having had a very selective weed cut by CAC. Large carp continue to hang around Watersmeet and where Little Weir joins Trammels and a large shoal of bream has moved back up to Nelsons. Perch are showing up all over the fishery and are being caught to over two pounds from the Piles where they can be seen smashing into the shoals of fry sheltering in the slack.
On Wednesday Ken Watkins used a halibut pellet to catch a 14lb 8oz barbel from the Car Park . This fish equalled the fishery record set back in 2002 and was in wonderful condition. I was privileged enough to see this fish being weighed and returned and it was a truly fantastic fish. One can only wonder what size this fish will be when it reaches its winter weight. Other catches on the day included a 7lb 8oz barbel taken on rolling meat from the Pipes by Ray Walton and bream of 6lb, 7lb 12oz and 9lb caught by Terry Vines on pellet and luncheon meat.
Barbel continued to be caught from all over the fishery on Thursday with the best fish recorded being 9lb 4oz caught by Derek Roots from above the Boathouse on ledgered meat. Ken Watkins fished the Gate Swim using meat and caught a barbel of 8lb 13oz, the same bait that saw the downfall of an eight pounder to Mr Hadden in the Parlour Pool. Ray Walton was out guiding on the Fishery with Darryl Cook who used rolling meat to catch an 8lb 3oz barbel along with a 4lb 12oz chub and a 5lb 12oz bream.
On Friday the smaller barbel seemed to switch on to feed, particularly around the Railway and Greenbanks where Paul Murray took fish of 6lb 13oz and 5lb 5oz along with a bream of 5lb 12oz. David Gaukrodger rolled meat through Greenbanks and tempted a barbel of 7lb 8oz whilst Les Dwight fished meat in the Railway and was rewarded with a 9lb 8oz beauty. The weather on Saturday morning was appalling and few anglers ventured onto the fishery. Andrew Smith braved the rain and caught a 9lb barbel from Watersmeet on luncheon meat.
Local angler Richard Wookey fished on Sunday below the Footbridge and tempted a superb conditioned13lb 3oz barbel using halibut pellet. Later in the day he took another barbel from the same swim this time weighing 9lb 4oz. Les Dwight caught a cracking 10lb 11oz specimen from the House Pool using luncheon meat and John Stack tempted barbel of 5lb 8oz and 8lb from the Railway on rolling meat.
The weather on Monday morning was dreadful with torrential rain and high winds. Few people fished and only one fish was recorded, an excellent 11lb 11oz barbel caught by Richard Wookey. This fish fell to halibut pellet fished below the Footbridge and was a just reward for braving the conditions on the day.
Once again Richard was amongst the fish on Tuesday when he used the same tactics as the previous two days to tempt a 7lb 12oz barbel. Mr Walner fished above the Railway and caught barbel of 7lb and 8lb on caster. The best reported common carp of the season weighed 25lb and was taken from the Point opposite the Piles. This swim also produced an 11lb 4oz barbel but unfortunately the anglers name was not recorded in the Bailiffs Report.
The sea trout fishing has continued to be rather patchy, both on the main river and in the Bridge Pool. Catches to twelve fish have been reported with white maggot being the most successful bait, followed by red worm. Fly anglers continue to have some success with the killing patterns being Alexandra, Bumble Silver Blue, Silver Doctor and Teal Blue & Silver. In the main river sea trout can be seen lying above the Falls, on the gravel above the Boathouse, at the top of Edwards and above the Parlour where the weed has been drastically cut by Bournemouth and West Hants. Water Co.
Joe Tanetta with his first ever barbel weighing 12lb exactly Richard Wookey with a 7lb 12oz barbel
Paul Murray with a 5lb 5oz brabel taken above the Pipes Darrell Cook with a 4lb 12oz chub
Richie again, this time with a 9lb 4oz specimen ......and again. 10lb 2oz this time!
And again!! Getting bigger. This one went 11lb 11oz. Bert Careford with a beauty from the royalty
And finally.... Richie with a fantastic 13lb 3oz beauty. Darrell Cook with an 8lb 3oz specimen taken on rolling meat
Stop Press - New Royalty Record Barbel
Earlier today the Royalty Fishery record barbel was equalled by Ken Watkins who captured a truly fantastic 14lb 8oz specimen from the Car Park area of the fishery. This fish was tempted on ledgered halibut pellet earlier today and was weighed and witnessed by amongst others myself! The scales have been checked out and confirmed to be accurate, this was a truly huge Royalty barbel - just take a look at these pictures and see for yourself!
Royalty Fishery Report – 7th September
Last week on the Royalty coincided with the final week of the summer holidays and on most days the fishery had large numbers of anglers on the banks, most hoping to catch one of the large barbel which inhabit this stretch of the Hampshire Avon. The weather was cooler than of late and we did actually see some rain although this made no difference to either the height or colour of the water. Conditions remained ideal for fish spotting and anglers adopting a stealthy approach coupled with a pair of Polaroid glasses were rewarded with great views of large barbel and carp showing all over the fishery. Double figure barbel were spotted above the Road Bridge, below the Footbridge, above the Boathouse, the Railway, above the Pipes and in the Parlour. Many of the carp seem to have moved up to the area around Watersmeet where one angler claimed he had seen a shoal of at least 15 large carp, most of which he estimated to be doubles. Large numbers of perch to nearly 2lb have been making their presence known both by being caught and by hammering the fry shoals, particularly around the Piles. Salmon (now out of season) and sea trout are showing throughout the fishery and sea bass were reported in the Bridge Pool by one angler fishing there who watched them attacking the dace and chub shoals that inhabit that pool. Whilst fish were showing everywhere, unfortunately there were proving far more elusive when it came to catching them.
Wednesday morning saw Dave Burgess take a mixed bag of dace, chub, brown trout and sea trout on a pheasant tail nymph from the shallows above the Boathouse. John Lake fished the Cattle Drink and caught 48 dace along with bream to 8lbs on maggot and feeder. Simon Smith used luncheon meat in the boathouse swim to tempt a barbel of 8lb.
Sport on Thursday picked up and a number of good fish were recorded. Best of the bunch was a fantastic 13lb 8oz beauty caught by Dave Basher from the House Pool. I was lucky enough to see this fish weighed and landed and it was an absolute cracker. This topped quite a week for Dave who was on the cover of Anglers Mail the day before with his 12lb 15oz barbel caught a couple of weeks ago! Graham Rowing fished the Boathouse and captured a lovely brace of barbel weighing 8lb 8oz and 10lb using maggot and swim feeder. Greenbanks continued to produce the odd fish and Peter Arquati rolled meat through this area to tempt a 7lb barbel. An excellent chub of 5lb 8oz was taken in the Parlour by Andrew Towner and bream to 4lb 8oz were caught from the Compound.
Friday may not have seen as many fish taken as on the previous day but two doubles were still recorded. Richard Wookey rolled meat in the House Pool and captured a 10lb 4oz specimen whilst Keith Payne fished the Railway and caught two barbel, the best going 11lb 8oz.
Saturday saw only two barbel recorded, both falling to Graham Rowling from the Boathouse area. Sunday however was more productive with barbel taken from a number of areas of the fishery. David Rowley fished the Railway with luncheon meat and tempted a barbel of 9lb 10oz. Mick Webster used the same bait but chose to adopt a rolling technique and took a 9lb 4oz barbel from the Bottom Stile. Eric Payne fished red maggot from the Piles and captured three perch, all weighing 2lb. The Bailiffs records also show an 10lb 6oz barbel from above the Road Bridge taken by Damion, unfortunately no further details were recorded. Likewise a 5lb 8oz tench was captured from above the Boathouse on luncheon meat but the captors name is not known.
On Monday the Great Weir was shut down by Bournemouth and West Hants. Water to facilitate work on the settlement lagoon. This is scheduled to last all week and consequently the Compound down to the mouth of the Little Weir has no flow and is not expected to fish particularly well. Despite the disruption to the upper area of the fishery two more barbel were taken from the Railway, both on pellet. John Clifford took a seven pounder whilst Joe Fernetta had one of 7lb 10oz. Tuesday saw Dave Basher capture a 9lb 12oz barbel from above Watersmeet on rolled luncheon meat.
With the salmon season firmly behind us, it is the sea trout fishing which remains the focus for game anglers. Sport on the Bridge Pool has picked up somewhat although remains challenging. Silver and Blue Bumble and other flies showing this combination of colours have continued to be successful, on occasions outfishing bait such as maggot and worm. The odd fish continues to be captured from the main river on both bait and fly.
Dave Basher with his stunning 13lb 8oz Personal Best Barbel As regular viewers of this site have come to expect - Basher getting wet again!
Royalty Fishery Report – 31st. August 2004
Sport on the Royalty has been fairly good over the last week with barbel being caught from all over the fishery on a variety of different baits. Water levels remain constant and the river continues to run clear making fish spotting on the gravel runs fairly easy although catching them correspondingly harder! Evening continues to be the most productive time with the fish coming onto feed when the sun drops in the sky and the level of bankside disturbance decreases. Many of the resident carp appear to have moved upstream and settled around Watersmeet and the mouth of the Little Weir but few have been caught over the last week. The bream shoals continue to inhabit Fiddlers, Trammels and above the Road Bridge and have shown no inclination whatsoever to move. Heavy angling pressure appears to make them spooky for a day or two but doesn’t persuade them to seek pastures new. At last chub in the 2 – 3lb bracket have started to appear with some degree of regularity in peoples catches for the first time this season, being caught on caster, maggot and meat. Large pike continue to make their presence known in a number of swims and this bodes well for November time when these specimens can be fished for on the Royalty. Fish to an estimated 25lb have been accidentally hooked and lost during the past week, generally by anglers bringing roach or chub to the net.
On Wednesday John Stack rolled meat through the Railway swim and captured three barbel between 5lb and 9lb in weight. Doug Botting was another angler to capture three barbel that day, fishing the Road Bridge for two barbel of 9lb each and a lovely specimen of 11lbs. Ian Fegan, fishing the Garden swim, tempted a 7lb 12oz barbel on halibut pellet. Ken Holmes fished the Boat House and ledgered meat to catch a barbel and a bream, both weighing exactly 7lbs. Best fish of the day was a 12lb beauty which was taken from the Railway by Joe Tannetta who, like Ian, fished with halibut pellet.
The river on Thursday actually showed a little colour following the previous nights rain and the fish responded accordingly. Mike Bailey fished meat at Fiddlers West and caught a brace of excellent barbel weighing 9lb 14oz and 10lb 6oz. Mike Willis used sweetcorn in the Parlour to catch barbel of 10lb 4oz and 7lb exactly. Trammels was the swim fished by Mr D Tynall who captured 5 bream to 6lbs by alternating between meat and maggot.
By Friday the river had returned to the clarity of earlier in the week but this didn’t stop Doug Botting from catching an 8lb barbel from above the Road Bridge, the swim he had been successful in on Wednesday. Other notable captures were a six pound barbel caught by Mr Bower from the Piles and a 12lb 4oz fish from the Brew House Hole taken on a boilie, recorded in the Bailiffs Records but without the name of the successful angler.
There were large numbers of anglers on the banks of the fishery on Saturday, this being the first day of the Bank Holiday weekend, so the barbel chose to not play ball on the day. Peter White fished above the Boat House and took a barbel of around 7lb 8oz on an undisclosed bait whilst Elmoy Asher captured another of 6lb 10oz from the Railway on meat. Finally young Aiden Pearn, who was spending the day being guided on the Royalty by Ray Walton, used rolling meat to fool a lovely 6lb 11oz barbel from Greenbanks.
On Sunday Jim Hayes was rolling meat along Greenbanks when he captured a barbel of 7lb 8oz. Father and son, Brian and Philip Anderson fished the Garden swim in the Parlour and Brian had a personal best chub of 4lb 12oz whilst Philip caught his first and second barbel ever, weighing 6lb 4oz and 7lb using free-lined luncheon meat. Kelly John fished below the Pipes to take a six pound barbel on meat.
For a change, the reports on Monday weren’t solely dominated by barbel captures. Graham Rowling took a sea trout of 2lb 8oz on maggot, Stephen Jenkins caught roach to a pound and a half along with perch to the same weight using swimfeeder and maggot. John Cheetham also used a feeder and maggot to catch dace to three quarters of a pound, bream to six and a half pounds before switching to static meat over a bed of hemp to take a barbel of 10lb 8oz. Bert Careford also used meat to tempt a barbel of 10lb 2oz from an unnamed swim.
Tuesday appears to have been very quiet with only one fish recorded by the bailiffs, a 9lb 4oz barbel caught by a Mr L White. Unfortunately no further details of this catch were recorded. The only other details we received were from Jamie Lemon who contacted Davis Tackle to report that he had taken chub to 3lb from Trammels using meat and maggot.
On the Game fishing front it was the last week of the season for Salmon on the Royalty and consequently there were a few more anglers fishing for them than there had been in recent weeks. Unfortunately for most of the week, the salmon were not in a taking mood. This however all changed on Tuesday when Stuart Price took an incredible six fish on the day, five to the shrimp and an 11lb beauty from the Railway on a nymph. This took the fishery total to 72 for the season, with twenty five of those falling to Stuarts rod. Truly impressive.
Fishing on the Bridge Pool improved as the week progressed with fish to 3lb being reported caught on the fly. Other anglers were successful fishing maggot or worm including Mr Reed who took six sea trout up to 2lb on maggot. Hopefully this improvement will continue as we enter the months of September and October when hopefully we will finally get some significant amounts of fresh water in the river.
Richie Wookey with a 10lb 12oz beauty Greig Redmond with a different 10lb 12oz specimen
Jim Hayes and a 7lb 8oz barbel from Greenbanks Martin Bull with his first ever barbel
Rob Thomas with his meat caught 13lb barbel from Fiddlers Tony Worsford with a cracking 12lb 12oz barbel
Aiden with his first ever barbel weighing 6lb 9oz
Amendments to Previous Report
It has been brought to my attention that there were two errors contained within last weeks report. Firstly the 14lb barbel credited to Leeanne Jaynes' mother was actually around 8lbs and secondly the 13lb barbel taken by Rob Thomas fell to luncheon meat and not maggots as reported. I apologise for these errors but in my defence I can only go by what has been recorded by the Duty Bailiffs at the fishery. I have checked back on their records and they do show these captures as I originally reported them. Anglers are more than welcome to report their fish to us directly with as much detail as possible by emailing us at mail@davistackle.co.uk Please feel free to attach any photographs of your catch for publication on this site.
