The Colours of Autumn

Autumn is a fantastic time to be out in the countryside. The colours of autumn show themselves in all their glory and of course, with winter around the corner the fish feed in earnest. There are few better occasions to be on the bank and the recent mild weather has provided anglers with a great opportunity to land some cracking fish.

Perfection in minature

With a week off, there was a real chance of a big barbel. I missed the ideal window of opportunity and ended up on the lower Severn about a week ago. Unfortunately, the level had dropped compared with a few days before and it also coincided with the coolest evening we had seen in an otherwise mild spell. Needless to say, my quest failed and the evening passed without so much as a tap on either rod. With my optimism dented I visited the Warks Avon the following day. I took my nephew out during the afternoon with a spinning rod and we managed a few hits resulting in small pike. As the light faded we changed tactics with one rod baited with boilie and the other with meat. It wasn't long before the boilie rod showed a few signs of feeding fish. Therefore, it was no surprise when a 3lb chub hooked itself and was safely landed. Another, slightly larger chub soon followed. At this point, I swapped the meat so that both rods were baited with boilies. It seemed that this bait was gaining more interest on this occasion. A few twitches on the downstream rod signalled a fish was closing in. The rod wrapped round and a barbel was on. The next few minutes saw me experience a memorable battle as a powerful fish tested my tackle to its full. The fish was landed and a solid looking barbel lay in the folds. It was a deep fish but lacked the length needed to send it over ten pounds. The scales settled at 9lb 3oz. It proved to be the final action as the swim switched off and home beckoned.

A cracking 9lb 3oz autumn barbel

A few hours with my son completed the week. We caught a few silvers on maggots, lost a pike on the worm before my half mackerel deadbait was finally picked up. Another good battle commenced as the mild conditions meant an energetic fish gave its all. I didn't weigh the fish but I reckon it was heading towards double figures.

With the cooler nights and the clocks going back it won't be long before the perch come into focus.