Last day of the river season 2014

It's finally here....And I feel really sad to see the 2013/14 season go. It's been the best ever year I have spent of our river systems in the UK. Even though we have had one of the wettest and windiest winters in history, with torrential down pours leading to incredible levels of flooding never seen before. It's still produced some unbelievable fishing in the quieter times.

Stuart Andrews with his incredible 7lb 1oz Dorset Stour Chub!!

This last ten or so days has been no exception with the national captures of chub, barbel and pike soaring as the fish go on a last minute munch up before the close.  I first have to say a huge, mahoosive, congratulations to my best pal Stuart, who despite having a lot less hours to fish these last 2 years due to the added responsibility of his gorgeous young family and beautiful little daughter Millie, has managed to grab what little time he has to fish and grabbed himself a few great fish along the way.

The wonder Wye again fishable after a 6 month flood!

This week he saw the close out in style with a huge chub of 7lb 1oz from his ever faithful Dorset Stour. The winning tactics were a touch ledger set-up with CBS end tackle and a River Monster Boilie.

My last day on the river was a frantic one to say the least! Despite telling the wife that my last 3 trips out were going to be the last session of the year, I still managed to talk her into letting me grab the last few hours out to try and bag a nice barbel! I didn't get down the river until what I'd class as nearly the end of the day at 11am! This was due to taxi driving the family around from work, school etc.

7lb 10oz first of the session!

To my delight though there was only one other guy fishing our whole club section! Almost a mile and a bit to our selves! The swim choice was relatively easy as I've become accustomed now to which swims fish at particular times of the day.

I opted for a peg I've caught from regularly in the day before. It's a heavily fished swim but not everyone knows how to fish it correctly. The weather was decidedly cold due to a bout of extremely thick freezing fog which made visibility very low.

Fish no2 at 8lb 5oz

Two rods were set up with a feeder on the up stream rod and a straight bomb on the down stream. I coupled these up to our ever faithful CBS Gravel Leaders and 3oz of weight on both. I opted to fish a long 3 foot hook length with the ever reliable River Monster Boilie in tow on each rod!

Before casting out, I gently plopped around 20 medium sized bait droppers full of  halibuts, green betain and shrimp pellets, in 2mm, 4mm and 6mm sizes. This was all placed in an area the size of a dinner table and I then proceeded to place the upstream rod about 10 feet down stream from the initial baiting area and the left hand down stream rod about 20 yards further down stream.

And 1 makes three! 7lb 7oz of pure gold!

I then sat back to await the results. It took about an hour for the first reaction and as the sun started to finally break through the cold fog, I got my first take on my left hand rod. A few quick trembles and then a crashing, rod bending slammer! I was in! The center pin reel clicked away furiously as the fish headed out into the deeper water of the middle river.

This made for a really awesome scrap on the lightweight 10lb main line to 8lb hooklength! The river still had a pretty good flow to it and 5oz was just enough to hold bottom mid river! This fish was hell bent on seeing the far margin and I had to pile on the pressure as a few canoeists headed down river towards my hooked fish.

Fun on the pin for JB

Eventually the fish tired and I was able to get her under control and into the awaiting net. On the scales she went 7lb 10oz. I was over the moon as it's the first time i've ever caught a barbel on the final day of the river season! More was to follow though and within half an hour i was again away on the downstream rod. This time a stunning barbel of 8lb 5oz graced the net. To say I was excited was an understatement.....what a way to end the season. Last week, 3 twenty pound plus pike and an 8lb 15oz barbel and now I'd had two more stunning Wye barbel too.

With Joel turning up at 2.15pm I wanted to get him a fish as quickly as possible as he only had about 3.5 hours to fish after work. The baited swim seemed the best probable option for him, so I proceeded to put about 10 droppers full more of the pellet mix into the swim before his arrival. Within minutes the tips were starting to twitch and it was only a few more minutes before the down stream rod was once again saying good bye to a good deal of line!

