Hampton Lucy Brook - 17.06.12

I’ve bought a Stratford-Upon-Avon book this year, apart from a lovely looking stretch of the Stour between Preston On Stour and Wimpstone that looks good for winter Chubbing they also have some nice and quiet Avon stretches that I fancied giving a go. Vary it up a bit, so to speak.

So the first new stretch I decided to try was Hampton Lucy Brook, after enjoying a hog roast and a beer at Snitterfields village fete for Father’s day I had a bit of a reccy with the Wife and kids afterwards, the official car park you cannot access from what I can see, there are two locks on the gate, a normal key padlock and a combination lock, the combination lock didn’t even work with the code stated in the book. Not a major problem as there is sufficient parking outside the gate but the Wife had baby Sam strapped to her back and the last thing she wanted was to clamber over a wet gate :)

I doubt it gets fished much, there is a bit of a trek to the pegs and so many anglers these days like convenience. Lots of feature though, a weir pool, some long slower and deeper stretches and also some face paced narrow sections with lots of overhanging trees. I got there at 7.45pm and first fished the base of the weir, 1 rod with lobworm the other with a huge pellet, not a knock for an hour so I moved downstream to one of the narrower swims.

I was getting indications on the lobworm rod right from the off and missed a couple of bites which were violent hit and run Chub bites. The pellet rod was also receiving some attention albeit probably small fish.

The heavens opened around 9.30pm and I was considering packing up when I got a proper 4ft twitch, one of those unmissable bites that I knew was a Barbel. It felt a bit chubbish when playing it though, trying to get into every snag possible. A bit of bullying and it was in the net, a lovely small Barbel in mint condition, it was hammering it down with rain at this point so I didn’t bother to weigh it, was probably a tad over 5lb I’d say. After taking one of the worst photos I’ve ever taken I allowed it to recover and returned it to the water. The Wife thinks I’m mad, but I’m no fair-weather fisherman and today it paid off, an enjoyable Fathers day.