Happy with half

Jolly Piscator · #1 03-08-2010, 08:12 PM

Well, I'd set my sights pretty high for this weekend ,stating that I was going for two PB's from the clubs stretch of the upper Bristol Avon. I was very confident that Pike & Perch of those admittedly modest proportions could be caught from Foxham , but could I do it ? And on demand??

I have admit that a strange quite confidence had been growing over the previous 24 hours ( as well as a not so quiet impatience to get to the bank).
After all the usual last minute faffing around and inventory checks we were on our way, Matt skillfully guiding a heavily laden 'glorious gudgeon' on a northerly trajectory.
We arrived shortly after noon to find the river well settled from recent floods & carrying just a tinge off colour, it looked lovely and it was good to be back. Conditions weren't ideal however with hard bright sunlight balanced by a cold northeasterly light wind.
After a quick reconnaissance walk Matt and I settled into our respective swims. I'd decided to go all new-fangled today , left the cane at home and brought out the carbon, even set up a bite alarm on the pike rod!

. So one rod for pike with half a bluey and a light feeder rod for perch armed with worm & maggot were cast into likely looking spots.

my 1st swim gets a visitor

Facing the sun with a brolly keeping the wind off my back I was very content and still quite confident at this point . In fact just sitting there in the sun soaking up the peace and quite was enough for the first hour or so .
' The Foxham Two'
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Two hours later with only the slightest twitch on the quiver tip and the confidence/impatience balance was starting to shift. Matt was experiencing the same thing so we moved well downstream and boosted our moral with a hot lunch, all was well again.
The new swims were as action packed as the first . My confidence stumbled down another flight of stairs.
OK , out with the spinning rods ! A couple of fruitless casts into the river then off to a small pond beside the railway line , if anywhere could give me a perch even a small one it was here. nope , nothing ,nil , zip , the sun was getting low and the day was looking a stark shade of blank.
I trudged of to the weir pool with what now looked like a ridiculously large landing net and a confidence shaped hole in my stomach. A good few casts into the weir pool and still nothing. Then suddenly Matt yelped " I'm in ! " He was too and a fine little jack came to the net. I however still couldn't get a take , the light was starting to fade , we'd planed to fish this spot on the feeder for dusk and I still had tackle set up in two other swims . Aways one to stretch the last cast rule to the limit I chucked my lucky 'reflex red' out one last time as Matt headed off .
I'd moved right to the edge of a drop off to keep the spinner out of the weeds and at the end of the retrieve it came in to view a yard from my feet , inches behind it was large mouth and jet black eye. That's an image I'll remember for years , surely she saw me ? maybe she did , just a split second too late. I watched her take the lure and whoomph ! the rod hooped over and I had the most exciting fight I've had for ages on my hands . Three times I thought she was ready for the net and she charged off even got up on her tail once. I Knew it was a PB and my heart was pounding . Happy ending , she was safely in the net when she slung the hook and I realized just how lucky I'd been. Weighed in at an agreed 12 Lb ( was a problem with the scales so could have been a bit less , but definitely a double) and easily a new PB

See Matt's 'yin & yang' report for photos.
With half my mission accomplished and a huge adrenaline rush we set up feeder rods against the starlight at the weir pool . Matt hoping for a good chub , me enjoying an ice cold bottle of 'black sheep , oh , and still hoping for that big perch.
But it wasn't to be , a few more last casts as we struggled to find anything other than a rod to pack away. Then suddenly Matt was in to a fish , a very good one too , it charged up and down the pool and his rod had a great curve in it. but there was a distinct note of anxiety in Matt's voice , explained when I asked what hooklength he had on ; 4lb . Matt couldn't hold it in the pool and it tore off downstream in to the shallows rearing up out of the water where I caught a glimpse as it broke the line.

How big ? very hard to say maybe 5 or 6 lb. what was it ? Didn't see it well enough to tell , but I can only think of one fish that fights like that for so long and he's got whiskers . Matt's not landed a Barbel yet and I really felt for him.
Hopefully we'll be back next week , I think we'll both have Barbel on the brain ..........but that PB Perch is out there somewhere.