Here we are with the season fast approaching, and the rain tapping our windows, so perhaps we won’t have the scorching start of 2017 after all. Hopefully we won’t have the flooded start of 2012 either!

This diary account is the catch up for my season`s end ready for a fresh start after the new seasons beginning. So it was a pretty special season in many ways, and I had some truly great days, sometimes it took hours before things came good, and others, only minutes.

Back when it was a little colder, just a couple of day`s before Christmas….low pressure, constant rain & higher air temps had prompted a night roving trip. After a chub and some knocks a move was required, I met up with a friend and caught several chub on maggots before it was time for him to pack up and say goodbye, as he was loading the car my rod pulled positively round and on!

To both of our surprise this was most definitely a barbel, after giving a great account of herself she fell into the waiting net and was bigger than either of us had thought. The scales tipped over 13lb to 13lb 5oz, what a beauty and worth the wait. The photo`s were kindly taken, and the fish was rested, as I bid him good bye and cast one last cast (slightly downstream and away), before heading home for Christmas.

That last cast did not take too long (ten minutes max), before turning into a screaming running fish which took line for fun and played hard in the extra winter flow. As she emerged it was evident that she was another big fish and she weighed in at 10lb 4oz, two in two casts after an hour of quietness and my friend could only have been at the end of the road! Merry Christmas.

Another great session followed in the new year with 10 barbel from a slightly rising level and temp river Severn. These came in a few hours through the afternoon, so I stayed over until the next day as conditions seemed to be improving! And so it proved, the fish were feeding once again and i beat my record for barbel caught in successive casts (12) with 13 this time before a missed bite. Then followed up with a few more and finished with 17 on the day, no chub both days!

These day`s don`t just happen for me, as was proved when with customers for a couple of days on the Wye. The first day was good and we had a pb and several barbel for them, but rather than follow this in the same way the next day, I decided to take them somewhere with a chance of more….and a chance to try a variation on methods already tried. This worked out well and after building a swim each they both caught several barbel in stunning surroundings about as natural a day as we could find.

The season ended with high waters, but not impossible, I finished with this fish of 8lb4oz among a few others!