Royalty Fishery Report – 24th. August 2004
River conditions on the Royalty continue to defy the national pattern, running low and clear with heavy weed growth. We have now had two weeks of constant water temperatures and this has encouraged the fish to feed in a consistent manner. Anglers who choose to adopt a static approach, feeding up their swim, are picking up barbel first thing in the morning, and then again at last knockings, with few fish other than bream being caught in between. Others who choose to adopt a roving technique are still picking up the odd fish during the day but they too are having their greatest success as the evening approaches. Halibut pellet is beginning make a real impact but meat continues to be the most successful bait overall, at least for the barbel. Having said that, they are beginning to come out in greater numbers to anglers fishing maggot, although this bait seems to be preferred by the smaller barbel with few larger fish being taken using this method. Bournemouth and West Hants. Water Co. have finally cut back the flow over the Little Weir and re-opened the gate on the Great Weir. This has resulted in flow returning to Trammels and we can expect this area to start fishing well again shortly. Yesterday barbel were seen on the gravel at Edwards for the first time in the last fortnight and carp were surface feeding where Little Weir rejoins Trammels. Work has started on clearing some of the excessive bank side vegetation in this area so it should be worth paying this area of the fishery closer attention in the next week or so.
Leeanne Jaynes has proved over the past few weeks that she has managed to master the inhabitants of the Royalty with a string of excellent specimens being banked. On Wednesday she took another barbel of 13lbs but for once she didn’t take the best fish of the day. According to the report in the Bailiffs Office her mother went one step further, catching a 14 pounder on the same day and Gary Redmond was credited with taking an amazing 14lb 2oz specimen on meat from the Road Bridge. Alan Cooper successfully fished Greenbanks, tempting a fish of around 8lbs on luncheon meat. James Hutton of Davis Tackle spent the day fishing Fiddlers East with a friend he was introducing to barbel fishing. Using 8mm halibut pellet over a bed of 4mm pellet he took three bream to six pounds along with barbel of 8lb 2oz and 5lb. His friend, Jason Whitfield was pleased to land his first ever barbel weighing 5lb 13oz, along with a bream of around 5lb using the same tactics as James.
One of the most pleasing catches on Thursday was a small barbel from the Boat House on maggot. This fish, taken by Derek King, is one of a number of small barbel which have been taken this season and this can only bode well for the future. The Royalty bream, which normally treat luncheon meat with the utmost caution, decided to throw the rule book out of the window and both Tony Barclay and Mike Scarborough used this bait to catch bream weighing over 7lbs. Tony took one of exactly 7lbs from above the Road Bridge, whilst Mike had fish of 7lb 6oz and 7lb 4oz amongst a catch of six large ‘slabs’. Leeanne Jaynes used boilies to catch a 3lb eel from the same area of the fishery and Martin Moyes tempted a seven pound barbel with luncheon meat from the Pipes.
Few fish of note were taken on Friday but John Cheetham used maggot to catch a 2lb 8oz perch, one of the best of this species recorded this year. Saturday saw Rob Thomas fish Fiddlers East where he managed to catch a cracking 13lb barbel on luncheon meat, a personal best for Rob. John Niman fished the Railway Slack using boilies and caught four bream to 5lb whilst Graham Newton took a 6lb 8oz bream from just below Edwards.
Jason Reifet had a good days sport on Sunday when he fished the Railway to catch six bream to 7lb 8oz using pellet, along with a 5lb 8oz chub on meat. Martin Noyes took a 5lb 8oz barbel but unfortunately I have no other details of this capture. Ray Walton took a barbel of around 7lb 8oz from just below the footbridge in the Car Park, one of two barbel spotted earlier in the day by Ritchie Wookey.
Two double figure barbel were recorded on Monday. Chris Hummerstone fished the Falls with pellet to capture a beautiful 12lb barbel and Andy Eadie tempted an 11 pounder from the Pallet swim with shrimp flavoured luncheon meat. Mike Bull was another angler who caught barbel using maggot as his hook bait, his fish weighing 6lb was taken from the Piles.
First thing on Tuesday the river was up almost a foot, the colour of chocolate and carrying a fair bit of debris. Initial hopes that we were finally to benefit from all the recent rain were dashed when the river returned to its previous level and clarity within a couple of hours. It turned out that the brief flush through was a result of the Great Weir being re-opened as mentioned earlier in this report. Despite this, Kevin Hubbard used mini boilies to capture an 8lb 8oz barbel from above the Boathouse. Mike Powell had booked a days guided fishing on the Royalty with Ray Walton and was rewarded with three fish on the day. He caught a barbel of 6lb 11oz from below the Pipes, another of 5lb from Greenbanks and a bream of 5lb 6oz, again from below the Pipes. A very creditable catch when many other anglers struggled on the day. Once again Ray proved that he probably knows the Royalty and its barbel better than any other angler around. In the evening Ritchie Wookey returned to fish for the barbel he had seen below the Footbridge and managed to capture an excellent 10lb 12oz specimen.
No salmon were reported during the period covered by this report. The Bridge Pool continues to be challenging although a capture of two sea trout on the fly was recorded by Mr Luckurst yesterday. Reporting of anglers catches continues to be sporadic but thank you to those anglers who responded to my plea last week.
Jez Brown with his 11lb 8oz beauty from the Parlour Jason Whitfield with his first ever barbel weighing 5lb 13oz
Richie Wookey with his hard earned 18lb 9oz Koi Carp Rob Thomas and his 13lb barbel from Fiddlers East
Steve Davies and his pristine 12lb 12oz Parlour fish Another picture from Jez Brown from his day with Ray Walton
Royalty Fishery Report – 17th August 2004
Whilst it seemed that the rest of the country has been inundated with an excessive amount of rain, the Royalty continued to run at its summer level with little or no colour in the water. Caller after caller to Davis Tackle asked if the river was still fishable, as we sat there hoping that we could be blessed with a bit more water in the river. At least the water temperature finally stabilised at around 66 degrees which was far more conducive to productive fishing. The barbel continue their summer feeding pattern, being most active as the evening approaches or on overcast days. They also appear to be moving around the fishery a lot more in recent days with certain known fish being seen down by the Road Bridge one day and in the Parlour the next. The carp are still feeding hard and continue to be caught by those anglers targeting them. They are showing regularly in the slack at the head of the Piles, in the Railway and by the stumps at the tail of Watersmeet. Walking the fishery on Sunday I saw three large commons in the latter swim and two of them were well over 20lbs. The upturn in the roach fishing continues unabated with maggot and caster being the most productive baits. Large numbers of perch are also showing up all over the fishery and, like the roach, maggot has been the best bait. The Royalty bream, which appear to be some of the craftiest slabs around, continue to show suicidal tendencies when presented with a blanket of halibut pellet to get their heads down on.
