Two popped cherries!

Ian Oxley and his first ever Barbel!

Good day folks....

Another great report to talk about again this week. My first is about a days guided fishing I had with Ian Oxley. Ian's been out with me a few times in the past and he's broken his duck with carp, pike and he's been after a barbel for a while now. I promised the guy a trip out earlier in the year but due to work ties and bait rolling etc, we didn't manage to get together for the day.

Well, on Sunday the opportunity finally came about and we headed up the Wye for the day after a big old Bertie for him. Our first choice venue was shut due to a day long match running. We tried another spot which I had a feeling would produce a good fish for him but I thought that it would probably not happen until late on in the day.

I was right about the bites as nothing happened for the majority of the day. We had a few a nibbles early on which resulted in nothing at all. It wasn't much before it got dark that his first chance occurred. The take was nothing short of mental! The line suddenly out of the blue stripped from the spool at a silly rate of knots! Ian clambered down the bank side to get the rod and lent into a very powerful sub like specimen. With Ian being a fly angler, he's used to fast swimming fish, but I honestly don't think he was totally prepared for what came next!

The fight was dogged and determined and after a few minutes of line stripping, kiting, diving and barreling, Ian finally got to see his first ever barbel on the bank. Not a minster at 7lb 5oz but it didn't matter to him as it was his first and a specimen regardless.

I knew there was a good chance of him getting another so we got him back out there quickly. We had to cast around the swim a little for the next bite but this time the bite was a different take. Slow and determined. This fish knew all the tricks and didn't play nice. Ian was forced to keep moving about to stay in touch with the fish which was clearly a lot bigger than his first of the session. After 10 minutes of tussling for position, Ian managed to get his first glimpse of said beast! I think he had his breath taken away as he looked pretty shocked!

Awesome! Ian Oxley with only his second ever Barbel and a corker at 11lb 10oz! Well done pal

I slipped the net under the fish and immediately knew which fish it was. It has a set of 3 barbulles instead of 4. Ian was a gibbering wreck, much to my amusement he then could hardly stand through total excitement. The fish topped the scales off to a very impressive 11lb 10oz! What a fish for his second ever of the species! I think he was in shock for a while afterwards. The way home was full of great conversation and joy. Well done my friend!

What a spot!!!!

Monday came around very quickly and after just 3 hours sleep, I fell out of bed and donned the same clothes i'd worn the day before and reloaded the car. I then drove another 120 miles across to Newbury to meet up with Bob. The drive over was horrible, busy and the water spraying up from the road was no less than horrific! I eventually arrived around 11.15am. We drove over to Thatcham angling to get my guest tickets and then over to the River Kennet. The weather was persistent and after a walk along the bank we realised just how wet through we were.

Setting up the gear in the rain was no less than horrid and after an hour of sweating in my waterproofs, I removed them and sat on the bed to recuperate for twenty minutes. Bob made us a both a cuppa and we discussed tactical approach and baiting up. I then proceeded to introduce about twenty droppers full of hemp and mixed pellets. I then gently swung my 3oz lead and hookbait into the primed spots.

The water was pacey for such a narrow and small river and the 7 feet of depth was full from top to bottom with weed debris and floating leaves. This made keeping the rig still almost impossible. Darkness fell and so did the pair of us. We retired to our beds and both slowly nodded off to sleep. Both of us had to recast a few times and come 1.30am I had almost lost hope of keeping a bait in the swim long enough to get a take.

I rebaited both rods with a fresh River Monster Boilie and a reasonable size PVA bag of boilies and pellets. I swung it under hand out to the two spots again. The left hand rod dropping slightly shorter than my original spot. I then slopped back to bed and tried to nod off. Around 2.10am the left hand rod literally took off! BBBBBBBLLLLLLEEEEEEEPPPPPP!!!! To say it was a screaming take was an understatement! I jumped out of bed and donned my boots and flew into action. The rod was kept low and the fish did its best to stay low and hugged the deck too. Bob came over to do the netting and he had a huge grin on his face as he sunk the net under the fish. I knew it was a good'un by the cheesy grin he'd donned!

I couldn't be a happier man! 33 years I waited! Finally I got my girl! 11lb 4oz Kennet beauty!

We zeroed scales and readied mats and slings and camera. The fish was then given a minute or so of air time. What a fish it was too. Having wanted to fish the Kennet since I was a mere child of 6 and now I was finally looking at a barbel I had caught from there some 33 years later! The fish looked really fat! Not as long as the Wye barbel I had recently caught but this fish had a big gut on it! At 11lb 4oz I was ecstatic to finally have not just a Kennet Barbel but a double figure one as well! Magic, massive thanks to my close friend Bob for hooking me up with the great swim and sorting tickets etc.

Right, thats me done in for a few days! I have some bait to roll and a couple more clients booked in for days guiding this next few days too. Next week will be back on the river myself though and in search of double figure barbel number 14 for the season!

Tight lines guys
Keith x