10th October Bristol Avon and a 9lb and an 11lber

The rain had poured on Thursday and Friday taking the Bristol Avon up again perhaps about 6ft. My mate Andy phoned me on Friday while I was on the Wye, to say that he went to Lacock and saw it was rising very fast and rushed off home……..not too sure what he is talking about here, but can only assume it was the river! I couldn’t fish the beginning of the week so had to settle for Weds. The forecast was going to be good fair skies and no rain. The EA level info told me that it was still high but only by 18″ or so.

Now I know I keep saying it but I wouldn’t fish without putting in some hemp via a dropper. Particularly when the river is not flooded or just fining down to it’s normal level. In the summer when sight fishing it’s perfect for seeing who is at home in each swim. Not that I had much opportunity for this style of fishing this year with all the floods and coloured water.

My rods are Fox Kevlex Extreme barbel rods, now these rods are fetching a good price on ebay at present because they are not being produced by Fox. However I must say they are beautiful rods with a 1.5 t/c and 1.75 t/c solid tops and a quiver tip 1.75t/c section. Perfect for most of the fishing conditions but I will say here under gunned for the big rivers like the Wye in flood.

So arriving at the spot I baited two swims with about 2/3rds of a pint of hemp in each swim. I was using pellets on both rods today combined with pva mesh with a few pellets, fishing one very close in under the bank and the other towards a snag in the river. Well after 1.5 hrs not a touch so I moved to the next swim I had baited. I cast out again upstream of a snag and guess what within 5 minutes I was playing a very strong barbel. It tried a few times to get into the snag but the rod bent over absorbing the runs of the fish. Slowly slowly she came to the net. A Lovely looking barbel just short of 10lbs.

Almost 10lbs

So all was good. I rested the swim and went to bait up another……guess what on my return someone was in there. It was Roy a fellow barbel fisherman that I’ve known for a good few years. he is a grand fellow and fishes the stretch more than most. He asked how things were going and he told me about his latest captures this week as the river was fining down. He had done really well. We talked for ages while waiting for the barbel to become interested.

It was time for me to head back to my original swim. The afternoon was perfect warm and dry and I had this feeling that something would happen.

Sure enough it did happen. Roy called to say he had one just over 11lbs. So I reeled in and went to see him, with my camera in hand. It was a long fish but not that fat, but never the less it looked a picture in fact here is one.

Roy and a barbel just over 11lbs

So Roy caught a couple of chub while I sat and looked at static rod tips into the evening and night. Nothing stirred so I retired home. Pleased with what had happened.

So something funny happened, Roy had told me a story from about 2 months ago. He arrived on the river to find a swim that he fancied empty so he settled into the swim and caught an 11lb  barbel fairly quickly, only to find Martin Bowler walking up saying that he had just baited the swim, giving it a rest and was going to fish it…… a missed opportunity for Martin he even wrote about it in his column in the Angling Times.

Well Roy had done exactly the same to me too today…….how I didn’t push him in I don’t know. But fair is fair he did very well and deserves that fish. Well done Roy a lovely barbel.