Throughout the fishery the barbel fed well on Wednesday and a number of good fish were taken. Best of the bunch was an excellent 12lb 12oz specimen caught by Tony Worsfold from Telegraphs on meat, which he followed up by taking a 6lb 2oz bream, again on meat. Aran Worsfold fished the same area and caught an identical weight bream using the same tactics. Telegraphs also produced a 9lb 4oz for Alex Monger to luncheon meat. Andy Staines fished the Railway and took an 9lb 10oz barbel on an unspecified bait, whilst Ron Smith used meat to tempt a 7lb barbel from the Pipes. Best catch of the day was from the channel above the Pipes which looks excellent at the moment. Martin Moyers fished this swim and caught five barbel to 7lb 8oz and also lost a further two in the heavy weed. Last mention goes to bream expert Rod Bordley who took a 4lb 8oz barbel from the Gate Swim.
Thursday and Friday were quiet on the Main River but Jez Brown fished the Parlour and had a thoroughly enjoyable days sport. He chose to fish maggot for the silver fish during the day and took perch and roach to around a pound along with some excellent dace. He also accidentally hooked three pike to over 20lb when retrieving roach and managed to land one of around 8lb. In the evening he switched to luncheon meat and was rewarded with a cracking barbel of 11lb 8oz.
Saturday saw the Barbel Society descend on the Royalty for a days fishing and there were around fifty anglers in total fishing that day. Unsurprisingly the barbel chose to not co-operate, instead hunkering down in the thickest weedbeds they could find, and waiting for everyone to depart and the fishery to quieten down. Only three fish were reported for the day, the best being by Nigel Matthews who caught a 10lb barbel from the Railway on meat. Jez Brown was again successful with a 6lb 8oz barbel from the Parlour whilst another fish of 7lb was reported being taken from the Stumps by an unnamed angler.
Sunday was far quieter and the weather appeared ideal, cooler and fairly overcast. Unfortunately nobody told the barbel this and they continued to ignore most anglers attempts to capture them. Perhaps they were ‘hung over’ from all the bait thrown in the previous day. Jez Brown, who had spent the previous day being guided by Ray Walton, used his newly learned rolling meat skills to tempt an 8lb 15oz beauty from the Garden swim whilst Ray took a wonderful 11lb 2oz fish himself from the head of the Parlour on freelined meat. Best chub of the day weighed 5lb 6oz and was taken by Christchurch AC Chairman Andy Johnson whilst the best barbel came from the Piles and weighed 12lb 15oz, the latter being taken on meat by an angler whose name was indecipherable in the Record Book but his first name appeared to be Roland. Another angler whose surname is a mystery to us is young Charlie, who fished meat to take an excellent 8lb bream from Fiddlers East.
For the last week local angler Richard Wookey had been targeting one of the Royalty fishery koi carp and on Monday he finally managed to tempt it on pellet from above the Railway. This lovely fish weighed in at 18lb 9oz and, to the best of our knowledge this is the first time this particular specimen has been caught for over eight years. Leanne Jaynes, who was so successful a couple of weeks ago, picked up where she had left off with a 10lb carp from above the Road Bridge on boilie. John Cheetham fished the same area for two barbel of 7lb 12oz and 9lb 14oz on static meat. Andy Johnson was mentioned in dispatches again, this time with a barbel of 7lb 8oz. Finally Alan Cooper recorded a 6lb barbel from the top of Greenbanks on luncheon meat.
Leanne Jaynes fished again on Tuesday and her catch was quite outstanding, barbel of 12lb 8oz and 10lb 14oz, a 15lb 2oz mirror carp and a 6lb 4oz bream all taken on meat. Ray Walton fished the Railway and tempted a barbel of over 6lbs on rolling meat. Not to be outdone Dave Basher ‘borrowed’ Rays swim for five minutes and took a brilliant 12lb 5oz barbel from under the masters nose! Les Dwight also recorded a wonderful evenings fishing when he captured two double figure barbel on meat from near the Gate Swim, one of 10lb 1oz and a cracker of 10lb 12oz.
The game fishing has been pretty quiet over the past week with only two salmon reported, both falling to Stuart Price. One was taken from Mugs Hole at 6lb and the other from the Piles weighing 7lb, both fell to shrimp. Whilst we are aware that the Bridge Pool has continued to be frustrating for those anglers fishing for sea trout we have had no actual reports from any anglers over the last week so I am unable to provide any further details. Can I take this opportunity to remind all anglers fishing this pool that it is a requirement of their booking that a report is made to Davis Tackle detailing their catch. This is made clear on the tickets supplied and also in the accompanying letter but a number of anglers this season have failed to comply with this requirement. Please help us to ensure that the information we give out is as accurate as possible. Thanks.
Dave Basher - this time wet from the rain - with his 12lb 5oz Railway fish Keith Mersh with exactly 10lb of fighting barbel
James Hutton of Davis Tackle with a 6lb 2oz bream from Fiddlers East James again - this time with an 8lb 2oz barbel from Fiddlers
Leeanne Jaynes with her 11lb barbel Leeanne with her excellent 23lb mirror carp
Jez Brown, his guide Ray Walton and a 6lb 8oz barbel Jez putting what he learned to great effect with an 8lb 15oz fish
Richard Wookey with a georgous 23lb common carp John Clifford with his 10lb 12oz barbel
Royalty Fishery Report – 10th August 2004
With summer finally returning to Christchurch, more anglers ventured onto the Royalty to enjoy both the fishing and the settled weather. Whilst the high temperatures may have been appreciated by the holidaymakers on Mudeford beach, it was not so welcomed by those hoping to tempt a specimen barbel or chub from the Royalty. Day by day the water temperature crept upwards until it reached a high of 69 degrees C at which point Christchurch Angling Club made the sensible decision to ban the weighing and photographing of fish in order to minimise any potential stress to the fish.* Despite these temperatures the fishery has continued to produce some excellent fish for anglers who managed to master the conditions and persuade the fish to feed. The weather could also have played its part in producing the best weeks carp fishing since the beginning of the season as three ‘twenties’ were reported for the first time.
The fishing was at its quietest on Wednesday with the best barbel reported being a four pounder caught by Craig Alland from the Pipes. Honours though should go to Leanne James who caught a 23lb 7oz mirror carp from the Piles.
Leanne continued her run of success the next day when she took an 11lb barbel on luncheon meat. A ‘twenty’ and a ‘double’ in two days, wonderful sport in anyone’s books. Another carp fell to Ashley Morris who landed a 9lb mirror which he tempted with a boilie. Ray Farlow caught a cracking 12oz dace whilst Michael Wright switched between meat and corn to capture six chub. Whilst the bream fishing was pretty quiet for the whole week, Derek Roots took a 6 pounder.
Friday saw few anglers on the fishery but in the morning the barbel were actively feeding all over the Royalty with ideal overcast skies and a slight freshening of the water as a result of the heavy rain experienced to the North of Christchurch. Few fish were actually caught during this heavy feeding period although a number were reported lost. By the afternoon the skies had cleared, temperatures and pressure had risen and the barbel had returned to their secretive haunts in the streamer weed. Of those who managed to master the conditions, the best were Guy Robb, who rolled meat to capture two barbel of 7lbs and Derek Roots caught a 7lb barbel from the BoatHouse.
