The weather had warmed slightly – and there was even a feeling of Spring along the banks – as I walked and looked for signs of piscatorial life. The many different birds were making the most, singing and making nests, and taking to the blue skies with great enthusiasm.
Meanwhile amidst this, I found our friend (pictured above) in what seemed an improbable place to be, in the field quite a way from the river. It had probably been dragged there by a fox or something, I would say it was the head of a Pike (Esox) of 15lbs or maybe more! How it came to be killed we cannot know, but coincidentally, I found the remains of a Pike of a very similar size only yards from the same spot, at the same time of year, 4 years ago!!
The main reason for being out though, was to see if any Barbel could be found and thankfully there were a few to be seen, even though the water is not yet really warm enough for them to start thinking about Spawning. I covered a lot of river and the numbers of fish will hopefully rise because they are – at the moment – down on last year and the year before.
It was nice to be able to find the ones I could, and especially in one area where they used to live, but have not showed for a while. I was going to walk by, but decided to throw a few pellets in, “just in case”. I had not finished my banana before I saw the white of a tail bone of a decent sized Barbel, unfortunately this is now often what you can see of the Barbel, Chub and even Roach in this area. These fish live with Otters very close by, so this damage is always around as I have mentioned before on any previous Bristol Avon diary reports!
The afternoon was a joy to be out and I only hope I can get the chance to have a few more previews before the season opens for 2013/14!!