(no) Barbel on the Wye...

Well sadly there's nothing much to report from my session on the Wye. Despite getting up at a time I didn't even know existed in the morning, and fishing through all day until it got dark, its safe to say I'm a barbel blanker! I tried pretty much everything from meat, maggot, boilies, pellets, pepperami for baits. I tried the slack water, the fast water, the deep water, the shallow water, overhanging trees, underwater snags but it just wasn't to be. I had a few knocks during the first hour or so and a screamer of a run late evening (which bumped off the hook when I picked the rod up, doh!) but the rest of the day was pretty quiet.

The water was almost gin clear despite the thunderstorms from the day before, and the level was pretty low too. This might not have helped the fishing any, but it did enable me to watch a small group of perch hunting fry in the margins for most of the day. The bigger of the pack seemed to follow a strict routine of slowly emerging from the depths of a deep hole under a fallen willow tree, and pausing by a single strand of oxygen weed in the shallows that provided a bit of cover while he observed his prey. Then, when the time was right he'd burst into action and chase the fry into the bank and then disappear back into the dark depths beneath the willow, if only I'd had some underwater filming gear...
I also saw my first River Wye salmon, as a specimen which I'd guess at being around the 8lb mark decided to have a funny 5 minutes and leap wildly out of the water 4 or 5 times. Hopefully another visit won't be too far away, though next time I may target something considerably toothier than a barbel as it's getting that time of year again...