Graham Attwood fished on Saturday and chose to use paste fished above the Pipes and this resulted in an excellent catch of five barbel to seven and a half pounds. Richard Wookey decided to take some time off from his barbel catching exploits and turned his attention to the large carp that inhabit the Royalty. Using bread on the Piles he tempted a superb common carp weighing in excess of 20lbs. Les Dwight took the largest barbel of the day when he landed an estimated 12lb plus beauty from the Pallet swim having used luncheon meat as his bait.
The next day Richard Wookey proved his previous days 20lb carp was no fluke when he captured another common carp, this time estimated to weigh around 25lbs from the Railway Slack. The odd thing about Sunday was the number of fish hooked and then lost. At least eleven separate occurrences were reported to the bailiff that day.
On Monday John Clifford fished pellet to tempt a 10lb 12oz barbel from below the Boat House. Peter Johnson also used pellet to capture barbel of six and a half pounds and eight pounds, this time from the Railway. Tuesday evening saw John Miller continue his recent run of large barbel with two doubles from the Road Bridge which went 10lb 2oz and 13lb 1oz respectively. Mick Spanswick fished the ever popular Boathouse swim to outwit a 7lb 4oz barbel and Andy Johnson used pellet to take another of 8lb 4oz.
On the Game fishing front, sport has inevitably dropped from the superb activity experienced recently. Despite this a further five grilse have been reported since last week, bringing the seasons total to an excellent 64 fish. Fishing in the Bridge Pool can best be described as moody with the sea trout happy to make their presence known but unwilling to actually get down to any form of serious feeding. Large fish continue to be hooked and lost in this pool, sometimes after fights lasting several heart-stopping minutes. It is hoped that some of the excess rain, experienced in other parts of the country, finds its way into the Avon catchment area as this could only benefit the fish and the fishing.
*At the time of writing, this ban has now been lifted as the water temperature has dropped to a more normal seasonal temperature.
Event Announcement
On Friday Ray Walton will be appearing as the guest on the programme Tight Lines which is broadcast on Sky Sports Extra. Details of the show are as follows:-
Tight Lines 13th August 7pm Sky Sports Extra"Former British barbel record holder Ray Walton will be Keith's studio guest this week. Ray 'Rolling Pin' Walton has caught some of the biggest barbel in the country and he has quite an unusual method of getting them to take his bait."
Important Notice
Due to the current hot weather, Christchurch Angling Club have suspended the weighing and photographing of fish on the Royalty to minimise any distress caused. Please make sure you comply with this temporary restriction which will be removed as soon as the water temperature returns to normal.
Thank you.
At Last, The Photo's Have Returned! (2nd Edition)
We have finally sorted out the problem with our web server taking additional photo's and once again we will be publishing the best of those we receive.
A plump six pounder caught by Dave Basher Ray Walton with a cracking 5lb 14oz chub
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..... Ray Walton with a 12lb 12oz beauty
Dave Basher with a 10lb 10oz Barbel
The same fish in a more conventional pose Richard Wookie with his 10lb barbel
Dave -again!- this time with a beautiful 12lb 12oz barbel Hazel Wright and her 13lb 2oz barbel
Derek Roots with a 12lb 8oz barbel Jon Perkins of Davis Tackle with a 10lb 2oz barbel
Derek with a 15lb 14oz Royalty Common Carp Keith Godden with his 12lb 2oz barbel from the Parlour
Jock Cameron and his 12lb 11oz barbel Ken Chapman with the current best fish of the season 13lb 12oz
Roger Gould with his superb 13lb 4oz Barbel A fin perfect example of the passion called barbel
Royalty Fishery Report – 3rd August 2004
Over the last week the fishing on the Royalty has been far more consistent than in recent weeks and, for those prepared to fish right through the evening, fairly productive. Water levels have remained surprisingly consistent despite the lack of rain and the larger barbel have been feeding well albeit with their usual caution. Excellent carp continue to be spotted around the Piles, Railway slack and at Watersmeet and large shoals of bream are still hanging around Trammels and above the Road Bridge. Good numbers of barbel in the three to six pound bracket are currently to be found in the Parlour, particularly from the Garden swim downstream. For barbel the most successful bait continues to be luncheon meat, rolled during the daytime and static as the evening approaches. The bream are still responding to a carefully presented bait fished over a bed of hemp or pellet whilst the silver fish are responding equally well to maggot, caster and bread.
Wednesday saw Rob Gerry venture below the Road Bridge to capture a 7lb 8oz barbel on luncheon meat whilst Chris Alcock rolled meat in the Gate swim to capture a 9lb 8oz specimen. Best barbel of the day at 12lb 12oz was caught by Dave Basher on meat from the White Stile.
Thursday found the bream feeding well and Stuart Holden fished Fiddlers East with corn over hemp and pellet to capture eight bream in the 5 – 6lb bracket along with a barbel of 4lbs. Good bags of dace and roach were reported from just above Watersmeet and below Telegraphs.
On Friday barbel were caught from all over the fishery with the best specimen falling to Derek Roots who captured a 10lb 4oz barbel from above the Boathouse. Andy Johnson fished the House Pool using luncheon meat to catch barbel of 6lb 10oz and 8lb 1oz, whilst Chris Divine took bream to 5lb along with a 5lb 12oz barbel from an unspecified swim.
Over the weekend quality barbel continued to be caught with a trio of excellent fish reported from above the Road Bridge. Ray Walton took a wonderful 12lb 12oz barbel, Tim (Jock) Cameron nearly matched this with a cracking 12lb 11oz barbel whilst Richard Wookie took a 10lb barbel and an 8lb carp from the same area. Eddie Widdowson used boilies to catch barbel of 6lb and 7lb from just above Foxes.
Monday was a bit quieter although Joe Harrop caught a 6lb barbel from the Piles and Ray Walton used his trademark trundled meat to take barbel of around six pounds and one of 9lb 7oz from the Garden Swim. One angler found the perch feeding well in the Little Weir and Steve Hunter took and estimated catch of around 30lbs of silver fish on trotted caster.
Tuesday saw two more good barbel caught. Dave Basher once again used meat above the Road Bridge but this time he managed to outwit a fish that went fractionally over 12lb 15oz but didn’t quite make 13lb. An exceptional fish none the less and a personal best for Dave following on from his 12lb 12oz fish earlier in the week. That evening I managed to catch an 11lb 1oz barbel from the Parlour on rolling meat and Dave Basher was on hand to weigh and photograph this fish for me.
The Royalty game fishing continued its recent excellent run with a further eight salmon caught from the fishery. Stuart Price continued his successful run with a superb five salmon in one day. He started with a brace from the Parlour and then went on to catch a further two from the Piles and one from the Railway, all on shrimp. Gary Perks fished the Parlour on Wednesday and caught two salmon, one of five pounds and one of eight. Sport in the Bridge Pool continues to be steady rather than spectacular with catches averaging around a dozen fish to around three pounds. Most anglers have reported hooking into very large sea trout which they have failed to land and large fish continue to be spotted on a regular basis. An angler fishing for coarse fish had a superb sea trout estimated at around 8lb in the House Pool which was returned unharmed.
