River up again
Level 10.9m and falling slightly.
Arrived around lunchtime for an afternoon session through to dusk. Fished peg 25 again. Having got a new 17ft float road, I was really hoping for a float session today but the high river level put paid to that idea.
So, it was the usual 2 rods. One out in front of me, about 3/4 of the way across on halibut pellet with PVA mesh bags and one downstream on the same bait.
First signs
After about 30 minutes I started getting good strong taps on the downstream rod. However these did not turn into hittable bites. So, after 40 minutes I switched the downstream rod to luncheon meat in case Chub had been tapping the pellet but not taking it.
Bream, a first!
About 50 minutes into the session I got a bite on pellet and hit into a solid fish. As I brought it in I expected that it was a Barbel that had yet to wake up so was expecting a lunge at any time. Imagine my surprise when it broke the surface and was a lovely river Bream. This is my first on the Ure and my 1st on halibut pellet: -
No action on meat
I did not get any interest in the meat so decided to switch to lobworm, this could pick up Barbel, Chub, big Perch or the Bream that were obviously now in the swim. I got a bite within 5 minutes and hit into a decent sized Eel. Thankfully I lip hooked it so was able to unhook it and return it. So, an Eel, that’s another first on the Ure.
Barbel lost
About 3 hours into the session I got a Barbel bite that nearly took my rod. I just managed to grab it. This was a typical Barbel fight and I thought that I was going to net it. However, when it got close, it lunged down to a sunken tree to my right. I tried to stop it but my line snapped. I am glad there was no-one around to hear my swearing!
Another Eel
After a couple more hours, my lobworm rod went again and it was another Eel. Slightly smaller and lip hooked again. I then decided to go back onto halibut pellet on the downstream rod as I didn’t really want any more Eels.
Twilight Barbel
The light was failing fast and I was about 15 minutes away from leaving when I got persistent small taps on my downstream pellet. I waited to see if it would develop into a proper pull around suspecting that a Bream was mouthing the pellet. However it continued to tap so I had to hit it and was surprised that it was a Barbel. It was solid and heavy like a Barbel but didn’t strip line off. As I got it close I was prepared for the lunge but none came so I netted the fish first time: -
This fish took a long time to recover in the landing net and I released it after a few minutes. Then it rose to surface again and was struggling. I was able to net it and spent several more minutes holding it to let water flow through it’s gills. It seemed to want to go so I released it and, yet again, it popped up to the surface. So I netted it again and found an area near the end of my peg where I could stand in 8-10 inches of water and cradle the fish to help it right itself. After a while I noticed that it was blowing bubbles out of its mouth and it’s gill covers. That’s obviously what had been causing it distress. I also noticed that the skin around where its dorsal fin met it’s body seemed very pale as if the fish was ill. This is perhaps why it hand’t fought the way I expected. Eventually I was able to release the fish and it seemed to swim away fine.
| Fishing Targets | Fishing Log |