FishIn_Saturday

As per usual on these fish-In's the early morn breakfast was one to be savoured, with top chef Martin making sure everyone had there full of bacon rolls, along with an endless supply of coffee, which was much appreciated by the late night owls amongst the party.
With just a few more members due to arrive on the Saturday morning, hopefully Ray and myself would get a few hours fishing in, later in the day. But for now the call to gate duty was back upon us, as Paul and his friend Chris arrived and once again, a trek along that bloody track was due.

JW Puts a bend in his i-power
		Deciding to give it until mid-day for any late arrivals, Ray and myself remained around the base camp chatting to the sleepy heads amongst the party. Here we were entertained by JW, who as we can see from this great action shot taken by Claire, was soon putting his i-power rod through it's paces, as yet another Biblin's bronze beauty is expertly played to the net. Now as for that chair! For all you Tackle Tarts out there, then this is the latest must have item of tackle. The Throw Away Chair, JW picked his up on the way to the fish-In and got himself a real bargain, as the cost was nothing. Apparently these chairs can be picked up on the bank of any riverside pub with a beer garden, being of an extremely light weight construction, along with, an easy to maintain wonderful wipe clean finish, these chairs are due to take the angling world by storm. (You read it here first)
		You really going fishing Tony?
		It did take quite a bit of persuasion, but eventually a few of the lads convinced Tony, that fishing is allowed when on these fish-In's.

That's not a Barbel Steve

Lee's 4lb Barbel

Around lunch time the last of the anglers due for the weekend had arrived, but unfortunately for a few of the party it was time for goodbyes.

Steve & Lee had a date with what turned out to be a rather large Eel, (sorry Steve the Chub maybe but the Eel?) but it was great to hear they had both managed to catch on Friday eve.

Also Tony (Pendost) was to say his goodbyes as a holiday to Spain was on the horizon.

With everyone settled in there swims for the day, now was a good time to get the gear out of the car and actually do what your suppose to do on these fish-Ins, go fishing. Was shocked to find the swim that I decided to fish still vacant with so many anglers on the bank, especially as the area in question had been mentioned to quite a few of the party, as usually being somewhat productive.
After two hours of inactivity I was glad to have some company on the bank, but was somewhat surprised by the company, as this was a most inquisitive fox!

My furry friend

It seemed to me that this poor little critter had not had a decent meal for quite a while, as straight away it was sniffing around my bucket of Waka's.
Not content with just sniffing around my bait, the fox made a grab for a bag of paste that was on the bank next to me! This seen foxy and me having a right old tussle, with me eventually winning but losing half the bag to him.

Having made the mistake of giving him a number of pellets, bolies and a large dollop of my paste, it seemed I had occurred a friend for life. This would have been no problem, but when one his trying to concentrate on the rod tip, having a fox mooching around no more than a foot away, can be a little distracting!

Eventually a slight nudge with my landing net pole seen foxy scurrying away through the undergrowth, allowing me to get on with my blanking.
Within ten minutes of the fox departing a strange wet sensation on the back of my head, had me all but falling in the water! As my friend had returned and given me a nudge to let me know! Time for a move I think?

Thanks Foxy

This fox induced move seen me having to negotiate quite a steep bank, something which I was reluctant to do at first, with having a dodgy knee.
It did mean however I was able to fish the same swim I had been fishing, but from this new location it was far easier to get the bait where I expected Boris to be.

Just as expected, the fish were just out of reach from where I had been fishing, as the tree canopy prevented me getting the bait out into the flow. But within minutes of putting the bait where I wanted it, the rod tip hoops over and my first BFW fish-In Barbel is on its way to the landing net.
This was being held by John (john fisherman) who had stopped off on his way back up river, having had no luck just down below me. With John being in attendance a decent picture of the fish was taken, so now Ray would have to believe I'd actually caught a Barbel.

The move proved to be quite a productive one, as in what was a great action packed two hour period, four more Boris, along with a couple lost due to hook pulls, kept me entertained.
But with Ray picking me back up at 6 pm the time soon came around, to pack the gear away and head back up to the base camp for the nights entertainment.

Seems the bbq and socialising was about to be put on hold for Ray and myself, as a rather excited Ray came rushing through the trees exclaiming "quick Malc you are about to see the biggest Barbel you've ever seen".
Going on to explain some chap down river was having the fight of a lifetime with some monstrous fish, which he had been fighting with for over an hour, quickly the gear was thrown in the car and back down river we headed.

Getting to this chap my first impressions were "cheers Ray this is a wind up," as Ray directed me to, what appeared to be yet another of those fabulous wood carvings, that can be found along the stretch. This one being of a motionless angler, with his rod in a outstretched hand across the river, not until this figure uttered the words "I still can't move her" did I know it was indeed a real angler.
It seems this chap had been fishing for Chub and was totally under-gunned for the fish he had hooked, it quickly became apparent that no matter what this angler did, he was not going to land this fish with the tackle in hand!
Now having finished my last can of cider some two hours back and by now the bbq in full swing no doubt, it was hard work trying to convince Ray "we really should get back to the others, as I'm sure we'll be missed". But it was even harder work convincing this angler, "that you'll still be holding on to that bloody rod come breakfast time".