Royalty Fishery Report - 27th July 2004
The fishing over the last week on the Royalty can best be described as a bit of a curates egg – good in parts. High air and water temperatures, coupled with bright sunshine and clear water, resulted in difficult conditions for anglers. Frustratingly, quality fish could be seen all over the fishery but in the main they were not prepared to feed on the baits being offered. In particular, very large carp were spotted around the Piles and in the Clockhouse stream and good barbel were showing in the Compound, Edwards and below the Pipes. Encouragingly roach continue to be caught in reasonable numbers by anglers trotting breadflake from Trammels. Lets hope this bodes well for the future. The large shoal of quality bream continues to hang around on Trammels but few anglers have targeted these fish this week. Those anglers who were prepared to adopt a roving approach had the most success with rolling meat continuing to be the most productive method.
Greenbanks remains lightly fished and on Wednesday Trevor Ridley took advantage of this to catch barbel of 6lb and 7lb on rolling meat. Richard Adley adopted the same approach and took a fine fish of 9lb 6oz. Best fish of the day was caught by Kristian Ramsier who tempted a 10lb 2oz barbel from the tail of the Compound on John Baker Barbel Search 4 Paste. This was one of a shoal of about eight fish which had totally defeated me earlier that evening!
On Friday the Fishery returned to its earlier season form and three double figure barbel were reported. Dave Basher fished above the Falls to take a 10lb 10oz specimen on rolled meat and Ray Walton took a beautiful 12lb 10oz barbel using the same method. Les Dwight also recorded a 10lb 2oz fish on meat from an unspecified swim and Rod Bordley finally ended his recent run of specimen bream with a 9lb 15oz barbel taken on sweetcorn.
Saturday was fairly quiet with few fish reported to the Bailiffs. In the evening Ritchie Wookey took a 6lb 8oz barbel and a 3lb 8oz chub whilst Ray Walton had an 8lb 6oz barbel, all fish falling to rolled meat. Sunday continued in the same vein with the best fish reported being a ten pound barbel from below Mugs Hole on luncheon meat. Bert Careford also took an 8lb barbel from the Pallet swim on meat.
Mr R Holloway fished Mugs Hole on Monday and used luncheon meat to tempt an 8lb 4oz barbel, the same bait that proved the downfall of a 10lb 4oz beauty from above the Pipes for Malcolm Phillips.
Tuesday saw the Royalty on song again for the few anglers who fished that day. Conditions were far more favorable than they had been recently and it was strange to see so few anglers fishing. Once again three doubles were recorded Mr G Rover took a ten pound barbel from the Railway on an unspecified bait, John Miller had an 11lb 4oz fish and Dave Gaukroger one of 10lb 8oz, the last two from unspecified swims.
On the game fishing side, the salmon fishing continues to be excellent with eleven fish taken in the last week. Shrimp continues to be the most successful bait, although heavy nymphs have also been productive. The Parlour, Railway, Pipes and Top Stile have all produced fish and there are fish showing in most of the other known pools. One particular catch is worthy of special mention, Bill Godman was fishing the Bridge Pool for sea trout when he accidentally hooked a salmon of around five pounds. He managed to land the fish despite fishing a 2.6 bottom. Other successful anglers have been Tony Timms with four, Alan Godfrey with three, Stuart Price with two and Gary Perks and Bill Godman with one apiece. The Bridge Pool is also fishing well for sea trout with catches reported to 18 fish up to 3lb 12oz.
Royalty Fishery Report - 20th July 2004
Sport on the Royalty continued in the same patchy vein as last week with the unsettled weather no doubt contributing to this situation with both air and water temperatures swinging by anything up to 5 degrees from one day to the next. Despite this there were still a few good catches including six double figure barbel to 13lb and some large bags of bream.
Tuesday was very quiet with few fish reported to the bailiffs although Royalty regular Kris Ramsier tempted an excellent 19lb 6oz mirror carp from the Clockhouse Stream on bread. Two other carp of 18lb 9oz and 9lb 6oz were taken from the Piles.
On Wednesday Chris Pryor took a beautiful 12lb barbel from the Boathouse on static meat whilst Dick Harvey using the same tactic caught a barbel weighing in excess of 13lb from the Pallet swim. These swims, along with the Car Park and House Pool, have to date been the most productive swims on the fishery with regard to double figure barbel. Another Royalty regular Andy Johnson was rolling meat for barbel on Trammels when his bait was picked up by a splendid 9lb 1oz bream.
Sport on Thursday picked up and Geoff Goodey took two barbel of 7lb 8oz and 5lb 9oz from below Mugs Hole on meat whilst Lee Hayward caught an 8lb 8oz barbel from the Pylons, a much neglected area of the fishery this season along with Telegraph’s. Both of these areas look in excellent condition, hold a reasonable head of fish but are being ignored by most anglers this season for some inexplicable reason. The lack of angling pressure, relative to other stretches of the fishery, suggests that this area could be worth further investigation. Trammels continued to produce good bags of large bream to anglers who fished pellet over a bed of hemp or micro pellet.
Greenbanks is another area of the Royalty that has only been fished lightly this season but Trevor Ridley fished there on Friday and took four barbel to 7lb 8oz on rolling meat. Mugs Hole once again produced a double, this time a barbel of 10lb 4oz to Mr P Snow.
Sport on Saturday was fairly dour although John Pacey took barbel of 5lb and 10lb on meat whilst Russel Beck took a beautiful perch of 3lb, along with a 2lb 8oz sea trout on caster. Sunday saw Mr Easterling catch a chub of 5lb 2oz and a 7lb bream, both from Fiddlers West. Alan Currie managed an 8lb 13oz barbel from the Car Park on meat whilst Roger Gould caught barbel of 11lb (his second double from the Royalty this season) and 6lb 6oz on static meat.
Brian Farrall decided to target the bream shoal above the Road Bridge on Monday and landed 13 bream to 7lb 4oz, all taken on pellet. His catch would have been larger had the rising tide not resulted in difficulties bringing the fish across the large weedbed in front of him. The Parlour gave up one of its resident double figure barbel to Dave Whitemore who caught a 10lb fish on paste. Kris Ramsier was again in the news with barbel to 7lb from the Nursery and Nelsons.
There were few anglers on the water yesterday and few details were reported beyond a 9lb 8oz barbel from the Falls and a stunning catch of 35 bream from Trammels for a total bag weight in excess of 150lbs.
The salmon fishing over the last week can only be described as brilliant with fifteen fish being taken to 10lbs, seven of them on July 16th. Thirteen were taken on the shrimp and two were taken on the fly. The successful anglers were Dave Burgess (1), Tony Timms (2), Alan Godfrey (5) and Stuart Price (7). Full details are available elsewhere on this site.