Joel Biddle and his 9lb 2oz Zoo Creature!!!

The rod was almost pulled from the rest through the violence of the take! I grabbed the rod and watched the fish tail walk clear of the water! Not something I have ever witnessed with hooked barbel before but this fish acted more like a wild salmon than a barbel!

After a few more aerial acrobatics and twisting the living daylights out of my mainline, I eventually gained the upper hand and bagged another stunning bar of Wye gold. 7lb 7oz this time round.
I set the rods back up and got ready for Joels arrival. When he finally got there I immediately told him to get into my seat and concentrate on the two rods already in the swim. Things had quietened down somewhat but I was adamant there was a good chance of another fish from the peg.

Back you go my beautiful!

Joel sat there patiently watching the tips with intent. It wasn't long before we both spotted a few trembles on the right hand tip. Suddenly it sprang into life and Joel jumped up into action. Never having played a fish on a center pin before made for an extremely exciting chain of events for him and despite a first few initial fumbles, it wasn't long before he was playing the fish like a true master!

This fish acted totally differently to the others of the day so far and hung tightly to the bottom of the river bed. I knew then it was likely to be a better fish. The fight ensued for a good 10 minutes before Joel managed to grab the upper hand over his prize. The net was eventually sunk under what looked a great fish. Joel was clearly very excited and having only caught a handful of barbel on 2 other trips, this also being the first in daylight hours, it made for a great few minutes. The scales pinged round to a delightful 9lb 2oz. Joel's second biggest of the species. Well done mate!

Stunning gold bullion!

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and despite me landing a smaller barbel of 4lb 14oz on a maggot madussa rig, very little else happened before Joel had to leave. Unfortunately this was when the swim again woke up and after a good pasting of mixed pellets with the bait dropper I was sat with a pair of rods that trembled and wobbled with anticipation of a real good bite. It took around an hour before my first real solid wrap around on the right hand rod. This led to yet another arm wrenching battle with what appeared to be yet another great fish. The reel screamed and I sat back for a hard slog! The 1 3/4 lb tc rod buckling under the load! The fish had clocked a few downstream snags and was relying on them to rid itself of the hook and of course seeing my ugly face!

9lb

It took a lot of patience and effort to shift its efforts from the snag and eventually I grabbed the opportunity to slip the net under her. The best fish of the day sat looking up at me.....9lb 7oz to be precise! What a result, 5 in the bag for the day!

With that I started to pack away as the light had pretty much gone. I slowly packed away all non essential kit and had one last cup of coffee. It was then that the left hand rod pulled over like it was attached to a U-boat!!! This fish felt again heavier than the last and was on the same course for the marginal snags! Immense side strain was applied and she diverted her route to the center of the river and then the far bank some 50 yards over!!!! There was no stopping this mutha! She was going an that was that!

The sun setting on the final day of the river season

The fight seemed to last for what seemed like an eternity! I just couldn't make headway on her. I was beginning to think that maybe I'd hooked a carp? The fish did a quick fly though the swim up in the water and I took the opportunity to flick on the head lamp and see if it really was Moby Dick I was attached to or if I was being the 'Dick?' It was a big old barbel! No 6, I couldn't believe my luck.... The fish battled on for another few minutes before succumbing to tiredness.

To be honest it was him or me and he caved first! As it was the last cast of the day, I cut the line above the net and rested the fish in the water for a few minutes while I readied the scales and camera etc.

BOOOOOOOOMMMM A double to end the season! 10lb 3oz!!!

Could this last fish of the 2013/14 river season be a double???? That would be an incredible way to see it out I thought??? Well, on the scales she tipped around to a magical 10lb 3oz! Just doing the double!!! I couldn't believe it! What an end to the season. Thank you River Wye.....I'll be back in earnest in June to plunder more of your wonderful delights! But for now I bid you fair well!

Tight lines all and I hope your end to the river season was as delightful as mine and Joels!

Keith x