Closer to Home

With the temperature predicted to rise on Thursday to a tropical 14 degrees, there was only one place I was heading for and that was my local stretch of the River Wye in search of Barbel.
My intention was to fish an afternoon session, so I arrived at the river around 11.30am and on arrival I walked a short stretch, to find no other anglers, which was not what I was expecting due to the mild conditions.  My chosen swim was a glide just down from a salmon groin which created a nice steady run off with a nice depth of water.  I headed back to the van to collect the tackle.
Set up was going to be a standard feeder rig, including a 3oz feeder, 2 feet braided hooklength and a strong size 8 hook mounted with a hair rigged red fish 15mm boilie. As a little extra incentive for the barbel to bite, I wrapped the boilie in a fishy paste, surely irresistable. 
The sun felt warm on my face as I made the first cast towards mid river, as the feeder settled I squinted into the sunlight, wishing I had packed my polaroids.  The feeder mix was a stiffish method mix dashed with pellets that slowly released from the feeder, perfect in a strong flow.
First few casts were made in quick succession to buid up some feed in the swim and it didnt take long to attract the attentions of something fishy.  The bait had only been in the water a few minutes on my fifth cast when the rod tip thumped down, I struck, the rod bent over and line started peeling from the reel as the fish headed upstream, then across river, then downstream using the flow to its advantage.
With the added flow the fish felt heavy and certainly gave a good account of itself as it did its best to lose the hook in a winter weedbed.
On the surface the Barbel felt like a "sack of spuds" and after a blank 2 days on the Avon, I was relieved when I finally managed to persuade the Barbel over the lip of the net.


8lb 7oz - Photo doesnt do the fish justice



It was a short chunky looking barbel that sent the scales to 8lb 7oz, not a monster but very welcome especially after a hard fight.  Im hoping to improve on my self take shots which is something im looking forward to sharing with you all.

When the sun shone brightly it felt like a warm spring day, on the odd occasion when the sun dipped behind the ever increasing clouds, you were reminded it was still winter.  I had no action for the next hour, and as the clouds developed overhead I had a confident knock on the rod tip.  Within the next half an hour I managed 2 chub, 3lb 9oz and 3lb 4oz.  The smaller of the two was a perfectly conditioned fish, with proud brassy flanks and a pot belly, surely a future 5lber in the making.



Chub perfection

I fished on until dusk with no further bites.  Im hoping to have a day or two off next week which I will definately be spending on the bank, but in search of what, I havent decided!