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nice looking pond ,much better than featureless gravel pits ,nice fish to go with it although ii prefer no carp once they get big or in numbers they radically change small ponds

I seem to be hearing the same from places all round the country Ian. Barbel seem scarcer this year, even on the usual 'hot spots' like the Trent, Severn, and Avon. Like you, I think that the heavy flooding over the winter has played a part, not the otters as a guy I met on the bank the other week kept insisting, we had a slightly heated, (more like luke warm), debate on the subject. I've not tried for them yet this year, I've reached the time of life when my approach is more sedate than it used to be. Walking a few miles of bank, to locate them is out now. I don't mind a longish walk to a spot

Had a decent session today, caught a good few chub of various sizes, some "dice", annoying minows and a single barbel. The strong down stream wind made float control hard work, especially in this spot as the river is 80 plus yards wide and a wind tunnel. [url=https://postimg.cc/TLvbTTYr][img]https://i.postimg.cc/TwpJqPzH/IMG-0789.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/d7ydMhvs][img]https://i.postimg.cc/bv6RtnBt/IMG-0788.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/bSb1QdCV][img]https://i.postimg.cc/hvZMRd9n/IMG-0793.jpg[/img][/url]

Another session today, trotting on a couple of my favourite swims. The fishing started off slow as I only got trout, average dace and small chub in my first spot. I made a move a couple of hundred yards downstream to the next swim and got a nice trout of 2 plus pound next trott through a barbel of 6 or 7lb. I finnished up with seven barbel, one decent chub of about 4lb, a few small chub, a few dace and some nice trout, not a bad few hours out...appart from getting several soakings in passing thunder and lightening storms!

I caught a gudgeon on Saturday from the Thames - while jigging a soft plastic for perch!