Wavy Weeds And Lost Lambs

 I decided to give the trout a rest and head down to the river for a spot of barbel fishing. There were far more cars than expected on the verges, but most of the anglers seemed to be gathered close to the entrance so there would be plenty of space further down. From what I could gather there didn't seem to have been much barbel action but I was fishing into the evening so wasn't too worried.

After a bit of casting around in my chosen swim checking for snags I chucked in about half a pint of 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets to the downstream swim. This was to be fished with a 22mm pellet and a swimfeeder loaded with the smaller pellets. The upstream rod was the same but with a 12mm pellet. After only twenty minutes the downstream rod buckled over and I was in to what felt like a smallish fish that was quickly brought under control. A fish around the 5lb mark with a recently damaged dorsal fin.

I wasn't sure if a fish this early was a good sign or not. I continued to chuck more pellets in at intervals. Apart from a minnow that got stuck in a feeder that was it for the session. I did have a couple of rattles on the upstream rod but I suspect they were liners.

At one point a couple of lambs sated to bleat persistently and their mother would occasionally reply. Whether the the lambs expected their mother to come to them or what I don't know but eventually the did reunite.

I didn't stay until dark as the evening turned rather chilly and I'd left my fleece in the car. Apart from one all the cars parked up where different to the ones that were there when i arrived. I did see one chap make the long walk from the bottom of the stretch to retrieve a couple of fleeces from a car. I caught my target species so can't complain but I did expect there to be more action.