Royalty Fishery Report 13th July 2004
Following on from last weeks excellent sport, the fishing over the last week has proved somewhat harder. Many anglers struggled in what, for much of the week, seemed ideal conditions with cooler temperatures and overcast skies. Indeed few fish of any note were reported on Wednesday. However for some anglers it proved a golden week and Tuesday saw the Royalty deliver two excellent barbel, the best weighing an authenticated 13lb 12 oz barbel caught by Ken Chapman from the Pallet swim on meat. Hardly surprisingly this beautiful fish was Ken’s new personal best! On the same day Ray Fairall fished the Car Park and tempted another excellent barbel of 12lb 6oz, again on meat.
Friday saw an improvement in some anglers catches with barbel to 9lb being reported from Fiddlers and the Gate Swim on meat and casters. D Roberts chose to give the Roadbridge a try and was rewarded with a 12lb 8oz barbel which took a cube of luncheon meat. Dave Basher took the second double of the day when he connected with a 10lb 3oz barbel from the Housepool, again on meat. Mr D Sandford took another barbel worthy of note when he tempted a 9lb 8oz barbel from the Gate swim.
Saturday saw a large number of anglers on the Royalty, but sport remained patchy. Some of them recorded good catches including Steve South who fished Mugs Hole using meat to temp three barbel weighing between 8lb 2oz and 9lb 2oz. Ray Walton fished the evening and managed to take three barbel to 9lb 3oz on rolling meat with ‘assistance’ provided by young James Hutton of Davis Tackle. Mr Huntley’s day in the Parlour was topped off with a beautiful 11lb barbel on meat. One of the elusive Royalty carp was caught by Derek Roots who used boilies to tempt a 15lb 4oz common carp.
On Sunday Roger Gould took an excellent 13lb 4oz personal best barbel from the Housepool on meat. This was his first barbel of the season and was in wonderful condition. Mr P Oakley took a 9lb 8oz barbel from the Compound on meat and Ray Walton took barbel to 7lb 8oz and a 5lb 12oz chub from Telegraphs on rolling meat. For the third time this season anglers reported catching grayling from the Royalty on trotted maggots.
The records for Monday show just two barbel being reported to the CAC Bailiffs, one of 8lb 5oz by Steve South from the Car Park Gate and one of 8lb exactly from Mugs Hole, both on luncheon meat.
Luncheon meat continues to be the most effective bait for barbel, either fished rolled or static over a bed of hemp. The bream shoals are occasionally getting their heads down and feeding well either over a bed of hemp or pellet.
On the Game front, two salmon have been recorded since the last Royalty update. Kevin O’Farrell took a 6lb grilse from the Point opposite the Piles on a heavy nymph. Tony Timms took a fresh run, sea liced 6lb hen fish from Fiddlers West on a red shrimp. Catches of sea trout from the Bridge Pool have been steady but not spectacular. Mr S Turner took three sea trout to two pounds on maggot from the Waterloo Pool.
Royalty Fishery Report - 6th July 2004
The improved sport that anglers were enjoying at the end of last week continued into this week with the best fish on Wednesday being a 10lb 8oz barbel caught by Paul O'Rourke from the Car Park swim on luncheon meat. This area proved successful the next day when J Read managed to tempt an 8lb 4 oz from the same swim, again the successful bait was meat. By Friday it was not only the barbel that were feeding well but also the chub and bream shoals throughout the fishery. Mr Sheppard fished Trammels and managed a brace of chub weighing five and six pounds respectively, both fish were taken using caster as bait. Mr T Jock took an excellent bag of 18 bream to five pounds from above the Bye-pass Bridge at the mouth of the Clockhouse Stream. He also managed to top the day off with a seven pound barbel. On the day, the best barbel reported was taken by Mr A Brown and weighed 7lb 8oz. Best bag on Saturday was recorded by Steve Tamlin who fished the Top Stile and caught a 9lb 8oz barbel along with four bream to 5lb. Next best barbel was taken by Alan Maine whose 8lb 8oz fish fell to luncheon meat on a hair rig in the Parlour. Plenty of barbel around the five pound mark were reported from swims including Greenbanks, Trammels, the Gate Swim and Fiddlers. A catch of three barbel, reported as having weighed 14lb, 11lb and 2lb were recorded by Mr Verey and son, although unfortunately I have been unable to ascertain any details whatsoever about this catch. On Sunday the Car Park continued to deliver and Mr Curry took full advantage to capture a lovely barbel weighing 9lb 12oz. Later on that day Richard Wookey took two barbel of 5lb's from Greenbanks on rolling meat.
On Monday the Royalty fished it's proverbial socks off and a number of anglers experienced an excellent days fishing. Best catch of the day was by Hazel Wright who took two barbel in quick succession from just below the gate on the House Pool. Her first fish was initially reported at over 14lbs but after the scales were checked, it was accurately recorded in at 13lb 2oz, a wonderful catch in anyones book. She swiftly followed this fish up with another barbel weighing 8lb 8oz. In the Compound both Kevin Walton and Paul KirkPatrick caught bream weighing 6lb 8oz. From Trammels Martin KirkPatrick took three bream with the best fish weighing six and a half pounds. The Railway produced mixed bags of bream to 4lbs along with perch to a pound. A mirror carp of 10lbs was caught from the Piles by Dan Smith and Bill Macanlay took barbel of 8lb 9oz and 7lb 6oz from Greenbanks on cheese paste and maggot. Other barbel to five pounds were taken from various swims throughout the upper half of the fishery.
Staff at Davis Tackle took advantage of half day closing on Wednesday to actually spend a bit of time on the river fishing, rather than standing in the shop talking about it. Jon Perkins kept the sides end up with a fin perfect beauty of a barbel weighing 10lb 2oz from the Gate, missing his train home in the bargain, whilst I managed to winkle out five barbel from opposite the Garden Pool in the Parlour. Both of us took our fish on rolled bacon grill.
The next day was inevitably an anti climax after the previous days excellent sport but there were one or two quality catches still reported. Ken Chapman managed a barbel of 9lb and J Amyes took one of 8lb 8oz, whilst J Miller took a chub of 6lb.
As a footnote to last weeks report, we have since learned that a lovely barbel of 11lb 4oz was taken from the Railway my Mr Vickery on meat.
The salmon fishing has been quiet over the period in question with only one fish recorded, a seven pound fish caught in unfortunate circumstances. Mr B Goulding took an excellent six pound sea trout on the fly from the Garden Pool on maggot whilst Nick Saunders succeeded in catching ten sea trout from the Bridge Pool on Friday.
