An angler's journal

An angler's journal

Sunday 30 June 2019

A slow start bursts into life

I have to be honest, the start of the river season has kind of passed me by this year. A combination of other things going on meant that for the first time in decades I missed out on the 16th June. A couple of trips in the first week or so resulted in a blank and then a couple of small chub. It was all a bit underwhelming.

Last Tuesday saw a whole heap of rain fall in Worcestershire and the Avon inevitably began to rise. By Wednesday evening it had peaked and was around 3ft up but starting to fall. The weather was grey and cloudy and I did have second thoughts on venturing out. The fact that a heat wave had been predicted for Thursday and beyond was enough to give me a nudge to get my act together so by 7pm I was set up in a swim that gave me some nice steady water on the inside with the fastest water on the opposite bank. The river looked good and as expected, several other anglers were on the bank hoping to take advantage of what looked decent conditions. However, not much had happened and a few were already calling it a day.

I cast out two rods. Upstream with pellet, downstream with meat. Both with a cage feeder packed
The first barbel of the season, and a double.
with scalded pellet to act as an attractant. A few chub topped mid-river so at least I knew some fish were about but all was quiet as far as the baits were concerned. To be honest, I didn't expect much. However, that was all about to change. Around one hour in and the pellet was picked up and it was a barbel. A good fish held its own, using the extra water to its advantage. I kept the pressure on and inched it closer to the bank where it was finally beaten. A good fish that surely had to be a double. Indeed it was, weighing in at 10lb 14oz. My mood had completely changed. What a way to open my barbel account but better was still to come. Both rods had seen a few knocks and at around 9pm the meat was picked up and another barbel was on. This fish just held station. It didn't really run and I could hardly move it. I think at one point it might have snagged but I managed to get it moving again and finally it surfaced. Another double and bigger than the first. The second fish went 11lb 5oz. I packed up at 10pm. I maybe could have stayed on a little longer and maybe another would have showed but I was more than satisfied with two doubles in less than three hours of fishing. The river is now back to normal and we've just seen some very hotweather so right time, right place and all that.
The second of the session at 11lb 5oz 

Anyone that does read this may have noticed I have slowed up with the post releases. I have decided that I will slow down my output, probably posting an update every month or so and maybe an extra if something turns up worth mentioning. However, I'm not really sure how many people are reading this anymore and social media seems to have taken over. There's plenty on here for those that want to search around. Thank you to those that still check in and comment. That's always appreciated.

4 comments:

  1. Your a Leg end, from the biggest Leg End ever Herr Flick Eliiot as I've lived in the Wye Valeey for a nano secound. But I know it all. Ps You need a deck chair.:-) Top Bombing Teach!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent start Lee! I’m sure more are to come over time. J.

    ReplyDelete