Thursday 14 March 2013

Last chance saloon...

Though normally a relaxing pursuit and a necessary contrast to my otherwise busy and often stressful work-life tonight was the last night of the season and there was a lot riding on it...

Tonight the swim I had intended to fish where I had lost one only a week ago was taken but thankfully another spot I knew to hold a good few fish was available and considering that this time last year the banks of this same stretch were crowded I counted myself lucky.
I fished close to a feature upstream with a running ledger rig. My first cast was wiped out after about 20 minutes by passing debris. It was nearly dark and I knew that the next cast had to be spot on or I may as well go home. It landed very close indeed to the feature- a perfect cast perhaps but who could be sure? After sitting there for another 2 hours without so much as a twitch I began to wonder if I was snagged...

... and then BANG went the rod tip! It was absolutely text book. Having the current on my side was a godsend as this fish had a lot of fight in it! 

So here it is. 9lb 11oz: not a personal best - my first barbel on this stretch was 13lb 4oz and I've yet to beat that but this is a great moment and I am over the moon!

9lb 11oz barbel on the last day of the season!