A Bend in the River

A Bend in the River Read about the fishing adventures of
the late Mick Townsend and Martin Abonyi

My weekly fishing story focuses on the capture of my first two pound River Severn roach. I've been close may times in th...
10/08/2026

My weekly fishing story focuses on the capture of my first two pound River Severn roach. I've been close may times in the past few years, but my dream was realised last week, when I slipped the net under two pounds of silver and orange perfection.

You can read all about it in the comments section.

Last year I had a brilliant season on the Trent targeting big roach. I ended the summer with three two pounders and a ho...
04/08/2026

Last year I had a brilliant season on the Trent targeting big roach. I ended the summer with three two pounders and a host of big one pounders. This years target was the River Severn. In some ways I enjoy the roach fishing on the Severn more than the Trent. It reminds me a lot of the Newark D**e and I can get away with a lighter set up.

I was well chuffed with my latest session on the Severn when I achieved my target of a two pound roach. It was half an ounce over the magic mark and fell to my usual Severn approach of pellet feeder with a banded 6mm pellet on the hook.

I have to say the roach I am catching on both the Trent and the Severn this year are in near perfect condition. They are...
28/07/2026

I have to say the roach I am catching on both the Trent and the Severn this year are in near perfect condition. They are mint. My latest session on the Severn brought twenty or so immaculate redfins to the net. the smallest was around 8oz, the biggest around the pound mark. All falling to the pellet feeder with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook.

Had a bit of a change from the Trent roach last week and fancied a bit of wading for chub. I did sneak a session in towa...
27/07/2026

Had a bit of a change from the Trent roach last week and fancied a bit of wading for chub. I did sneak a session in towards the end of the week though and managed a few chunky specimens. You can read about it in my weekly angling story.

The link is in the comments.

I only managed one trip to the Trent last week as I was down south at the Carp Society show promoting 'Silver Shadows'. ...
20/07/2026

I only managed one trip to the Trent last week as I was down south at the Carp Society show promoting 'Silver Shadows'. You can read about how my week went by clicking on the link in the comments section.

I've set myself a task to see if I can actually get to wet a line on my local river this summer. Its wall to wall vegeta...
19/07/2026

I've set myself a task to see if I can actually get to wet a line on my local river this summer. Its wall to wall vegetation right through till the first frosts hit, but I remembered an area we fished as kids that surely wouldn't be affected by the green stuff.

A Woolworths five foot rod and garden worms meant we could fish under the iron bridge as kids. Back then it was full of roach, perch and pike, with the odd chub thrown in for good measure.

I had a look and it is w**d free. I might dust off the top two sections of my old pole and see if there is anything still under there. It's a real distinct cut off point where the w**d stops as the river goes under the bridge.

Watch this space...

Things are getting a little better on the Trent for the roach. I've not been for nearly two weeks for one reason or anot...
17/07/2026

Things are getting a little better on the Trent for the roach. I've not been for nearly two weeks for one reason or another, mainly the heat. But with the cooler weather I was back on the tidal. The first big plus was the crabs were now way near as active.

The second big plus was I landed my first one pound plus fish from the Trent this season. Last year I was knee deep in big Trent roach, but it's been a lot slower so far this season.

Hopefully its a turning point.

This weeks angling story provided a much needed tonic. My Trent struggles were forgotten momentarily as I had a great fi...
13/07/2026

This weeks angling story provided a much needed tonic. My Trent struggles were forgotten momentarily as I had a great first session targeting the roach down on the River Severn. Plenty of bites, plenty of fish, and a few gate crashers to the party, one welcome, the other not so welcome.

You can read all about it in the link in the comments.

They always turn up on my roach sessions. The small hook bait and regular casting always draws the barbel in eventually....
10/07/2026

They always turn up on my roach sessions.

The small hook bait and regular casting always draws the barbel in eventually. The only surprise on my first trip to the River Severn was it took until more or less the last cast to hook one. It was a typical middle Severn specimen and ended the day perfectly.

Had my first session on the River Severn at the weekend targeting roach. I had intended to get there for first light, bu...
08/07/2026

Had my first session on the River Severn at the weekend targeting roach. I had intended to get there for first light, but after a long week at work I couldn't be arsed to get out of bed, so it was 1pm by the time I made my first cast.

The roach were there from the start, normally they can take a few hours to show up. Had a great day with numerous roach averaging around 8oz, with the odd bigger one thrown in for good measure.

It was more or less a bite a chuck on the pellet feeder with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook.

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Armthorpe
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