Eventually the inevitable happened, as the moment this chap applied some pressure to the rod, him and Boris parted company as his hook length snapped. With a quick explanation from Ray and I, that, maybe fishing halibut pellets on a four pound hook length, on this stretch of the Wye is not a good idea, we at last headed back up river to join the nights festivities.
This incident however did get the nights banter off to a cracking start, as with such a bevy of talented, knowledgeable anglers gathered around the base camp, it was quickly established that this fish would have indeed smashed the current Barbel record into oblivion, think Chris's (Felix) suggested weight of 97lb, was finally agreed upon for this fish.

Andy's on the Waka

Once again it was great to hear that quite a few of the party had caught themselves some Barbel. Seems yet another angler was to be convinced these new Waka baits are quite good, this came about after JW gave Andy (Andynotts) a handful of Waka's and he went on to land three Barbel in two hours.

Mel, Ray and JW were also to land a few amongst them and later we were to find out that, Kev(barbus69111) and his mate Paul had also been successful. With both catching a few decent Chub, along with a number of Barbel the biggest of which went 7lb 14oz.

With the bbq now in full swing everybody was getting into that relaxed, comfortable mood that these occasions bring about, and as to be expected with Martin supplying the food for the bbq, this was of top quality and once again far more available then what would be eaten, even if Ray did try his hardest to make sure none would be left. With more than twenty anglers sat round the base camp enjoying a few beers, seems one member of the party was braver than most, as Matt decided now would be a good time to trundle a piece of meat through JW's swim.

This is when it became apparent to those on the bank, that Matt is one of the shorter members of the male species, and he did look kind of strange with the water lapping up around his chest, especially in that little pink hat. (Why didn't I get the camera out?) Not sure if it was the cries from the bank of "stand up Matt it's easier that way" - "stop kneeling down Matt" or the little bootlace eel that he managed to catch, but know this must have been one of Matt's shortest (pun intended) sessions ever, or was it the call for the group picture, that seen him scampering back up the bank.

Top row left to right	River Wye Fish-In	Bottom row left to right
Darrell Sue Martin Ray Whittaker Chris Netto Malc JW Andy F Rayo & Dolly Dave Gawthorn Brian Andy Notts John Holmes Mel Matt			Dave Riach Ian Jeff Claire Paul Chris Tony Andy D

Chilling out

This sequence of pictures shows a few of the boys enjoying a chat, along with the usual beer or three, that is all except the last kind of fuzzy one of Tony.
This so Claire informed me, was taken with her new camera, apparently this camera takes what the user is seeing and not what the camera views. That picture was taken at 8.30 pm Saturday by Dr Davies, make of that what you will.

As darkness descended on the banks of the Bib's, it brought with it quite a drop in temperature for an early August evening. So with the bbq now over, the disposable trays were quickly refilled with wood from the forest and anglers jostled to get just that bit closer to the fire.
This meant we were to take it in turns to go out into the darkness of the forest to forage for firewood, was a strange sight, seeing little headlamps appearing through the blackness of the night, as each returned with there collection of wood. Somehow I didn't think it was quite fair that Claire was voted top collector, as this meant she took the brunt of the collecting.
This collection of wood however did lead to a spectacular sight, as each person deposited there wood on the fire, a swift little blow on this newly placed wood by old dragon breath himself Andy F, had the flames leaping up around the gazebo.
All I can say Claire if ever he wants to whisper sweet nothings in your ear, "don't go there".

With a few of the party having called it a night, they were to miss what appeared to be an apparition, as out of the darkness of the night two stunning girls appeared with drinks in hand. Quickly followed by two more just as attractive beauties, never have I seen so many anglers willing to give up there chairs, along with a willingness to squeeze up in there one man bivy's, if these girls needed a bed for the night.
It is pleasing to say, the situation was handled superbly by Tony, as a request from these girls to join the party, was flatly refused, think somehow though they may have had second thoughts themselves.
As whilst standing there chatting to us, one of the girls leapt back with a startled look on her face, this came about after a low groaning, growling noise rose up out of the bivy they were next to. "You've got a guard dog in there" exclaimed one of the girls, this had the entire base camp rolling about with laughter. None more so than Dave G (Bornslippee) who having made the journey up earlier in the evening, just for the social, found this event alone worth the effort, as the noise was none other than JW getting forty winks.

Just after the girls departed the willingness to collect firewood seemed to increase for quite a few of the party, as the chance of bumping into these girls of the night, did kind of have it's appeal. It wasn't long before all but a few remained around the dwindling fire, and a glance at the watch exclaimed why!
With tiredness now strongly taking over body and maybe drink taking over mind, when the call came for me to collect wood, it somehow seemed an easier option to burn my socks, boy did the little blighters glow. Seems this may quickly develop into something of a ritual for future fish-In's, as both Tony and Andy Notts quickly followed with there own, flame producing beauties. With one or two anglers beginning to stir around us and daylight now beginning to break, it really must be time for bed I was thinking. This was quickly confirmed when a conversation about twin tip rods, led to Andy asking "what are the strengths of a tin twips rod" on three occasions "Yep it really was bedtime".