Sweltering summer sun

With the UK experiencing Mediterranean like conditions coupled with a clear river, I arrived on the Avon knowing things would be tough. I didn't get there until after 6pm as I knew the evening would offer the best chance of sport.

With a new centrepin to trial, my main attack would be trotting sweetcorn together with hemp as feed. I hoped that the chub would oblige and maybe a barbel would move in as the session progressed. To improve my chances I also cast a ledgered pellet upstream with a PVA bag. I plugged away with the float but bites were hard to come by. Fortunately and completely out of the blue, the

The only fish of the session

ledger set up tore off and a barbel was hooked. Nothing huge at a few pounds but in difficult conditions it was more than welcome. As the sun set, I hoped the bed of hemp that must have amassed after constant feeding would be pulling some big fish in. However, it was an uneventful dusk. Usually, larger chub start crashing on the surface but on this occasion they were conspicuous by their absence.

As the day turned to night, the full moon beamed down rendering artificial light

The local family of swans settle down for the night

unnecessary. Whether this had an impact I don't know. I rather suspect that if club rules allowed night fishing then a larger barbel would have turned up at some stage. As it was, I had to make do with the solitary fish. Although fishing with the centrepin was an enjoyable experience which made the hours fly by so I'll be giving it another go very soon.