Barbel bring the season to an end

After my pike adventures of the winter, I was keen to finish off the season with a few barbel. The weather was relatively kind too. Temperatures were reasonably mild and most rivers had extra water. The only issue was that the levels had been up and down on an almost daily basis so stability was certainly lacking.

A Severn 9 pounder

With the last weekend of the river season upon us, I headed to a stretch of the middle Severn. This stretch had been kind in the past, especially when carrying extra water so I was confident of a bite or two. A rather busy car park greeted my arrival. Hardly surprising but a little disappointing nevertheless. It forced me upstream instead of my usual ventures downstream. I bumped into a couple of chaps who had blanked the previous day. It was similar news among the other anglers there but I found myself a likely looking swim and gave it a couple of hours. It was an uneventful few hours too without so much as a tap. I'd have liked to have roamed the stretch but it was too busy for that. By now it was lunchtime so I decided that given no one was catching it was time for a different stretch. Fifteen minutes later and I was in a new swim. Again fishing was slow despite what looked to be great conditions. A change to a pellet hookbait accompanied with a PVA bag finally saw a bite and a barbel was on. A lovely plump fish of 9lb 2oz was the result. I hoped it would prove to be a catalyst for a few but it was to be the only bite of the day.

The first Avon fish

Two short sessions on the Warks Avon after work completed the season for me. The first was on a rising river that had yet to colour up. Within 45 minutes a barbel was landed at 8lb 7oz falling to pellet presented upstream towards the far bank tree cover. The river continued to rise rapidly and by 7pm I called it a day with no more action seen.

The final day of the season saw me back on the river. It was highly coloured but dropping. A few fish had come out during the day to other anglers so I was mildly optimistic. That optimism soon dissipated as my baits were ignored. It looked for all intents and purposes that the season was going to end in a disappointing blank. The session was drawing to a close so I began to pack up. The first rod came in and was dismantled when out of the blue the bait on the remaining rod was picked up. My third barbel of the week was landed. Although very welcome, it wasn't huge probably going between 6 and 7lb and with it my 2018-19 season was over. Much has been discussed regarding the close season although I for one welcome the break. I may be in the minority these days but a break makes the heart grow fonder and it will allow me venture to pastures new. While the weather is still on the cool side I will target perch and then switch to tench as the water begins to warm. By then my thoughts will already be wandering towards the 16th June.

The final barbel of the season