BUSTED

     Last night's rain had just lifted the level an inch or two and added a hint of colour to the water. It seemed like a good omen as the river fishing has been a tad patchy of late. Just for a change, I had bought a pint of casters, a reluctant purchase for me. I love caster fishing but my local shops only supply to order which is fine if you're a match angler but useless to me. I don't know from one day to the next whether I will need them or not. As luck would have it, I also needed some groundbait for the Wye on Wednesday and some sardines deadbaits. Once one gets a few items on an order, the cost that postage adds becomes more bearable so I added the casters to the list and bought them through post.

     As well as the casters, I also had hemp and tares with me, so I began by feeding some of each on every other trot down. Bites were not long in coming, my waggler dragged down as the fish held up its progress through the swim. Apart from a Dace and a Roach, all my fish were Chub ranging from 'struggling to swing it in' size to a pound fourteen. The best of the day was apparent from the moment I struck as it doggedly hugged bottom mid river. You can always tell a good fish, when you strike, the tip stays where it is as the fish is too heavy to move when you lift the rod. It's a wonderful feeling. Eventually the pressure told however and on the bank it went 3-4, my best of the season so far.

Late morning, I hit a fish which initially would not budge but when it did, it ripped of yards of line. It is surprising how much pressure one can put on a fish with a 3lbs hooklength and steadily applied, it was enough to coax it away from the rushes on the far bank. For a while it just hugged bottom upstream and down and it soon became apparent that this was perhaps not the big Chub I had initially thought it was likely to be.

     This was confirmed when it finally surfaced close in. It was in fact a really nice looking Barbel. My personal best is 7-12 from the Severn and this looked like it might challenge that although I don't catch enough of them to be sure. As It was finally heading for the net, it dived and made a dash for a mess of tree roots to my right collecting my Pike line en route. I thought that it was going to be a lost cause once it reached them but steady pressure brought it back out and soon it was sliding towards the net again. Just as its nose reached the rim it ducked around a single lily stem, kicked and was gone leaving me staring at the swirling water dissolving back into the current. It left a truly horrible, hollow feeling that all anglers know.

So, my first Warwickshire Avon Barbel will have to wait but on the plus side I've found a swim that at least one has fed in and maybe gained a clue or two as to how to fish for them without having to endure another long biteless morning like I did last week. The Pike rod standing sentry over my keepnet proved its worth this morning. Although I didn't catch on it, I lost the same jack twice first thing and that was enough to stop him bothering my catch, all morning. Wednesday threatens extreme cold and the likelihood of any Barbel feeding much diminished. Stan has just rung suggesting I save my money and postpone my trip to the Wye for a week so I am tempted to go back to the Avon and fish for pike.I'm not sure why I expect them to feed when nothing else will but I do so we shall see how that turns out. If nothing else, I can keep mobile and hopefully stay a bit warmer.