A Sort Of Barbel Free Barbel Session

 According to the gauges the river was still rising and should be about a yard up, so it looked like it may be a good time for another spot of barbel fishing. When I got to the river there was only a couple of cars there which was a bit of a surprise and the river wasn't quite as high as I'd expected. I also saw my first egret on this stretch. I've seen the further down, but not up here. As I got my kit out the car a couple more anglers turned up. Prospects looked good.

 

I headed downstream and plonked myself in a swim. Halibut feeder upstream and meat downstream. The upstream rod just beyond the weeds and the downstream rod in the slightly slower water midstream. The faster section being on the far bank. This was to change as the river slowly rose and the distinction slowly disappeared. A 3oz feeder held upstream, but 4oz was needed downstream. After an hour or so the upstream rod tip sprang back and I was in. Initially the fish was reasonably cooperative before it decided to head downstream. Something didn't feel right though, as if I wasn't in direct contact with the fish. The line was pointing at 45 degrees to the water but the fish had taken a lot more line and was a lot further downstream. It had clearly got under a snag. One reason I'd chosen this swim was that it was normally snag free. After a few minutes of too and fro everything went solid. I fed out some slack line and waited a good ten minutes, but it was coming out. I went for the direct pull and the line snapped with the greatest of ease. The last ten yards of the 15lb reel line was seriously chafed so of it came. I re-rigged. By now the 3oz feeder wouldn't hold bottom so I put a 4oz feeder in instead which held nicely. I'd forgotten to put the super heavy stuff in the tackle box so if things got worse it would have to be a double lead job.

Twenty minutes later the downstream rod lurched over. At first I thought it was more weed or debris on the line, but it set off downstream far far too fast for debris. Eventually i stopped the fish in it's tracks and it just hung in the current before swinging into the nearside and into some tree roots. Again I gave it so slack to no avail. I tried poking the landing net in and around the roots as this sometimes  frightens the fish out. I then went for the big heave and the 12lb hook length parted. That was to be it for me. I had expect more bites later on as this is normal ion this swim. A couple in quick(ish) succession and then nothing for a while.

The river rose around six inches while I was there. An angler I was talking to at the parking spot had taken four and lost three downstream of me. Another who'd never caught downstream of the bridge managed two, one of which was a double. Oh well. As I pondered weather to pack up as rain was expected imminently a flash of lightening and a roll of thunder made my mind up for me. I wasn't quite quick enough though. Halfway back to the car the heavens opened. By the time I got to the car it had eased off, before tipping it down again as I drove away. No fish and soggy tackle. Not a great day.

The River Has Risen

It does seem to be far to warm for piking at the moment, but I was all set. While checking the river levels, on Thursday, I noted that the upper Wharfe was rising. From past experience this would arrive at my favoured barbel spot on Friday morning.  Sure enough checking the river levels Friday morning and it was rising. So barbel fishing it was. The river was, as expected, up by about 6-8" and carrying a bit of colour. Not too coloured though as I could see the bottom about a foot or so down. There didn't seem to be too many leafs coming down either.

By now it had warmed up quite a bit and by the time I got to the swim I was mafted. There didn't appear to be need of the fleece and  bib 'n' brace. The sun kept popping out from behind the clouds as well. I did have the gumption to bring the clip ons with me as I would be sat on the northern back so face straight into the sun when it appeared. A big lump of meat was dropped under an overhanging tree downstream. I decided to see if a 120g feeder would hold bottom in the far bank gully. As the feeder got about two thirds the way across I was dazzled by the sun as it appeared from behind the clouds and lost tack of the feeder. The dull thud as it hit the far bank let me know where it had landed. A quick tug and it was in the water. It held for a few minutes before the debris slowly started to drag it downstream. Looking into the river with the polarizing lenses I could see the problem. For every leaf floating along the  surface a dozen were drifting along under water. It looked like both rods would be fishing the inside line. One downstream, one upstream.

As I sat waiting for a bite I got the impression I was been watched. Looking round I could see know one, but the impression still lingered. I then saw the reflection on the water and looking up a red kite was hovering in the breeze that got up. By the time I'd got my phone for a photo it had dropped over the flood bank and disappeared towards the trees. This spooked a couple of pheasant. I had to recast every 20-30 minutes to clear the leafs from the line which wasn't too bad, but because of the breeze that had sprung up more leafs were floating down on the surface as well. The baits were now lasting about ten minutes before been dragged away, so I had a wander about looking at other swims to see it any had less leafs floating down. I found one that didn't have any on the surface and which was a nice 3-4' deep gully on the inside. No sooner had I got the rods out when a great raft of leafs came drifting down. Thy had been piled up behind a partial sunken branch, but the weight must have got too much and pushed the broken branch to one side. One rod nearly got dragged in as I was winding the other in. I sat and had my lunch hoping the leafs would clear, but with the branch out of the way they were just getting funnelled down the inside.

By now the river had peaked and was starting to drop very slowly. I considered packing up as it all looked a bit futile and given I was the only one fishing it was clear other appeared to have known better. I had another wander about and found a swim with a large slack in it. I decided I'd give it a go. While I was sorting my self out after the move a very pale looking heron flew along the far bank. I took me quite a while, staring at it, to realise it was in fact an Egret just as it disappeared behind the trees. This is the first one I've seen up here which was quite pleasing.

I dropped a pellet into a crease down stream and meat into the same crease upstream. As i prepared  a cuppa the pellet o buckled over and the baitrunner clicked away. After a spirited fight in which the fish attempted to pass me and swim upstream like a big barbel I had one of 6lb 9oz in the net. Mission accomplished. With darkness arriving so early and suddenly at the moment I thought that would do. so started to pack up. When I opened the feeder to remove the pellet debris I found a little minnow inside, so I'd caught two fish.

I wish I'd remembered about the big slack earlier as I think it may have produced more. Still mission accomplished.

More Barbel Fishing For Pike

As the river had risen slightly from Tuesday's rain I thought another go for barbel would be a good idea on Wednesday. Several other anglers appeared to have the same idea as there were several cars parked up when I got to the river. They must have been down the bottom end though as I passed nobody as I wandered along the top section. Two anglers were setting up on the opposite bank just downstream of me.

I choose a swim with a nice slack just upstream and a distinct crease downstream. Cheese paste and a feeder full of crumb was dropped into the slack and Peperami into the crease. The one thing the rain had done was dislodge a lot of debris. To start with it missed my lines. I sat watching a red kite performing acrobatics in the distance. A bit later what I thought to be a rather gaudy robin shot past in to the willow to my right. After several attempts to get a picture of it as it bobbed around the branches I realised it wasn't a robin. The only thing I could think it looked like was a redstart. Later on I got a brief glimpse of a heron as it flow towards the woods.

Eventually I got a bite on the cheese. At first I thought it was some debris that had hit the line, but the clatter of the 'pin told me otherwise. A little jack which bit me off just as I got the net near it. Just after I got a new hook length on and had cast out the meat rod started to bend over. Contact was made with something then all went tight. Moving downstream I managed to free it. Up came a branch and another little jack which shook itself off as it came to the surface. Unlike Tuesdays jack it didn't dislodge the branch for me.

I had intended to stay well into dark but the debris was becoming an increasing menace. I gave up when a very large branch came floating past just. I didn't want to spend my time in the dark pulling weed etc. from the line. Quite why the pike are taking the baits they are I don't know, but my next trip is with a lure rod.