Toughing It Out.

 

 Since my trip to the R.Wye I have struggled to get a Barbel and not through the want of trying. It's been one of them seasons where I feel the conditions are largely in favour of targeting Barbel given the lacklustre summer we have experienced so far. Typically in summer I am looking for times of heavy rainfall following on from a prolonged spell of heat and little rain, as for this summer we are spoilt for choice with conditions very much akin to late October!

 A couple of visits to the R.Blackwater have produced nothing more than tentative enquiries from small chub. The area of the Blackwater I've been targeting I know holds Barbel but not entirely sure of numbers, however having walked and fished it twice I would have thought if there were good numbers of fish that I would have seen them ghosting across gravels or hanging out the back of the plentiful ribbon weed or overhanging bushes. 

 It certainly looks good for a Barbel and Brian managed to extricate one from its watery home at the first time of asking (8lb 0oz), which gives me hope going forward, as with everything time will tell as to whether it'll happen here or if indeed I look elsewhere on the Blackwater, for now I will concentrate where I am currently fishing in the vein hope a double slips up!

Intimate and weedy!

Stealth is key!

 On Thursday I also returned to the R.Nene hoping to wrap up this river at the third time of asking. Things aren't looking good for what used to be a superb river, the Barbel seemed to have in the main ridden the Otter onslaught and now good sized Barbel are coming through between 8-12lbs and look pristine which bodes well and the river looks amazing, however given the amount of rain the Nene valley has seen I was shocked to find the river clear, in fact tap clear! Now I was expected it to have at the very least a tinge to it. Extraction is stripping millions of litres out of the river and water being diverted in extraordinary programmes to avoid new developments going under when the river will inevitably flood, plus the gates further the down the river are constantly open to prevent this, problem is the height of the river has dropped a lot too. The environment once again being exploited and damaged for human gain. Not that it looks terrible to me of course not knowing the river, but locals who know the river well and have done for 20/30 years have seen the decline.

Sunrise on the Nene.

 Yes it meant I could spot fish in the carriers and spot fish I did, good Pike (one very big Pike too), a couple shoals of Chub, again, some very big ones with one either over 7lb or just a little under along with a few friends that were over 6lbs themselves! I did find one Barbel that I estimate to be around 8lbs, however its positioning was making it almost impossible to target, when I finally managed to get an angle to enable me to get the bait under the tree the small plop of my half/ounce shot spooked it down river and out of sight, I knew the chance was gone but gave it half hour anyway. 

The Barbel' lair, Gnarly!

Beautiful stretches of river!

Tap clear, even after all the rain we've had.

Majestic!

 Chances of a fish were coming at a premium and later on the day I was joined by my mate Ross for the final few hours which we both knew was the best time for a bite from one of the Nene warriors, with baits out in the areas I felt a bite would come, I felt confident all the way up until the rods had to come in and pack up. Smaller fish such as Dace and Chublet were causing issues as they were whittling down my luncheon meat with consummate ease which meant at times I was fishing bare which I knew was not helping my cause so I've got to find a solution to that conundrum. 

 So another 3 blanks to add to my stats....

Brown Hawker.