Just thought I would post about my last time out. Been a very long time since I did so

Myself and my brother decided to have a go at the usual stretch we go to when targeting the larger specimens. It is a stretch of the Ribble know for producing some very large fish.

We arrived at around 5pm and got our stuff sorted but I didnt rig up and instead opted to have a play with the lure gear instead. I have bought some really small 1" rubber shads to have a go for the perch. I made a few casts and then on the 4th or 5th cast I hooked into what I thought could be a pike. It went off like a train for a few seconds before darting around and pulling line occasionally. It was only when it was nearly to the net (the river was quite coloured) that I realised it was in fact a very large perch, by my standards anyway. I slipped the net under and then weighed it and it came in at 2.6lbs. A lovely fish for the river. I later moved the previous occupants nackered old chair! Shame I never took the photos as they really done do the fish justice at all.

I carried on casting after this great fish and had another perch of around 6oz. Then a few casts later I hit another biggie. It took off again and was so nice to fight on my light lure gear. I got it in and weighed it and this one went 3lb on the nose! A new pb for me. Again with the dodgy pics!!

I was really over the moon with this fish and decided to let my brother have a fish. He lost another large one near the net but then it went a bit quiet so I decided to sit back down and set up the barbel gear for the night. I cast in numerous pva mesh bags of pellets and then cast both rods in and sat back and enjoyed the sunset.

We fished for a good few hours with not even a knock. This particular swim is not one we usually sit on but we wanted to try something new. I identified a spot that had a very deep hole and cast into it with 2 mesh bags attached. I waited about an hour and then I had a very slow pull. I thought that it was weed as the current was very strong that evening and a lot of weed etc was coming down. I lifted into it and it just felt heavy. It took a minute to feel a thump and a kick and I realised I was into a fish. I knew it had to be a good size but wasn't sure what it was and the heavy flow made me think possibly it wasnt that big but was just using the current very well. I played it for a fair while and then I slipped the net under it. I lifted it up and me and my brother couldnt believe how big it looked! It was a huge barbel. I weighed it and it came in at 11.5lbs. Another new pb for me.

It felt like picking up a baby shark and I was elated with this capture. It was my second double figure barbel almost in as many weeks and after 4 years of trying. This stretch had really lived up to its reputation. in the end my brother blanked but I was really satisfied with my 4 fish. We went home around 2am as we were just shattered and we could tell it wasnt going to fish as well as we had hoped. Many had walked past us already looking beaten. Looking forward to the next time out!