Royalty Fishery Report - 29th June 2004
The week began fairly quietly on the Royalty with few fish of note being reported. Anglers managed the occasional barbel to 7lb along with plenty of silver fish and the odd larger bream and chub. The heavy rains and high winds on Wednesday put off both anglers and fish alike. Unfortunately these winds were strong enough to bring down one of the old willows which had stood at the top of Watersmeet for many years and for the rest of the day the river carried debris from this and other casualties of the bad weather. Not surprisingly, few fish of any note were reported other than two excellent chub to 6lb for Bert Careford who managed to tempt them from the Pipes on rolling meat. Conditions slowly improved as the weekend approached and, amongst the catches reported to the CAC bailiffs, Bert Careford's 8lb barbel from the Pipes and Joe Harper's 9lb barbel from the Gate swim both stood out. Mr D Parkhill took a lovely 17lb 4oz carp as well as an 8lb 12oz barbel, again from the Gate swim. On Sunday one angler chose to trot bread flake through Trammels and was rewarded with a good bag of roach to 1lb along with dace to 10oz. On Monday the fishery returned to form with a bang with barbel being caught throughout the fishery. Mr G Harper took a 7lb barbel from the Pipes on meat, Andy Johnson fished trotted maggot to take an 8lb barbel and Les Dwight reported a fish of 9lb 4oz. Graham Newton reported a good bag of bream to 5lb from Trammels whilst Roger Gould took a 5lb 12oz bream and a 5lb chub, both on meat from the Boathouse. The best fish of the day was a magnificent barbel of 13lb taken by Les Dwight from the bend by the House Pool on meat. This fish was confirmed to be a different specimen to the 13lb 1oz fish taken from the Parlour last week and is a new personal best for Mr Dwight. On Tuesday, the best fish reported was caught by Barry Millward who took a 10lb 4oz barbel on rolling meat from the point. Not bad for his first ever barbel!
The salmon fishing has continued its recent upturn and four fresh fish were reported this week. Tony Timms took two on Wednesday from the Parlour, a twelve pounder on natural shrimp and a six pound fish on a Hare's Ear Nymph. On Sunday, Dave Burgess used a Testwood Nymph to tempt a twelve pounder from the Parlour and on the Monday Ken Fraser took a six pound grilse on a red shrimp from the same pool.
River Report - 22/6/04:
COARSE:
I am delighted to report that the new coarse fishing season started well with barbel to 11lb 11oz reported on opening day (see earlier report) plus many more throughout the week, culminating in a 13lb 1oz specimen on Sunday. Diary entries include...
Tim "Jock" Cameron: 9lb 9oz barbel on rolling meat from Nelson's (Thursday);
Ben Burgess: 2 barbel to 7lb 9oz on rolling meat from Trammels (Friday);
Joe Harrop: 3 barbel to 11lb 0oz on paste from The Gate (Friday);
Kristian Ramsier: 4 barbel to 10lb 0oz on rolling meat from Trammels (Friday);
Richard Wookey: 8lb 8oz barbel on rolling meat from Fiddlers East (Friday);
Mick Spanswick: 10 bream to 7lb plus a 6lb 12oz chub on maggot/feeder from Nelsons (Friday);
Mick Spurden: 2 barbel to 8lb 6oz plus 3 good bream on bacon Grill from Fiddlers West (Saturday);
Joe Harrop: 2 barbel to 9lb 14oz on paste from The Footpath (Saturday);
Garry Porter: 11lb 12oz barbel on rolling meat from The Falls (Saturday);
Richard Wookey: 8lb 12oz barbel on rolling meat from Fiddlers East (Saturday);
Morgan Banks: 13lb 1oz barbel (photo soon) on meat legered over hemp from The Parlour Pool (Sunday);
Kristian Ramsier: 3 barbel to 9lb 12oz roving with rolling meat (Sunday);
GAME:
The grilse have started running over the last few days and a few early sea-trout have been reported. Reported catches include...
Jane Burgess: 2 sea-trout on fly from above the Piles;
Tony Timms: 8lb sea-liced grilse from The Parlour on brown shrimp (Sunday);
Tony Timms: 7lb sea-liced grilse from The Parlour on brown shrimp (Monday);
All Royalty anglers are reminded that lobworms or bunches of worms must not be used on the fishery at any time (small single worms are permitted). Also that all salmon caught must be released immediately (after recovery) and not removed from the water for any reason including weighing or photography.
There are still a few vacancies for day rods in the Bridge Pool, Parlour Pool and Top Weir Compound. There is also a season rod available to fish the Waterloo Pool every Friday. Please phone 0845 166 8038 for details.
Opening Day on the Royalty Fishery -16/06/04
Opening day on the Royalty was greeted with the traditional queue of anglers waiting for Davis Tackle to open at 7:30am. Early morning conditions were ideal with cooler temperatures and overcast skies and a number of anglers were into fish early on. Unfortunately these conditions didn't last as the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature soared and consequently the fish were less willing to feed.
Several good barbel were taken, with the most noteworthy being by Mr Bowen from Watford who fished pellet in Fiddlers East and managed three barbel of 7lb, 10lb 4oz and 11lb 1oz, the latter two being personal bests. Most of the barbel caught were taken in the morning before the bright sunlight slowed things down and few were reported in the afternoon.
Bream and chub were reported from all over the fishery with the former being reported to 7lb. Best carp reported was around 9lb and this was taken by Kristian Ramsier from the pool on the Clockhouse stream.
Hopefully we will have some photo's to put up on the website shortly.
Prospects for the New Season on the Royalty Fishery 13/06/04
Welcome to my first Royalty Fishery report for the forthcoming new season, following Graham’s decision to hand over the reins of Davis Tackle to myself and my wife Helen. For me it’s a dream come true after fishing here for over thirty years and being a customer of Davis Tackle for all of that time and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Graham for all his help during these last few weeks.
The river is looking in good condition, running clear with levels at about the same as they were at this time last year. The barbel and chub appear to have finished spawning and are now beginning to disperse themselves throughout the fishery. Barbel are showing in reasonable numbers at Fiddlers, Edwards and at the top of the Falls. Good size fish have been spotted at the top of Edwards, in the Parlour and in the vicinity of the Boathouse.
The bream appear to have spawned later and large shoals have been spotted from Top Stile through to Trammels with the males still clearly showing signs of spawning tubercles. Similar large shoals have also been seen above the by-pass bridge, again showing signs of spawning.
Large carp have been seen at Watersmeet, above the Railway and in and around the Clockhouse stream.
Following these recent spawning’s there seems to be plenty of fry throughout the fishery and lets hope this bodes well for the future.
On the Game fishing front, Brian Goulding caught a magnificent 6lb sea trout from the Bridge Pool on the 9th June.
Good luck for the forthcoming season and I hope to meet you either in Davis Tackle or on the banks of the Royalty, assuming I actually get any time to fish this season!
Davis Tackle: Change of Ownership 8/6/04:
Some of you will already know that Davis Tackle has recently changed hands after 34 years! I am happy to report that the new owners, Nigel & Helen Gray will continue as agents for the Royalty Fishery.
Nigel will be editing (and improving) the Davis Tackle website www.DavisTackle.co.uk as well as publishing regular news reports starting this week.
My trusty helpers Jon & James will assist Nigel & Helen in the shop.
I will now have more time to devote to my main interests... bonefishing & vintage tackle. Details of these are published on my websites www.BonefishAdventure.com and www.VintageTackle.net where you will find my new contact details. I hope to improve the Bonefish Adventure product range while keeping the holidays and equipment affordable.
However, you probably haven't seen the last of Grumpy Graham as I will be helping out in the shop occasionally and particularly over the next week or two. I hope also to do more fishing locally, so I may see you on the water or perhaps in the Royalty Inn (where I have been known to imbibe the occasional half pint of Guinness).
Sincere thanks to those of you who have supported me over the years. Please now welcome Nigel & Helen in their new venture - I could not have wished for a nicer couple to take over from me!
Tight Lines,
Graham.
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