Bourne To Do It.

 

 Anywhere that I chose to fish after that Trent trip was always going to be a tad deflating, the hectic nature of how the session unfolded is something I rarely experience, the feeling of being miles away from a Barbel is how I usually feel. 

 A visit to the River Bourne for an afternoon / evening session the other day was in order, having finished a job not too far away I thought it was probably the best option. I opted to rove around, drop a few boilies in each likely looking area then leaving them to rest as I mooched around looking for a bite.

 First peg like most was super snug and barely any room to swing a cat, hemmed in with expiring Balsam and gnarly brambles and nettle it wasn't the most inviting looking spot to start in but fifteen yards downstream is a nice overhanging bush which looks like a Barbel may call it home.

 An hour later I guessed nothing was home and naffed off to the first baited spot, armed with a 1.75 ABR and pin I lowered my 20mm hard hooker source hookbait down with a PVA of six 15mm pre-soaked boilies into position and sat back, after 40minutes or so I had a knock which caught me by surprise and that kept me alert for the next few minutes when out of nothing the rod tore off and the pin screeched into life! 

 In this equally tight spot the fish gave me the run around from the get-go and even managed to snag me on the surface behind a series of branches which wasn't helpful but after allowing some slack for a few seconds the Barbel drifted back down beyond the branches and then regained full control of the fish where it finished the battle in a spirited manner. This was no double, but it was a Barbel and my second off the river this season too, nice!

A proud 7lb 1oz

 Once I had taken a couple of quick pics and weighed it for my records I slipped it back and got the bait straight back out on the spot, hoping it wasn't dining alone. Unfortunately no more fish appeared, but I was serenaded by Owls in every direction, had a visit from a Hedgehog and the display of two stags warring in the field behind me, which was pretty awesome to see! Fishing eh, box office stuff :)