Wednesday 10th August Bristol Avon

Today I only had a window of 6 hrs, so I was on the water quite early. The weather was going to be dry, bright and sunny for the day not the best conditions. I had in the back of my mind to fish the same swim where Andy and I saw the barbel that was close to 10lbs. It’s a very tight little swim and if I hooked such a fish and it weeded me then I would need to go in. So with this in mind and as a precaution I put on my chest waders just incase.

The river was still clear and I could make out the large chub cruising around at the back end of the swim, some of these were approaching 5lbs. I fed a few pellets and soon got the chub going, and very ocassionaly a barbel would poke it’s head out and scoff a pellet. They were not really feeding but the chub were. I had fed the swim and cast out after 15 minutes or so. I had a few pulls and tugs and then I hooked up with a small chub of a couple of pounds. There wasn’t much of a scrap on a 1.75 t/c rod and 12lb line.

I slipped the chub back downstream of the swim and looked to fish on for another 45mins or so in the same swim. It was bizarre as the sun came out so did the barbel. First there were a few small barbel then I saw the bigger fish, then more chub. So as the sun came out the end of the swim became alive with fish feeding.

So I cast out and waited with baited breath (well, baited hook as well). It started to get breezy and difficult to see what was going on. I was holding the rod and suddenly the rod was wrenched around and I didn’t give any line and there on the end twisting and turning and trying to exit the swim was this large barbel. Not one inch of line was given and so I played the fish slowly upstream. It wasn’t a difficult fight but prolonged. At one stage it got under the ranunculus and came through it with some weed over the eyes. So the fight in the end was a little subdue as the large fish slipped into the net.

There was that certain amount of fulfillness in landing this fish.

 

So I was well pleased with this fish. And Andy I was right just under 10lbs but we were both right a good fish.

So then I was going to look at the swim I fished on Monday. I baited with  pellets and waited and waited. Nothing doing.

Martin Bowler came along for a chat and we lamented how the otters have trashed the Bristol Avon barbel population. It will never be the same we both agreed. As we chatted in another swim we watched a barbel of about 7lbs swim through and not stopping for the hemp I had put in.

I fished for another couple of hours before deciding it was time to call it a day. Martin and I said our good-byes and I headed for home, thinking it’s time to go down to the Stour and H.Avon, all this hard work for not much return.