An evening unwinding on the upper Lea

There are some quieter swims which are great for Barbel and Chub, but these are a good 10 to 15 minutes walk from the car park. However, I was tired after the long week at work so I thought that I would just plonk in after the last full swim nearer the car park and see what I could winkle out. It was the first time I had actually fished this section of the river which was more like a small stream; as most of the upper stretches of the Lea are around here.

One of my mates whetted my appetite when he said he’d had Barbel of 7.5lb and a couple around 51/2 lb plus some 31/2 lb+ chub when he fished there all day last week, plus there were reports of a few 2lb Roach being caught there earlier in the week by anglers trotting tight to the far bank against the rushes. I chose a swim that had some nice features with deeper scoured out gravel either side of streamer weed in a faster centre flow caused by a small narrowing of the banks above me.Further downstream amongst the other anglers the bed was a little more silty and I expected some Barbel to move upsteam to feed on this deeper cleaner gravel where food was congregating before subsequently drifting off slowly downstream (see photos below).

My swim with deeper gravelly bottom on both sides at the lower end of the swim

A shot upstream showing a small cattle drink and below where it becomes deeper

There were only one or two people a few swims away upstream of me and the person in the swim below me was a good distance away.

As an aside: I am convinced that Barbel take set routes when feeding which can sometimes take up quite long detours around the riverbed, these routes go from one feeding area to another or follow certain contours. I mention this because my mate said that the last time he fished here a guy plonked himself in a swim below him which was quite a distance away and my mate’s bites dried up even though he was fishing well above the angler. After the angler left my mate started getting the bites once again. So the angler may have placed himself close to the bank and interrupted the Barbels’ normal patrol route. This sort of thing has happened too many times in the past to just be a coincidence.

Anyway I digress; I had three good classic Barbel bites during the evening and unfortunately only landed the first two Barbel, the third Barbel managed to spit out the barbless hook in its bid for freedom. I was using small hair-rigged pre-drilled salmon pellets on size 8 barbless short shank hooks with small soft halibut pellets for feed. I also squeezed some soft Halibut paste around the pellets for added leakage.

Here are the pictures of the two Barbel that I managed to catch; not huge (5lb 4oz and 4lb 3oz of pure muscle) but it was an enjoyable evenings fishing on a small stream nonetheless. It isn’t always the biggest fish that give you pleasure and help you unwind after a gruelling week at work.

Next week I will be unwinding at one of my club’s specialist days where Tench specialists will be answering our questions on tackle, baits, location and fish behaviour and after the members get together for a bit of banter and a barbeque with drinks and a raffle for some specialist tackle. The members try fishing in the places that they have been shown (which have been prebaited the night before). I think this is a great idea and think that more clubs should do this kind of thing don’t you? It promotes a sort of family atmosphere in the club and gets the members talking and making friends with other anglers with similar likes and dislikes etc and can only be good for the club in the longrun. Fishing is a rewarding pastime and great for unwinding at the end of a long tiring week.