Virgins and Koi Carp???

Boom...first cast success for Dave 10lb 7oz!

Yep more virginity's taken this week...Client and good friend Dave Brooks had never seen a barbel on the bank let alone caught one! Well, that is from a river anyway!

This week had been a long time coming for Dave as we'd planned to do something a long time back but never got around to it.

I picked Dave up around 5pm and we headed up to Ross and a regular stretch that I inhabit...I got the rods ready for him and pointed him in the right direction with regards to where to fish and we got started.

The water was well down on the previous week, where flow and weed debris had really hindered the fishing. Boat traffic was at a low and with a little colour still added to it, the river looked spot on for a bite or two! I commented on it's good looks on arrival and I wasn't proven wrong either! Dave's first cast landed spot on the money. It was only a few minutes before the left hand rod hooped over into action. Dave was a little taken aback by the initial first run and unfortunately the hook pulled.

Another 10 pounder! What a result!

Feeling a little disappointed Dave recast and sat back to await a possible second chance....He didn't have to wait long at all. In fact less than a few minutes passed by. The same rod flew into action and Dave jumped on it...The fish went ballistic down the middle of the river. A good few minutes of fight ensued and Dave just couldn't believe the power of the fish.

I sunk the net under it for him and it was very obvious it was a decent fish. On the scales it went 10lb 7oz! What a great start to his barbel fishing career! First one out and it's a double! Result! The next fish came just minutes later and at 7lb 3oz it was a little bit smaller than he'd become suddenly accustomed to! This was eagerly followed up by a much better fish of 9lb 10oz and another of just over 7lbs.

They just kept coming for Dave

A small chub seemed to signal the end of all the action and we decided to think about calling it a night....I started to pack away the majority of the kit. I'd just folded the chairs up when the left rod hooped over. Dave sprung into action again and another chunk fought it's head off! Despite making its way into a large snag on our left, Dave played the fish out really well and we prodded around with the net handle to free the fish up. It was worth the effort as it was another 10 pounder! Not just his first ever Barbel but 5 of them in one evening including 2 doubles! Fantastic result and an evening that neither of us will forget in a hurry!

I have had little time to fish myself this last fortnight but I did manage 3 brief morning sessions on a 2 separate club lakes. The first being a very nice weedy pool which gets almost no angling pressure at all. On arrival it became apparent that there were a few nice commons in there. I spent a good four hours walking around and around. I eventually found 2 fish to cast at and managed to get both to take the bait. The first being a stunning wild common of just over 14lbs and the second going about 8lbs.

Beautiful and wild as ever!

The next morning I went over to one of the clubs more commercialized pools. I've had it in my mind that I wanted to finish my time on there with 3 particular fish that I wanted to catch. 2 Ghosties and a chubby, scaley mirror.

I saw all 3 on the first mornings stalking but I just couldn't get them properly feeding in amongst the other smaller commons that were smashing their way through the mixers on the surface. I took 5 small fish to low double figures but none of my A-list fish.

The following morning was a little warmer and a trip back over the lake saw the fish ravaging the feed yet again. I spotted one of my target ghosties on my right. She wasn't really feeding heavily and looked  rather nervous. I waited about 15 minutes and kept the feed going in. The fish built up more confidence in that time and I watched as the ghosty came cautiously in to the feed zone. I resisted the chance to cast at her and let her keep feeding a bit longer. The guy opposite was getting interested in why I was leaving it so long to cast as he'd taken 3 or 4 already from off the island.

Job done....Koi from heaven!

I finally felt it was time to have a go at her and made a cast about 10 feet to her left and slightly behind her eye line. To my amazement she turned and went straight for the bait...Before I knew it she was on! What a scrap I had, for a low double she fought so hard!

Finally after 10 minutes she was in the net and mine..Result! I had a bash at the other 2 fish I wanted but neither was having an ounce of my bait! Hoping to have a 48 hour session back up at the River Severn on Monday as long as the weather holds for long enough!

Tight lines all
K x