A great days fishing

[Jigotai]

My day started a little bit earlier than Anderoo’s. I turned up a about an hour earlier as I was getting a bit excited. The weather was great and the river looked fantastic, perhaps a bit too clear for fishing and with the sunshine it was going to be tough.

I set up my feeder rod and picked the carpark swim so I could let Anderoo in when he turned up.

It wasn’t long before I caught my first fish of the day, a minnow of about 2 ½ inches long, not what I was hoping for but it was a start.

 

Anderoo arrived a few minutes later and after a quick chat we had a stroll along the river. Even though I fish here regularly I found it difficult to choose a swim, they all looked so inviting.

We finally picked a couple of swims and settled down. My swim was a bit deeper than Anderoo’s with a few clumps of streamer weed. I had had some success with this swim in the past catching some nice chub so was quite confident.

After a while this confidence began to fade as the only bites I was getting were from the ravenous minnows. At one stage I freelined a piece of bread to try and tempt a carp that kept swimming past only for it to swim up to it and get spooked by something and disappear into the weed.

That was soon forgotten as I noticed something move by my feet. I looked down only to see a grass snake over 2ft long slivering past, what a sight, made my day.

 

We moved on soon after and wandered downstream. The river gets a bit wider and a bit weedier but has some lovely channels between the weed. We stopped off in a swim and noticed movement, this turned out to be more carp, but in amongst them I’m sure for a moment a barbel appeared. Anderoo stayed in that swim and I move a bit further downstream in a swim covered by some trees (it was nice to get out of the sun as I could feel myself starting to burn).

It was a lovely swim with just a few patches of sunlight getting through to the water showing up the gravel on the bottom. Every now and then a small roach or chub would swim through these patches of sunlight.

I started off trotting a float through the swim and was soon joined by Anderoo for a chat. As we talked we noticed the water had started to cloud up and after further investigation we spotted a couple of carp with their noses down having a root about just under the bank where I was fishing. Little was I to know then how frustrating the next couple of hours were going to be.

Anderoo returned to his swim and after little while I noticed large clumps weed floating past , a sure sign of a hard fought battle with a fish that didn’t give up easily. This was confirmed when Anderoo appeared with a big smile on his face.

The carp were still in my swim and were joined buy a few more all of which totally ignored my bait. After a few changes of bait and no luck I admitted defeat and we moved on to the swims that I was hoping would produce Anderoo’s first barbel.

 

We settled in our swims and it wasn’t long before I was getting knocks on my rod that I had a small boily on. These knocks developed into a proper bite and I hooked into a lovely chub, only about 1 1/2 lb, but a nice fish on a day which for me had been difficult so far.

A short while later I managed to catch a small perch on a lob worm. This was a first for me on this stretch as although it looks very perchy I had never managed to catch one, mainly because I have been targeting the barbel.

I recast another worm and almost instantly I had another bite, I struck and the fish shot off, taking line from my reel and swam straight into the reeds where it managed to get free leaving me well and truly hooked and having to pull for a break. I never saw the fish but from the feel of it I’m sure it was a larger perch.

Things went quiet after that and after using my last lobworm (I could only find three in my garden) I went back to using boilies again.

While admiring the bats silently going about their business above my swim I sat back for a moment only to be interrupted by the end of my rod arcing round all of a sudden. At last, a barbel. I jumped up and hooked into what felt like a monster. Once again it headed for the reeds but this time I managed to hold it back only for it to shoot of downstream like a torpedo. I managed to stop it and bring it back a bit and then of it would go again. When it finally began to tire I noticed the reason for the prolonged battle, it was hooked in the tail. We finally got it netted and quickly weighed it before returning it. 7 ½ lb, a good fish, shame it was foul hooked.

 

A few minutes later I heard what I’d been waiting for, “I’m in”, Anderoo had finally hooked into his first barbel.

To see the smile on his face when he finally banked it was priceless.

 

Not too long goes by when I hear a splash and realise Anderoo is into another fish. This time its bigger and I’m sure his thoughts while playing the fish are of a pb barbel, then the fish came to the surface and I notice a slight look of disappointment when he looked down and saw a carp. We net it and bring it in, and after weighing it both agree, at 11 lb it was still a nice fish.

 

A great days fishing with great company, you can’t ask for more.

[Anderoo]

A great days fishing with great company, you can’t ask for more.

 

Too right! A proper boys adventure full of excitement and incident. I know you'll be back to hook that barbel at the right end and get that venue record perch. An overlooked species there by the look of it.

 

I'll return the favour in the autumn with some big perch - well, we'll try anyway

[Jigotai]

Too right! A proper boys adventure full of excitement and incident. I know you'll be back to hook that barbel at the right end and get that venue record perch. An overlooked species there by the look of it.

 

I'll return the favour in the autumn with some big perch - well, we'll try anyway

 

Cheers Anderoo, I'll look forward to that.