Warwickshire Avon - Kickie-Wickie and Kakorrhaphiophobia

With storm Dennis taking a firm grip later on in the afternoon there was a luckily a relaxing of his clutches before he got properly going. I twiddled ones thumbs for all of five minutes and whilst the storm wasn't at its strongest as he was getting himself sorted after waking from his slumber, there was only one thing for it, yes try for a Barbel again.

The venue a few miles down the road has really got to me after losing a big fish on my bream gear, there was nothing I could do despite having caught decent fish on the set-up it before, this was a lump for sure.



 I could have revisited the same stretch as the session the day before where 3 barbel were banked but it was a big fish I was after not a splasher, despite the encouraging signs for the future a capture inevitably brings.

A slight change for this trip out, a boilie and paste wrap on one of the rods and I'd stick with worm and maggot on the other.

The wind was already picking up, so much so the chair I brought with me was left folded as as soon as ones backside left it, the wind when it did pick up, took the chair over on its side and in one particular strong gust took it towards the river.

Still, with the poncho donned as now the rain was now starting in anger it was quite pleasant to be bankside. It helped that the temperature was mild but wrapped up like I was for this session, if it wasn't for the diary markers involvement with the days events.

I could have stayed for most of the day given the opportunity. The area I fish is a large open bay that even when the river is bombing through like it was for this session only a small amount of lead is needed to hold bottom.

Both rods I fished with large cage feeders so I could pack in a large amount of pungent groundbait. The barbel rods though we being battered left right and centre, but when a barbel bites there is no second guess whether or not it's a bite or not. As the norm, when the swim allows it, one rod a centrepin, the other rod a baitrunner reel.

An hour and a half in to the session out of the blue the left hand rod which had the boilie and paste wrap jumps in to life and as soon as I lifted the rod I knew it was a Barbel. It powered off downstream to where there is some trees and cover so I had to give it some decent side strain to keep it heading to where I wanted it.

In the flow the fish felt decent in-fact I thought it was a proper barbel at first but then a slight disappointment when I first caught a glimpse of the fish, yeap another scrapper, similar size fish to the ones caught during the session 24 hours before.

I love catching Barbel though, whatever the size, but I thought here, in relatively new waters, I'd stumbled upon an area where big lumps reside. This fish put pay to that, but it was welcome all the same. Rested and safely returned I thought there might be others in the swim, but another 45 minutes without a bite and now the rain coming down heavily I decided to leave it as that.

George Burton braving the conditions as well, where he was fishing, a surfboard wouldn't have looked out of place.

With the rain not letting up throughout the day as I type this, the Alne at the highest I've seen it for a while I don't know when I'll get out to get fishing again, then again, I've been wanting to try a swim I've been told about that should just about be fishable, fingers crossed anyway.

Lets just hope we have some fishable days before the season end, I've still some species to tick off, the head of the river leaderboard to maintain, fail in my mission, lets hope not.