Ever forgot something, and you realise when you've arrived bankside ? there is a good reason why I have a range of items either in my bag or actually in my car, because it seems to be a regular occurance. A rod rest head, a bankstick, even a spare landing hand handle.
When I placed the tackle at the top end of the stretch I was fishing and after negotiating 'heart attack hill' and what seems like a mile of walking, it dawned on me, nope not the catapult, but the bleeding landing net FFS. As I pinged in some pellets in a couple of the swims an otter with a smile in it's face popped his head out one of the swim I was going to fish, and then continued to stare at me as it proceeded to waft down the river.
Bugger !!!, I dumped the tackle and then decided to check the car but then after retracing my steps I rang the Wife and she confirmed "yes it's still in the garage !!!, not like you to forget things is it". Sooooo only one thing for it, onto Google to find the nearest tackle shop and thankfully the Angling Centre Limited was only 17 minutes away and they surely could get me out of the predicament I was in ?
They open at 8.00am which I was surprised at so after arriving at the parking spot at 7.15am that was perfect really, because loaded with tackle it took 20 minutes just to get to the area I was fishing, and then another 15 minutes to get back to the car, up the 'heart attack hill' which now has some newly built steps, and then a short drive to the tackle shop.
I ended up with a Dinsmore Shake n Dry landing net which came with its own storage bag, which is perfect really as I will now leave it in the car. A pony though, £25 quid so this trip is certainly adding up. It was a nice size similar to my Guru specimen net but a nice rubber finish, which does often repel the fishy pong landing nets are prone to.
So back to the stretch again which took a little longer it was school starting time and the traffic was worse. Phew !!! I can relax now, wasn't too bad, despite me being the cause of all these problems. I fancied chilling out for a bit behind a rod for an hour before trotting the stick float and the first chuck of the feeder in a clear and lowish river, but that never happened.
The chub were on it straight from the off and it didn't take long to have a fish in the net to christen it because after after some ridiculous really powerful pulls on the tip, I switched to a small piece of meat on the hook rather than boilie on the hair and within a few minutes a fish had hooked itself with yet another powerful bite.
Then it was fish after fish after fish, nothing big from just under 2lb to around 4lb but I was enjoying this and in the end switched back to boilie on a hair just to revel in the ridiculous bites I was getting. I prefer to trot if I can on the Wye and it was a barbel that I wanted so decided to move upstream to the croy and have a go off there.
I had already pinged in some pellets in this swim and it only took 15 minutes to get a bite trotting small cubes of meat when the float buried and I was in to a fish. The head shakes gave the game away and another nice chub was in the net after an enjoyable fight on the 15ft float rod.
I had quite a few more fish over the next couple of hours but there was no sign of the barbel. After taking stock with some lunch I decided to check the water temperature which was 9.9 degrees. So a nice temperature but I could see the bottom in most of the swims so I'm sure being clear wasn't helping the barbel front.
I tried another swim next where I have caught barbel before trotting but after another couple of hours with only chub again and the float now becoming difficult to see at the very end of the run, I decided to set my stall out to try and catch a barbel. This swim is renowned for the barbel that like to hang around the rocks but fishing a feeder you risk the chance of snagging up and losing gear, which happened twice. In the end I cast to an area that gave a satisfying donk on the feeder that seemed clear of any issues.
Chub after chub again and when the light started to go I though the barbel might come out to feed. The fry were being chased by the perch and activity seemed to increase, with a couple of Goosander popping up in my swim with one of them with a gobful of what looked like a dace. The bites seemed to get more violent if that was possible and a few of them were 100% a barbel bite, until I lifted in to the fish.
The barbel just didn't show for me at all and curfew time came where I reckon I must have had over 30 chub, with the best maybe a scraper 5lber. A really enjoyable day on my tod, but at the moment for the life of me I just cannot seem to catch a barbel. They seem to be a bit of a bogey species for me where on my headstone I think I'll have the chubmeister.
A chub fest, which I don't mind as you know that, but the barbel again seem suspicious in their absence, but then this is Piscatorial Quagswagging, this is the humdrum. I've another couple of fishing sessions planned before the season end, and to honest I'm stuck in rut really, I think the closed season will be a good think where I can take stock, sell my rods and take up flower arranging or bird bothering (the feathered variety !!)
I love the Wye though, I've said before it's like entering a different world there really is nothing like it really and it really does work wonders for the mind. It's only an hour and 15 minutes away by car as well, so I need to fish it more, not just a handful of times a year. I love the long trotting on a BIG river, it feels like proper fishing rather than being stuck behind a rod.
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