Getting back from the river Wye early
on Friday at least gave me some extra time to clean up the kit and
get organised for another guiding day come Monday and although I did
sneak in a few fishy related jobs over the weekend it was the
girlfriend’s weekend off, so these were minimal.
Having dropped the lady off early
Monday morning I headed to the river Kennet to meet up with a regular
and good friend Ron Jackson. Ron had purchased a syndicate ticket
earlier in the season and although it gave him great access to each
swim, had failed to get the rod tip twitching in four previous
outings. Today though wasn’t all about catching fish but looking at
the stretch, using my watercraft to pinpoint potential swims then
trying the tried and tested method ‘The pellet-lead’ in these in
the hope of a bonus fish. The first swim we tried, once Ron had
picked himself up after stumbling in a pothole was where two streams
meet and although the first cast yielded nothing, the second did.
Unfortunately I was walking the stretch at the time but when I
returned Ron looked well happy with himself after landing a modest
barbel. The second swim failed to produce yet the third resulted in a
personal best bream weighing exactly 7lb. A couple more swims were
tried before dropping into our last swim, one that looked really
fishy and sure enough after half an hour the tip started to rattle in
true chub, maybe bream style but the bite was missed. Both Ron and
myself know why the bite was missed; let’s just say mobile phones
and fishing don’t always go together!
Back at home I was hoping to get a few
things sorted like getting my weekly blog uploaded, yet this never
happened as my time was taken trying to find time over the next
couple of weeks to accommodate more anglers wishing to fish the Wye.
I’d love to say I succeeded but looking at the diary I have very
little time and not wanting to cancel any pre-made arrangements just
couldn’t fit these requests in. It’s good to be busy but
sometimes I just would love to see the light at the end of the
tunnel.
Tuesday I finally managed to upload
‘The Wye Experience’ as well as finding time to play nine holes
of golf very badly with my mum. I might be busy but we should all
find time for family, if we cant then, well what’s the point!
With the weather forecasted to see a
dramatic drop in temperature over the next few days I almost grabbed
the barbel kit and joined Chris on the banks of the Loddon, yet more
important things got the better of this and I ended up tapping away
on the computer. Unfortunately the call never came from Chris and I
feared another blank, yet like me, if you’re after a massive fish
then you just have to keep you’re chin up and forget these.
Wednesday I met a new customer Tim,
who’s son had bought him a days guiding with me as a Christmas
present. We had purposely held back on going to the Loddon as I told
Tim that September and October where the best months for barbel. We
couldn’t have timed it better as the following night the mild spell
was to end with chilling north east winds forecasted for Thursday and
temperatures dropping some ten degrees. Arriving at the river we
found one angler on the river and as expected saw him snuggled up in
the best swim. Fortunately he was one of my regulars so we were able
to work around each other. The first two swims only produced the odd
knock yet with Mark having vacated the good swim we tried our luck
and within a few minutes the tip pulled round which saw a personal
best chub of 4lb 14oz landed. Heading downstream and having no
further success in a couple of swims we dropped into a swim that now
and again produces a barbel, however never a big fish. Tim was by now
moulding the pellet round the lead and lowering this into the river
and as we chatted I noticed the rod fly round. To be honest we were
getting on so well and having a good chat that the standard forty
minutes was well gone when the bite came, another lesson learnt maybe
and after a nerve whacking few minutes that saw the barbel heading
upstream and burying itself in a weed bed Tim finally got it moving
and when she surfaced I slipped the net underneath. Weighing 10lb 6oz
it was another personal best and a surprise to see this swim produce
a double. A few more swims were covered before moving to another
stretch and after dodging the Pheasants and Partridges in the road on
route soon had a bait positioned in a productive swim. Some fifteen
minutes past before once more Tim found himself attached to another
barbel, however she was ‘the one that got away’ as they say, as
after a long first run went through a snag. No more action came, yet
with another double caught for a customer, I had the urge to go
myself and with the tackle all sorted set the alarm early the
following day.
Heading for a much harder stretch and
with a few swims on my mind I spent the standard forty minutes in
each. The first, the banker swim bought one hand trembling moment and
after three more failed to show any signs I decided to call it a day,
or should that be morning. The previous night saw temperatures
dropping to five degrees and with a strong cold north east wind felt
I was on the back foot, yet on passing a swim I felt the urge to cast
out. Five minutes later I found myself slipping the net underneath a
big barbel, one that weighed 12lb 2oz and unfortunately was the same
one caught around half a mile downstream, last month. I was beginning
to think that they had moved; now I know.
Back at home it was a case of spending
a couple of hours returning emails, downloading images, updating
diary entries etc before sorting out the crucian kit for a couple of
hours into dark with crucians on our minds. I knew it was never going
to be easy, what with the drop in temperature, but more importantly
the change in wind which was now strong and coming from the
north-east. Chris joined me and come 5.30pm the rods were out,
however with just three anglers on and the one I spoke to in the car
park having blanked I wasn’t expecting fireworks. A small tench
gave us hope early on, yet it was obvious things weren’t going to
happen, yet I did still manage a couple of two pounders and a small
common so it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
The last few days I been feeling a bit
under the weather and really shouldn’t have pushed myself so hard
on Thursday and as a result seem to have picked up a cold so as for
Friday it’s a day in the office working my way through a thousand
or so wedding images that need to be sorted by next weekend, joy!
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Pete
Reading , Fishing
the Zambezi, BS conservation work
Free
entry to BS members, others £3.
