Bill, Andy and Graham go on a Wye adventure

Bill and Andy

Graham a pall of mine asked if I could guide two of his mates on the Wye catching barbel. Also would it be possible for him to tag along and make it a bit of a social.

So the three of us met at 7am on the banks of the beautiful river. The conditions were to be set fair for the day. Now there is a little rivalry between Bill and Andy as Bill had caught a barbel many years ago on the Bristol Avon and Andy needed that barbel to even the score a little.

So Andy was on the rods first rods first and he didn’t take long to catch his very first barbel of about 1lb and was very small for the swim we fished. Normally there are just larger fish present. However at least he had evened the score. Bill suggested he stay on the rods and catch a decent one.

We were using the tried and tested pellets and feeder method. The aim is to cast regularly to get that scent trail going downstream to lure the barbel up onto the pellets.

Soon again Andy was playing a lovely looking barbel which on the scales went 6lbs 12oz. Andy and Bill gazed in awe of the beautiful barbel. It was Bills turn on the rods.

We quickly recast again only to spot an otter making a commotion in the swim we were fishing and after that we couldn’t muster a bite for 1.5 hrs.

I decided then and there to move to another swim to look for another shoal of barbel. The move paid off almost instantly as had a 4 ft twitch type bite that had the rod hooped over and Bill playing an angry barbel. Bill did an excellent job of playing the powerful fish against the strong current. He kept saying that the fight was nothing he had experienced before.

Slowly he drew it over the waiting net and to safety. Now this fish was the largest we had seen so far in the day and looked stunning. On the scales it went 8lbs 3oz and smashed his previous barbel weight of 4lbs 8oz.

So they swapped once again and it was Andy on the rods. The two of them were more than happy to follow this strategy as it gave themselves some action and some downtime to enjoy the Wye valley.

It was Andy’s turn to get the 4 ft twitch as he battled the unseen force in the river. Line ripped off the spool a few times as it headed to deeper water.

Andy though guided the fish slowly upstream we could see it twisting and turning in the flow. I slipped into the river to net the fish in deeper water.

On the scales it weighed an respectable 7lbs 1oz.

So it was to be Bills turn next on the rods. The canoes passed us by some waved a cheery hello and others panicked at seeing the lines stretched out across the river. These canoes do not affect the fishing at all. Often I’ve had bites when the canoes are directly over the baits.

Once again the rod hooped over and Bill was on it like a coiled spring. This fish took yards of line from the spool and had us thinking this was the monster barbel we had come for. I must admit the larger fish do not dash around like this one. As the fight settled down with Bill gaining line we saw that it was foul hooked. This was the reason for the lengthy fight with the fish dashing around the river. We didn’t weigh it as the barbel was not caught by fair means and guested it to be about 6lbs.

Bill didn’t have to wait long after recasting as the rod was bent double again by a hard fighting fish. This one too fought rubbery lips to tail and used the river and flow to not only tire itself but Bill too.

Both Andy and Bill were surprised at how hard these fish fight and right to the end too. On the scales the barbel weighed 7lbs 5oz.

At this time Graham paid us a visit. He had caught a couple of barbel and chub and so was well pleased. Bill had bought along some sausages and a pan so we thought it appropriate to break for a delicious meal. There is something special about cooking outside it always seem to taste better.

The day was starting to get warmer with the sun peeping through the clouds. I kept the coffee and tea going every couple of hrs.

Right, Andy was now on the rods. Again the 4 ft twitch resulted in a hard fishing barbel of 6lbs 10oz.

This was barbel number 6 for the day. Now normally there is a lull in the day around noon to about 5pm however today the barbel fed intermittently.

So with Bill on the rods once more we talked about all the raptors we had seen during the day peregrine falcons, hobby, buzards, and sparrow hawk. Not a bad selection. We then saw a raven and discussed the age at which they live. I believe we googled it. About 15 years in the wild and up to 45 in captivity.

Once more the rod hooped over and Bill was playing a good barbel as it headed off downstream with the clutch ticking as the reel gave line. It certainly was fighting hard in the fast flow and taking Bill on a journey. Bill was doing an excellent job of playing the barbel gaining line then the barbel would gain a little, a fascinating battle. Bill though had the edge and his ability had the fish high in the water. We saw the size of the fish and thought this would be the largest of the day. Bill did a superb job in guiding the fish over the waiting nets man net.

I looked and thought it would be a good 9lbs. Quickly I unhooked the fish and held it safe in the net giving it time to recover. We got all the camera and weigh equipment ready.

On the scales it went 10lbs 8oz and the largest guided Wye of the season for me. Bill had a smile from ear to ear on the shear size of the barbel. For sure he is now a member of a very special river Wye double barbel club. I’m not even a member!

It was beautiful barbel thin because of the recent spawning activities however would be nearer 11lbs later in the year.

Wow what a fish, and now Andy was back on the rods again.

It was early evening when Andy caught another barbel of 6lbs plus another of 3lbs and between this Bill caught a 1lb 8oz chub. The feeding spell didn’t continue as I think we had probably caught most of the shoal. We could have moved again however the day had been a great success and both of the chaps had caught a good few barbel. To be fair any fish caught after the huge barbel of Bills was a bit of an anti-climax.

So we packed away the tackle agreeing that it had been a special day.