Superb Result But They're All Worth 1 Point!

[Catfish Virgin (Still!)]

The end of the river season is racing towards us but at last we have some decent weather and river conditions to play with. More to the point, it's the consistency of those conditions that help build the confidence that says "we're in with a chance here".

So I set off for the Dorset Stour to meet up with a mate. We decided not to head for the "known" chub hotspots but go a couple of miles downstream hopefully away from the crowds and a wider choice of swims. Got down there early, about 7am, only to find a couple of cars already there! Quickly sorted out the minimum amount of gear and started the fairly long hike to the favoured area. Fortunately it seemed the really early risers had settled in the easy access early swims and maybe our area would be free .

Anticipation was high as I walked along the pathway, disturbing the odd pair of Mallard and occassional Pheasant as I crashed through the trees! Both signs that no-one had been this way this morning - things were looking good!

I also came across this "oddity" as I approached the swims, he was clearly a bit lost and perhaps searching for his Hareem but it was the first time I can recall being greeting on the bank with a "cock-a-doodle-do":



The swims were deserted and as I started to tackle up I was joined by a huffing and puffing Roger who clearly is of the "Twiddler School of Travelling Light"!

So to the fishing. The river looked superb - height, colour, flow and probably temperature as well. So how come, for the first couple of hours, we both sat there without so much as a twitch! But then all hell broke loose as I latched on to my fish of the season - see here for the explaination:

About ****** Time Too!

Now, I was targetting Barbel but to have that one was very special indeed, it really is my "Fish of the Season". I would love to say I was in full concentration mode and totally focussed as the moment arrived but....... that would be lie! Trotting a float for the first two hours with not a sign of a bite allied to the early start, saw me tackling up a feeder rod to try something different (and have a sit down!). The feeder was only out there for the second time and I was dozing quite comfortably in the chair! But, call it "A Fishermans Sense" or whatever, I opened my eyes in time to see a couple of taps on the tip followed by the proverbial 3ft twitch. The result speaks for itself!

It took a while for things to calm down after that and the fishing didn't really get going at all (not that I was bothered too much! ). However, I did go for a wander with the float rod and scrabbled around on the hunt for a few more Species Hunt points. From the sublime to the ridiculous:

(Sorry for the out of focus snaps - my hands were probably still shaking!)

A minnow:



And a Dace (I know it looks like a bleak - but its definately a Dace!):



I also managed a very nice chub of about 5lbs to finish off a superb day:

[pingu]

nice session neil

dave

[Norfolkboy]

Well done Neil

[fishypaul]

lovely chub there neil,well done mate

[Twiddler]

Well done again Neil.....a few more points for the team....I might sit back and relax and let you do all the work...you much better at this fishing palava anyway

[barbelblanker]

It's the "oh by the way look at this lovely chub" that made me smile, well done!!!

[barbelblanker]

That dace doesn't half look like a bleak though ;)