Ron and 3 barbel over 9lbs from the Wye

I’m just looking back for a while and it seems like just last week that I completed my 300th blog and here we are looking at 310th. The blog does take me a long time to complete however I can look back through the years and see what super people I’ve fished with.

Which leads me onto the latest one now. Ron had asked me several times to guide him tench fishing last summer. However we didn’t make it in the end although he did stay in a bivvi for the first time. Ron is well known in the barbel world and takes his fishing serious however saying that he has a very philosophical outlook on the fishing. He just enjoys being there!

So after seeing me talking about being a Sherpa and carrying tackle around early in September he asked whether it was possible to guide him on the Wye. So we talked and agreed that we needed  a suitable swim and luckily I was able to land us in a great venue.

I had given Ron the address of Ferndale House, http://www.bandbforestofdean.co.uk/ which is a B&B that my clients often use, Christine and Andy are very helpful and are a wonder to everyone that stay there.

Ron arrived the night before in the B&B and in the morning we met for the very first time. You could see he exuded passion for barbel fishing. We made our way to the selected swim which was comfortable for Ron. The weather conditions were set fair but with the tail end of a hurricane coming in later the next day. So we settled into a swim that normally produces barbel in high water conditions. The river being a good 5ft or more on normal summer levels.

To cut to the chase we caught eels and barbel from the swim, Rons first fish was an eel followed by a nice barbel of 7lbs 14oz.

 

Not too please about the photo too much fishing gear around. So no blanking for him. The swim though had changed and a snag in the form of a tree limb had moved in. We continued fishing however we were finding the snags.

However as LG would say “Life is Good”  Ron hooked and landed a huge barbel and a new Wye pb for him at 9lbs 2oz.

What a fish and fight Ron was knackered after this tussle but still held the fish firmly as the trophy shots were taken. The morning was moving on we lost about 6 feeders before it was time to change swims.

So we moved another 15yds downstream and started to fish again. Ron is great company and tells all sorts of tales.

It was here when after casting regularly we soon had the barbel lining up to take the bait. Ron caught another beautiful hard fighting barbel of about 6lbs which fought like hell in the 10ft deep fast flowing river.

So it was time for Ron to leave and put his feet up for a while. 3 strong fishing barbel and the walk to the swims had taken it’s toll. So we packed Ron up and helped him to the car where we sorted everything out and he was on his way agreeing to meet up at 9am the following morning to try another comfortable swim.

The reason we were meeting later was to avoid the strong winds and rain that were forecast.

Now I don’t often get an opportunity to fish the Wye as normally the guests stay till the end of play. I asked Ron if it was ok me fishing on. No problem came the reply.

So I duly did. Well I caught a few more barbel to 8lbs 12oz. A really short fat fish.

Not only that but I caught a huge chub of 6lbs 3oz which is by far the largest I’ve landed. The bailiff came around and said that he had fish it for 14 years and had never had a 6lbs chub and this year he had caught 6. So something is changing and it’s not the pellets going in!

So the Hurricane passed by during the early hours not that I heard a sound as I park up close to the river under some fir trees. The sound of the wind and the constant gushing of the river sends me into a deep sleep.

So I met Ron at 9am with the skies blue however  the forecast was for showers and an increase in wind speed later. We were now fishing another swim, one I had not fished before. There was shallow water close in then a ledge and deeper water. It was here we cast. After about an hour the rod was off and Ron held on to a powerful barbel that tried to get down to Chepstow. Ron was doing a magnificent job of giving and retrieving line. The river narrowed here and the flow was really strong. After a good few minutes Ron guided the fish over the landing net. It looked big! So after resting the fish we weighed her in at 9lbs 7oz and another pb Wye barbel.

Ron was exhausted after this battle and we sat for a while. The wind was really gusting at this point however the wind was at our backs and we were protected from the worst of it.

Don came down for a chat and was so pleased that Ron had another good fish.

Trees and branches started to drift down through the swim due to the overnight storm making fishing difficult. We had a few cups of tea and coffee willing the rods tips to move. Ron said that 4pm he would need go. At 3.30pm we were just lamenting about the days fishing and no blanking when again the rod top flew over and this time Ron was playing another great barbel.

This one really pulled hard in the current however Ron did say at the beginning of the tussle he thought it was about 4lbs. Then it must have listen to Ron as it shook itself into savage gear mode. Boy oh boy  did it ever go! Don’t know about Chepstow, I think at one stage it was in the Briistol Channel. Ron was battling the 4lb beast. I’ve not seen a barbel fight so well and to Ron’s credit he played it well.

Soon it was time to net the beast. It looked huge!

On the scales it went 9lbs 10oz and yet another Wye pb for Ron. We were lucky as Rudi arrived just as the barbel was resting in the net. He helped with the photo’s and what a fantastic job he did too

So after this it was time to pack up. Ron I hope had a great two days. For me it was a huge pleasurable experience and great fun to fish with Ron.

The glint in his eye told me it wasn’t going to be the last time he fishes the Wye!

Thanks Ron for a great time.