Karen’s first session barbel fishing on the Wye

Steve and Karen have a pilgrimage to the river Wye each year for a weeks holiday. Steve fishes during the day with Karen looking on and they enjoy the experience.

Steve though asked me sometime ago whether I would coach Karen in casting, playing and landing barbel so that she could experience this powerful fish and it’s fighting qualities. He did say that she had little or no experience of this and could I help out.

So we met at 8am and walked the stretch where Steve would be fishing. I had been there an hour or so earlier and landed a barbel of 8lbs 14oz. Again it’s unusual for me to fish the Wye.

I took a photo on my new GOPRO camera which I’m still having to get use to the light values etc that’s why the photo is very poor.

So with Steve set up in the swim, Karen and I went to another stretch of the river which to be fair was very low. My hopes were not very high as the temperatures had been into the high 20’s all week and today was to be no exception. Full sun and no cloud equaled difficult conditions.

Luckily we were in the shade of a tree for the majority of the day that kept us from the sun however the river got none.

The first thing we did was to look and understand the workings of the reel and understand how the clutch and other mechanisms worked. As always I try to break the preparation and casting into small processes that can be followed.

We decide to practice some casting with the feeder being empty so that we were not spreading the bait all over the swim. Karen was very skillful at casting and after about 10 attempts she was good to go with a feeder full, and a baited hook.

The first cast was perfect and soon the rod was in the rest ready for the fish to play ball. Well Karen didn’t have to wait long before  small chub of  about 2lbs came to the net followed by another of similar size. To be fair with the 2.25lb t/c rods they didn’t make much of an impression on the rod top.

Then another better chub of about 3 lbs came along so at least we were landing some fish and Karen was getting plenty of practice casting. Time was moving on when I mentioned that I would wander back to the car to get the tea and coffee making kit Karen was quite happy for me to do this.

I got about 10 yds up the bank when her rod hooped over and another chub of a couple of pounds was on. So back I went and landed it for her. Out went the feeder again with great precision and I headed back to the car which was only 150 yds up the bank. So as I returned back down after just a few minutes I could see a bend in Karen’s rod and the net in the water. As I approached Karen said that the rod bounced in the rest and the free spool sung out as line poured from the reel. She had struck into the fish and it pulled back quite hard.

So she was very pleased and said that now she understood how people played and landed fish. Clearly she did as in the bottom of the landing net was a monster of a chub. I got to say I was very excited by this sight to say the least. What I thought was going to be a difficult day was turning into a perfect day.

On the scales the chub went 5lbs 12oz and in beautiful condition too.

So with Karen doing very well in casting playing and landing such a huge fish it made my day. However there was plenty more to come.

The sun was high in the sky when the rod again hooped over and Karen was playing a different fighting fish. It looked like a small barbel and sure enough that’s exactly what it was however it looked like a pike had a go at it as it was being landed judging by the lacerations on it’s belly. We slipped the fish straight back however I think that it might not have recovered from the pike attack.

However we didn’t need to wait too long as the rod was soon off again with a small barbel of about 16 inches long. Karen said that she could tell the barbel fight so much better than the chub.

The sun was shining full power on the river yet we had plenty of chub and small barbel lining up to feed. I know other anglers on the river were struggling so the fact we were catching was great.

At about 12.30pm we decided to return to Steve and tell him the news of Karen’s huge chub and for them to have lunch in the local pub. Well not the chub and Karen, but Steve. Steve had a 9lb plus barbel plus a smaller one so at least he was not blanking. Karen told Steve of her chub and barbel exploits and Steve couldn’t believe the chub equaled his second largest caught one I think off the Lodden.

After politely turning down their generous offer of a lunch I sat and had my sandwich whilst looking after the tackle.

My word it was so hot.

Soon they were both back from lunch. I suggested that Karen stays in the shade with Steve until 4pm when it would be cooler.

4pm came and to be fair Karen woke me from my slumbers as I sat by the rods dreaming of huge barbel.

Soon Karen was casting out again right on the spot each time. Again we didn’t need to wait long before the rod hooped over again and the reel sung a tune. This time it was a proper barbel on the end that kept taking line and Karen was expertly adjusting the clutch to gain control of the fish. It really did pull back.

All to soon though it was in the net 4lbs 10oz of fighting barbel. Karen just couldn’t get over the power of these fish in the strong flow.

What I thought was going to be a very difficult day was turning out very well as Karen started to play another barbel to the net.

Steve and Karen were going out to dinner in the evening so we decided call it a day at 7.30pm. However Karen landed a couple more barbel and chub which given the circumstances and the hot weather was a brilliant result. I think the final score was 11 chub and 7 barbel and some fine skills from Karen.

So happy faces all round, I had a fantastic day and I’m sure Karen had a great one too.