I arrived at the river at 1pm just in time for the first of the forecast showers to hit me full in the face, had the rain had come half an hour earlier I probably would have stayed at home. I passed another angler setting up and exclaimed "Mad dogs go out in the midday rain" which bought a chuckle of agreement as he too was hoping that the squally showers forecast would be more miss than hit.
The river was up following last nights rain and was churning through the middle so I picked a spot with a nearside slack knowing the fish come right in when there's colour in the water. It's a spot usually good for a few chub and roach so I set up a stick and run it under the rod tip holding back in the slack which was far from slow but still a slack compared to the main flow.
First bite was met with solid resistance and not the roach I had expected first up, it also became evident after a few more lunges that is wasn't a chub either. With my rod tip touching the water on several occasions I tried desperately to keep the fish in the nearside slack water knowing that any downstream run would end in tears. There's only so much pressure you can exert on 3lb bottom but try it I did even if it was more coaxing that bullying.
A flash of the tail in the murky water seemed to show some large carp like scales but another spin revealed the forked tail of a barbel and a good one at that. How easily it could have taken off and snapped me at any stage especially when I got it near the surface, but on the second time of asking I took a punt with a risky net lunge and I guided it in when it was far from beaten. This negated a good five minutes of fight and was worth the risk, he says in hindsight of course.
The fish was still full of beans on the mat and had to be held down to unhook my size 18 barbless from a corner of it's barbule, the most iffy looking hook hold if ever I saw one. As I felt the power of the fish I knew it was a very fortunate first fish of the day and at 9lb 4oz the biggest barbel I'd had from this swim.
I took a while to rest the barbel in the margins almost in the spot where I hooked it, probably longer than needed but I had all the time in the world. It burped a couple of sets of bubbles and swam off strong as I prepared for the next set of rain.
It was the perfect time dig out the waterproofs to hunker down and have a warm coffee, I peered out and could see the white flank of a magpie illuminated by a small patch of sun behind a rather purple looking cloud. This cloud was spraying me with sideways rain despite being half a mile away.
I continued to fish close in as the rain turned to drizzle but wet enough to keep me looking like a waterproof camo version of Clint Eastwood, my roll up poncho comes in so handy on days like these.
If anything I could have done with a shorter rod as I was having to swing the float pendulum style not for distance but to fish closer in, I then shipped the rod back like a pole and held the middle of the rod to trot close in. I could have sat further back on the path but I liked the shelter and intimacy of being low at the water's edge. Besides it was jolly good fun striking into fish this way with barely a foot of line out, it was so direct, so close in and so much fun especially hitting into a good chub.
After another chub I gradually worked the float deeper and tried the crease further out, even standing for a while, partly to stretch my legs but also to try to dry my rear which was now damp, sideways rain gets everywhere it seems.
Here it was all gudgeon, they were like little sharks and it was one after the other, lifting them out without needing to reel as if the rod was a whip. My hands got colder after each one was unhooked, an ability gudgeon seem to have on winter days like no other fish it seems.
I went back to the slower water hoping for some roach to really cap the day off nicely but it was another couple of chub that got in on the act. Each time they tore off midstream towards the opposite bank despite being hooked tight to nearside rushes . The way the line cut through the water each time was majestic even if the tree roots opposite meant giving a bit of stick was needed. One of the chub had loads of blackspot around the head and on some of the fins.
Another chub got in the snags when I got a bit sloppy so I changed to some hooks to nylon I wanted to try that were tied to 4lb, handy if I hit another barbel and I could give the chub more stick I thought. However even with the extra colour in the water bites dried up and what bites I had were bumped. I wasn't happy with the slightly larger and heavier gauge hook so went back to my Kamazan B510's which are a true size 18, I do get big fish in on them so maybe it's best to stick to what I'm comfortable using. It is amazing what a slight difference to the hook or line makes.
Sure enough changing back to the tried and tested resulted in much more bites, it was a joy to be fishing directly under the rod tip with so much control, sometimes holding back, sometimes letting it go and often both, no two trots were the same and it was bliss. A few nice dace showed in the faster water which was now receding a touch, the last of which had the rough sandpaper scales getting ready for breeding. Then I finally got my roach, three in three casts and like the other day they were absolute perfection.
The sun was now out as I was getting a wonderful mix of fish but I cast an eye to the bank of cloud that was closing in, deciding to get rid of my bait to avoid getting caught in a last minute downburst and having to go all 'Clint' again. The heavy feeding actually slowed the fishing down but I did get rid of the last maggots which were from the previous trip too so had done a sterling job. I packed up as a kingfisher flew down the channel, it's halcyon blue lit up against a sea of different colours offered by the evening sky.
It had been a great afternoon, all I needed was to get back to the car before that rain came back.
