Not really the Glorious 16th for me, didn't fancy the conditions one bit, and the first 16th I have missed since I can remember.
But Sunday I had to make the effort as had promised my youngest lad that I would help do a fishing short film for him for his final bit of his College work.
The plan was to do a session on the Arrow, and hopefully catch a Barbel for the camera...no pressure then? Especially when my run in last season was less than productive with the barbel.
Anyway a plan was hatched, and the 'crew' and I arrived at the venue only to find the gate locked and the new number for the padlock unresponsive, frantic calls to the secretary were unanswered so we had to park up nearby and scale the barbed wire covered gates, so not a good start!!
The river was a chocolate brown with a dash of milk colour, but was contained in the banks, my confidence soared, and it was going to be Spam Spam Spam!!
So soon I selected a likely spot and baited up with a 2'' cube, and with the camera rolling it was pressure on
...a few little dinks told me they were there, and 5 minutes later the rod lurched and I was connected to a very fit barbel that was duly landed, not a big fish, but the a
real star of the show, a 'piece to camera' or two and the job was a good 'un, and ready for editing.
On the way home we dropped into our local bit of the WA and first cast I had a barbel of about 6lbs, and a Chub to follow
A big thanks to the river God's is in order