More end of season success

Still smashing through and very murky!

Hi guys! Well, what a result in the change of weather this last week! Who could have believed that less than 3-4 weeks ago many of us were sat under water in lots of the UK and cold wet and weather seemed like it would be with us forever! At last though there seems to be a bit of respite from it all and a little bit of springtime warmth from a watery sun!

Business is brisk with lots of bait orders and plenty of new CBS Tackle flying out the door which is great as it means you lovely lot are getting out there and living the dream!

I've had a few stressful days with some crappy ongoing health issues and lots of stuff in the diary which has meant I've basically over cooked my brain yet again! Not that I ever had one! I have however managed a couple of trips up the river in Monmouthshire and caught a few very special fish....I decided that despite the river Wye still being fairly high, I'd chance what I thought would probably be my last trip of the 2013/14 season up there last week.

The Monnow looked a lot less fearsome!

I ventured up on the Thursday with the sole intention of trying to bag myself a big old snapper! I've not tried hard for them this year but I've certainly fished for them more than I ever have in past seasons. I have to confess that I'm rather enjoying being an 'ALL ROUNDER' style of angler rather than just a carp crazed bloke.

It's meant that I have had the opportunity to meet many varied people and fish a lot of new venues I would probably have never even looked at before? It's been quite enlightening and certainly very enjoyable! I think I've probably learnt a hell of a lot too!

21lb 11oz and happy as a pig in the proverbial!

Well, the first of my two sessions from last week started up on the wonderful little River Monnow. A tributary of the mighty River Wye. The reason for opting to fish the Monnow was simple in that it had a vast quantity less of water piling through it than the still very high Wye. There was a particular spot that took my fancy and after finding a couple of slack water eddy's near the inside margin. I chucked out a couple of ledgered dead baits.

I chose to fish a Herring on my right hand rod and a larger 2/3rds of a whole Mackerel on the left hand one. The Herring had a syringe full of one of our new CBS Predator oils directly slammed into it and i left the Mack to do its own thing....

I still had to use around 4-5 oz of weight to get the baits to sit remotely still and with a good bit of colour in the water and heavy silty crap coming down all the time, it wasn't likely to be the easiest of days fishing! By 12.30pm I had been sat patiently for around 2 hours with nothing to show for my efforts. That was until suddenly my left hand rod awoke and a few bleeps sounded from the dormant Delkim alarm. I picked the rod up off the rests and payed out some slack and awaited further bite registration....A few seconds later there was the obviously tell tale signs of a pike having a good nibble at the Herring bait. I gave it a couple of seconds, tightened the clutch and set the hooks home.

Instantly I was met with a very solid weight of fish and a very powerful surge of speed as she ramped off over the other side of the river. The fight was short but sweet and I quickly got the fish into the back of the net. I set up the camera for a self take and zeroed the Ruebens ready for her. On the scales she went around to a magic 21lb 11oz!

Pike no 2 and another twenty...... This one was 22lb 6oz!

I couldn't believe my luck as it was the fish I was really after to end the season on! I slipped her back and recast the rig with a new Herring attached to the snap tackle. About an hour slipped by before the same rod was once again twitching and then a small amount of line was taken from the spool. I approached the rod and payed out a little more  line before eventually setting home the hooks.

Again I was met with a solid resistance and yet another very powerful fish! This one came in a little less easily and after a really solid fight i was once again the proud captor of a really fat looking hen fish! On the scales she went 22lb 6oz! Another twenty in less than an hour! What a day!

My luck was to end there and despite loosing another monster to a hook pull, the rest of the day passed without so much as a sniff!

The Monnow looked stunning in the morning mist and sun!

My next session which came around quickly, was on the Sunday. After a really hectic two days of bait rolling, kids birthday parties, helping out in my mates reptile shop and 2 nights of almost no sleep.

I was about ready to drop to the floor with tiredness....I got to bed on the Saturday night around 12am and found myself awake again around 2.15am. I lay there thinking about the fishing and eventually the pull was too strong.

I just had to be out there! I loaded the car, had a bit of breakfast and made a flask up before making the 60 mile journey up to the river. I found myself setting up on the lovely little Monnow again around 4.30am in the dark. There were a couple of guys fishing the swim I had fished the couple of days before and much to my disgust they left a ton of litter, shitty tissues and general angling crap behind them when they left! Disgraceful !!!!!!

First ever Monnow Barbel and first of 2014 at 8lb 15oz!

Anyway, I set up two ledger rods with a CBS River Monster Boilie on each and gently swung a 4oz feeder into the middle of the stream. I sat for about 2 hours and as the sun started to lift up into the sky, gently clearing the early morning mist, my right hand right suddenly pinged back violently. A good drop back bite! I lifted the rod up and struck into fresh air??? I reeled down to find that I had hooked a fish but it had traveled on a slack line towards me!

11lbs of Jack!

She then powered away and it was apparent from the word go that this was more than likely going to be my first Monnow Barbel and first of the year!  After about 5 minutes of tussling around and fighting to see who was boss, I netted a stunning and perfect Monnow Barbel of 8lb 15oz! I was so chuffed!

Another 12lb 3oz Pike

The fishing then died a death big style! I couldn't have bought a bite???? As the sun arose high in the sky and the day raced by, my angling partners for the afternoon arrived. Ryan and Mike setup next to me and we all spent the afternoon chasing pike. The lads struggled in the bright light and it was left for me to get all the action with two small doubles of 11lb and 12lb 3oz before a repeat capture of the 21lb fish I had caught on the previous Thursday. This time a little down in weight at 21lb 5oz.

The lads tried really hard to get a fish, moving several times and trying all manner of baits and spots before eventually calling time at around 6pm.  I sat it out for another hour in search of that final Barbel but only managed a small chub around 3lb for my efforts. I eventually called it a day and with a very tired head on my shoulders, headed home to bed!

A repeat and down in weight to 21lb 5oz ....but who cares!!!

I'm out with Joel on Friday afternoon to try and tempt one last Barbel before the season ends! Wish us luck and I wish you luck with your final few days of the River season too. Lets hope its a blindingly good end to it!

Tight lines all
Keith
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