Michael on the river Wye

Michael had wanted a day on the Wye trying to catch a barbel.

I had fished a couple of days previously and had struggled. We started in the swim where I had finished previously. There was supposed to be rain for most of the day however we had a couple of showers and it wasn’t too bad. There was a strong wind that I believe kept the clouds moving and helped in that respect. However these meant that there were plenty of leaves coming down the river.

We caught 1 barbel of 7lbs 15oz in the morning which is a slow start for sure.

7lbs 15oz barbel for Michael

We moved to another swim and caught a couple of nice chub 3lbs 10 and 3lbs 14oz however the barbel were not playing ball. I wasn’t alone nobody else had caught so it was going to be a difficult day.

I tried to get a couple of shots of the chub as they were nice well conditioned fish. Both times they leapt to freedom. This one shot is about all we got. We both found it hilariously funny.

Chub in flight

We moved for the 3rd time and still nothing came along. We fished the best 3 swims on the beat and only had one fish to show for all our efforts.  Today I was beaten by what I’m unsure I can’t put my finger on it.

Michael returning a barbel

Still it could be worst the river is up 4m today after all the rain of the past 2 days. A clear through was needed though.