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 12^th  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 13^th 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 12^th.

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 26^th 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 19^th 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.

Due 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

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 17^th 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 10^th 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 1^st 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 31^st 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