Return to the River Wye...

Rods out!

At a week or so's notice, my dad ran an idea past me. His partner suggested a day's canoeing on the River Wye, and at the same time there was potential for me hitching a ride for a day's fishing. Hastily, I started to check out potential fishing locations around the area and with the help of a reasonably local and all-round fishing guide, Kenny Parsons, I organised myself a permit. As the day of the trip neared, Kenny was kind enough to impart his knowledge of the stretch specifically and gave me a key area to target. I have to admit, I did start the day with a very pessimistic outlook leaving late and having to pick up lunch en route as opposed to doing so the night before, so the time of arrival was around lunchtime. I was rather disorientated when I arrived, but after having a quick chat with Kenny on the phone, who reassured me I was heading in the right direction, I was soon in the right area.

On arrival at the swim, I mixed up my 'hemp and hali crush' groundbait and assembled all the necessaries. Once I was happy with the consistency of the groundbait and had tied myself an ideal rig with a nice and long fluorocarbon hooklength, I was ready to make my first cast of the day. Admittedly, it was not quite on the money, but as I placed my rod on the tripod (which I borrowed courtesy of Simon Daley) I felt a lot calmer and ready to focus. My choice of hookbait was the slick sense baits from West Country, which have a very pungent smell and renowned for catching big barbel consistently, which certainly gave me confidence. I had literally got to the point where I was tying a hooklink up on the other rod and I had a good bang on the tip. My adrenaline levels hit the roof. As I was going to start the whipping of the knotless knot for the hooklink, the rod suddenly smacked over with a 3ft twitch and the tightly done freespool started to zip off. I lifted into a definite barbel. The fish went straight upstream and hung nice and low. The muscular lunges were unmistakable as I started to bring the fish under control. With the Wye consisting of many boulders, I knew I had to keep the fish's head up as best as I could with the perils of getting cut off. It was fair to say my adrenaline was going through the roof as the fish approached what I call the deadly region, under the rod tip. After some amazing wallows and nasty dashes for the depths, I had my first barbel of the day safely reviving in the net. It was a definite Wye PB and a stunningly proportioned and coloured fish, a pure powerhouse! I gave the fish a good few minutes to revive whilst setting up all necessaries for getting a quick picture and wetting and zeroing the sling. After quickly getting a few snaps and putting her on the scales, I waded out and held her close until she was ready to kick off.

A fine proportioned barbus (6-7)

What was to follow after this was heaps of canoeists! Including my dad and co. After having my rigs taken out by people on canoes twice and losing a chub, I re-tied a couple of hooklinks. After getting the downstream rod out and a fresh bait going in, I sorted out some fresh baits. Both rods were soon back in action. As I was tidying a few things in my tackle box, I heard my freespool absolutely scream off with the rod buckled over. Another barbel was on! After another incredibly powerful series of lunges a stunning barbel topped. After several sprints and wallows on the surface another powerhouse was in the net.

Another stunningly proportioned little powerhouse!

I continued casting on a fifteen minute basis to keep building the swim with the feeder and within the second cast in this cycle, the rod knocked aggressively. I picked the rod up and knew I had a chub on. The fight was certainly spirited for the heavy tackle and it was great to have landed this one. After taking a quick shot, I continued the cyclical routine of building the swim with the feeder. At this moment in time, the canoeists were coming in short bursts and were starting to die down by the time I had an hour to start packing up.

Nice to see rubber lips make an appearance!

Just as I was starting to think about packing up, I decided to have one more recast. This cast was on the money and I knew I was in for a good chance of another bite. With the confidence boost of putting a fresh bait on, I sat and waited whilst the feeder was working the magic with the cloud of attraction. Shortly after getting my other rod out just upstream, the downstream rod absolutely buckled over and line started to tear out. I lifted into another barbel. Like the first one, this fish hung low in the middle channel and really lunged about with all its might. Another amazing fight under the rod tip was to follow and after some fantastic wallows on the surface, the third barbel of the trip was in the net. At 6lb 1oz, it was a nice barbel to have landed at what was the first proposed time I had to pack up.

Another absolute muscle machine (6-1)

With what already had felt like a great trip, considering I had been there for the afternoon, I did not pass by the opportunity given to me by my dad to carry on for another hour, despite the fact I was already effectively packed up. After tying a new rig up and taking care to put on a nice fresh bait, I casted another feeder which went straight on the money in a bomb of feed. Just as the feeder settled and the rod was placed on the tripod, I watched the tip. With the canoeists now gone, it was a great opportunity for maybe another fish to make an appearance, I thought. Right on queue the line tightened with the rod absolutely slamming over 3 foot twitch style! As I lifted into it, I felt a good weight. But as I started to apply pressure, it felt as if I was wedged in a boulder. I wound a little and pulled the weight upstream, it started to move! It was then that I knew I may have hooked something perhaps, a bit more substantial. The fish made a dash upstream, using all its body mass. I applied as much pressure as I could, as there were many potential nightmares with the plentiful boulders in the river. The fish would not show itself and remained effectively clung to the bottom. After some heart-stopping lunges towards deeper water as she neared, the vortex of a good fish emerged. The line continued to weave vigorously as she neared, and my feeder started to swing into view. The typical shark fin soared on the surface and a large mouth emerged, before wallowing and tearing line out of the drag. After some very nerve wracking final lunges and dives, a good head popped up to the surface before being safely netted. I could tell with the way this barbel filled the bottom of my net that I had landed a new Wye personal best and certainly a fish that could even tip my own. I managed to find a perfect place to revive her whilst I sorted out my scales and photography equipment. As I gently carried the barbel to the sling it felt a fair bit heavier than the others. When I put her on the scales, I looked in disbelief as I saw the scales swing straight over 10lbs and settling on 10lb 4oz. 'Wow', I gasped as I gently carried the fish back into the water and rested her again. Once the camera gear was all sorted I managed to get a few decent shots of this fine creature!

What a way to end the session, a new PB Barbel at 10lb 4oz!

After sorting out the final shots, I waded out and waited for the fish to confidently kick a few times. She did so rather quick, and what a sight it was to see such a stunning fish disappear back into the depths of this stunning river. The time had now come to start packing up and shortly after, setting off for home. It was an enjoyable session all-round and thanks goes to my dad for the transport and his partner for organising the canoeing which gave me the opportunity to fish! Thanks also goes to Kenny Parsons for giving me a great insight of tactics needed and imparting his knowledge of many years of pioneering on this magic river, which really helped with the little time I had on the day itself.

For those that don't know Kenny has a guiding service where he is bookable for a day's fishing for many of people's desired species! His website is definitely worth checking out here:
http://www.kpanglingguide.com

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous