Barbel Gatecrash Second FM Ribble Fish-in

Alan and his 8lb barbel (click for bigger picture)

About 15 FM members turned up by lunchtime and after the usual natter, a beer and some food we all dispersed onto the river basically in three groups, six going with Jim and myself, two with Graham and Dave and three other lads headed up river north of the Ribchester bridge.

In the Conway/Hinchley group Alan Strickland was soon into an very nice 8lb barbel making the rest of us very optimistic that it would soon be our turn. But it was not to be and I was the only other one in the group lucky enough to catch. But what a nice bit of luck it was; a beautiful 10lb 14oz barbel that fell about 18:15hrs to cheese paste wrapped around a small halibut pellet. This was followed later by a 4lb 4oz chub on bread.

We all retuned to the Black Bull at about 8 o’clock for a few beers and a good meal. Here we learnt that of the three lads who fished north of the Ribchester bridge only Barry Fleming had caught, two nice Grayling falling to caster. In Graham’s group only the master himself had caught anything, two barbel and three chub. The barbel weighed 6lb 12oz and 7lb 9oz, two of the chub weren’t weighed but were around 4lb, and the third and best one at 4lb 11oz.

The crack in the pub after a typically frustrating day on the Ribble, was good and the food was even greater, next time anyone meets up with Sean Meeghan, just ask him about his ‘Black Pudding starter’!

Graham’s best barbel at 7lb 9oz (click for bigger picture)

Well it’s only anther week to go to the end of the season and also the end of the winter chub fishing. There will I’m sure be other winter chub fish-ins on the Ribble and I hope more of you can make the trip to this very beautiful but at times very frustrating river.

Note from Graham
My group all fished in a row, about 10yds between each one. The only difference between what I did and what Dave, Stu Johnson, and Wendy did was that I fished the first couple of hours or so on maggot feeder, 4lb hooklength and a 14s, feeding a pint of maggots in the process, while the other three fished mainly bread flake and cage feeder-fed mash. Wendy had a go on maggots for the first hour or so but didn’t do anything. I also spodded in about a pint of micro halibut pellets.

My first fish was one of the smaller chub, and the second was the smallest barbel, the 6.12 fish, both falling to maggot on the 14s and 4lb line. An hour before dark I swapped to my usual chub gear of 6lb hooklength and a 6’s hook, slipped a piece of flake on and caught the 7lb 9oz barbel first cast. Then I had two more chub.

John’s great barbel of 10lb 14oz (click for bigger picture)

Wendy didn’t blank, catching a male mallard duck on double red maggot, and yours truly having to neck it out and unhook it. It swam off sulking but no worse for wear.

Wendy had to go early, and we followed about half an hour later, as Dave had to be up at 4am the following morning.

Thanks must go to John for doing a great job of organising the fish-in again, in spite of suffering from a stinking cold, and all I can say is roll on next winter and let’s do it all over again!