It had been a while . Working overtime , daughter moving out , and weather had stopped us going . One thing had changed though , we had to fish for the quality chub when the barbel were iffy . We had caught some by mistake , and some good looking fish as well . Things started badly , I had been gagging to use a centerpin , so the night before we left for a day session I put it on the spare rod , rigged up , ready to cast out . We were very organised for a change , so I loaded the car neatly , but had to turn it round to load the rods . After I got out of the car , I see that a gust of wind had blown the rod sleeve inti the path of the car , buggering the reel , and butt section . So it was back to just carrying the one rod between us , and I will look for a new one latter in the year.
We arrived at the stretch at first light , and made our way to a swim we knew would produce in the conditions if the barbel were feeding , a good test for the rest of the day , and would make us decide on the chub fishing . Bingo , within 2 mins Sue was into , and landed a barbel , not big 4-5lb , but after struggling the last 2 trips its nice to see the baiting tactics working
. This then went on for the rest of the day , with 7 barbel , best to Sue at 9lb+, and 3 chub . They were nice chub , but I felt that if we had not hooked them , and messed the swim up we would have probably caught barbel from those swims as well . Not being greedy , and having a good day we left early to do the dreaded motorway trip home .The dipping of the hookbait in lamprey dip , then into a bag of liquidised lamprey boillies powder worked a treat , and improved if you squeezed the bag forcing the powder into the paste , but be warned , you smell .A few days latter , at short notice , we returned again . We arrived to a sharp frost , with the accompanying drop in temps . Into the first swim , and Sue gets a chub over 4lb, then another in the next swim . We decided to make our rigs chub friendly , and catch a few as the barbel looked to have turned off . In a swim I like , which is a bit tight, a big pull see the rod hoop over , and a 9lb 14oz barbel smile with me for some pics !!!. We then stayed with the barbel rigs , but no more came along , and in fact we missed many pickups from chub , doing our self out of another very good day . Another early trip home to miss the traffic , both pleased .
Last trip out
see us return on a very cold day , and almost certainly only chub feeding . This was ok , as there are some nice chub to over 6lb in this bit , and one over 5lb would be a nice way to end this little spell of fishing. We went down the 5 best swims for a bite , with a couple of small pulls in one swim , and a smallish chub in another. The last swim is one of our favorites , and had good barbel and chub from it . The tip goes round , and Sue lands a chub . " We had better weigh this one as a gauge to the others we have been catching " I said . It went 4lb 9 oz, and we had in fact been putting bigger fish back saying " about 4lb " what pratts!!!. We then packed up , and drove to the river Thame , a small oxfordshire river that we liked the look of . Small , clear , narrow, and with a few chub and barbel in it. The afternoon was to be spent just looking to see swims , as it may be an option for midweek sessions where we can take our jack Russel's . We went into a nice swim with a small tree opposite , Sue dropped the lamprey doctored paste in abov
e it , and 10 mins latter a 5lb chub gave her a bit of a struggle , almost making the roots . The bait had been on in both swims , but about 90 miles apart . We had a little walk , then left for home, nice place , and one we will look at in warmer weather . 255 miles , and a tank of petrol , madness .Trying desperately to get out before the end , but work ,dogs , ducks , and horses need sorting out with baby sitters . Born to fish , forced to work, story of my life .
