12lbs 4oz barbel from the Wye!

Normally my guiding days on the river Wye are finished around early October. Sometimes it’s difficult to guage what the water temperatures could be. Up in the hills they can have some frosts which kills the sport for barbel. However I’ve continued guiding right until the end of the month due to the unseasonable warm weather.

Paul from Dublin and Tom from London have fished together since they were young boys growing up. They normally fish a few times together each year. I guided them earlier in the year tench fishing where they both caught some good size tench with the largest being 8lbs 10oz. It was whilst spending time with them that I mentioned the barbel fishing on the Wye. This fired their imagination a little (I could always tell a good tale) and they said they would like to try in the autumn.

So arrangements were made giving Paul plenty of time to arrange flights etc. My biggest fear was that the weather would hold. And it did temperatures reached 24 in London and 22 in most others area’s in the south.

So we met at the allotted time and went to the fishery we had chosen to fish. As they seldom fish for large river fish they used my tackle and bits and pieces.

The bait we used was the West Country Slick Sense baits. This really is a great bait for barbel and it’s cheaper than other similar baits.  I’ve caught most of my Wye barbel on this bait this year. You can find the phone number of Shaun Hodges (West Country Baits) on my home page

The normal tactics were used. We started in a swim where Ron the week before caught some good fish and I had one of 8lbs 12oz. The sun shone as we cast out frequently to get the bait in and attract the barbel to the pellet we were using.

Paul was the first to get a barbel bite and what a 3ft twitch it was. Paul was soon playing a large barbel in the deep fast river. The fight surprised him with the length of time the barbel pulled back. He played it well and soon it was in the net. It looked a great fish. It was very funny I was just making a brew when the bite came.

On the scales it went 9lbs exactly which surprised me as it was short but really, really fat.

The sport was very slow compared to the previous week, perhaps it something to do with the bright sun light.

Tom was next to play another fish that wasn’t a barbel but a superb chub. They don’t pull back much on the 2,25lb t/c rod however with the extra flow it was great.

Things were not hectic and with the regular casting the fish were not feeding so much, so we reduced the number of free pellets we were introducing via the feeder. Both were working hard. Paul had one more small chub of about 2.5lbs.

I was still feeling confident of getting another barbel however as the minutes ticked by it was not looking good.

Just as Tom thought about packing up for the evening the rod twitched 3ft and he was soon playing a good barbel. What a fight in the strong current, it had him thinking it was a good fish. I could see that it was when I saw the size of it in the net.

I unhooked the thing and left it in the net while we got the camera and scales ready. I just couldn’t believe the size and on the scales it went 10lbs 1oz. What a fish!

So that was it for the day. Not too many fish however they were very pleased with pb’s for the both of them. Tom it was worth the wait until the final whistle for sure. I was so happy for them and slept well that night.

In the morning I woke and started to fish another stretch and after 4 feeders being lost in almost as many casts had me thinking this is not good. So we returned to the same swim as the previous day.

I was hoping that things would improve as there was a light drizzle falling. Light levels were low and it looked perfect.

However Paul was first off the mark with a small barbel of 4lbs 8oz.

Then it was Tom fighting a great barbel that made his arm ache in the deep strong flow of the river. Again we were just having a brew when the rod took off.

When I got it in the net I knew he had a another double. On the scales it went 10lbs 6oz which to have two doubles on consecutive days was perfect. Little did we know what was to come.

Time was passing as we waited for more action. In the mean time I visited another swim to see if the feeder would hold the bottom in the flow. I was pleased to report to both Tom and Paul that we would be moving. I’m not too sure they were too happy as the drizzle had made things wet and the new swim was some way away.

So we arrived in the new swim with a couple of hours fishing time available.  My confidence was sky high. Paul was first into a barbel of 8lbs 7oz and it fought so well in the faster current. You could hear the clutch singing on the reel as it took line

Then we had a couple of disasters. Tom hooked a fish that fought really well in the strong current only for the hook to fall out when it neared the net. Then an even worst event came along where Tom was playing a large barbel again and the thing took the line across a rock and that was it. Tom was crest fallen as I would have been. To lose one was something that happened occasionally but two in a row was not good. However he landed a small chub of 3lbs which was of little compensation. However I reminded him that two doubles in two days was still great fishing for the Wye.

Darkness was approaching as Paul got a really good bite from a barbel. At first he thought it was a 4lber as it didn’t fight too much. However once he had it close in the thing just didn’t like the look of me and the net and took off. Again the clutch sang on the reel and Paul had everything under control.

It was quite dark as I slide the fish into the net. Unhooking her and leaving to rest while we got the camera and scales ready was completed, however I knew it was a monster fish and was going to be the largest I had guided on the Wye.

On the scales she went 12lbs 4oz we all looked to check and sure enough that was the weight. She was awesome and looked in perfect condition too.

We pulled Pauls leg about the size of this barbel particularly when he thought it to be about 4lbs. Terrific result.

Packing up in the drizzle didn’t seem to be much of a chore.

Tom and Paul invited me to dinner that night and we did celebrate that fish for sure. What an evening we had they are both intellectual book readers so we passed the time talking of books and stories.

The next morning I was up and about early to fish another beat.

I was drinking coffee and eating porridge reflecting on the previous two days. What a great session this was turning out to be. I couldn’t believe how fat and fit the barbel were. Perhaps I need to look again at when I finish fishing the river Wye.

I fished the other beat for 1.5 hours without a touch so when I met Tom and Paul it didn’t take me long to persuade then to try the same swim as Paul had his 12lber from. The day was warm again and here I was just in a tee shirt again. However there was a breeze that was removing more leaves from the tree’s than what I wanted. In the end we were fishing with 150g Korum feeders. These held really well but with debris of leaves hanging on the line there was an alarming curve in the rods.

However when the bites came you couldn’t miss them. Tom was first to land a fighting fit chub of  4lbs 10oz which is his second largest chub. Again a brew was the reason we had a bite I’m sure. We did laugh at this.

Then Paul landed another chub of 3lbs 11oz and it was his pb.

 

It was very slow going with few bites. Both Tom and Paul thought I would get away early however tenacity is my middle name and sticking it out until the final light was required.

Sure enough at last light Tom played and landed a lovely barbel of 7lbs 14oz again in perfect condition

Well that was it for the 3 days. What exciting fishing however I was disappointed with the number we caught however with 3 doubles and a 9lber we just couldn’t complain. Both guy’s caught pb barbel so for me it was

“HAPPY DAYS”

I think they are planning to fish it again in July when there are lighter nights and a chance of more barbel.