| I remember looking into the swim and wondering if any barbel might inhabit the upper Severn in these high upper reaches. It was late November, 1990, and I was chub fishing.
Late June 1991 Tony Kelly and I were back up the river on a barbel hunt, uncertain whether we were doing the right thing. We had cut our tench fishing short, but we had caught some good fish and become restless with anticipation to find something untouched. We had been out all night on a stretch lower downstream that also looked promising but nothing had come of it. The hunch to go and check out the stretch I had in mind was strong and despite being very tired we drove the 10 miles up river for a look before the long drive home. Having covered  When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community.
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The swim had all the characteristics for barbel, ie, it was 4ft deep at my feet with a gravely, stony bottom. As though in slow motion, clumps of streamer weed wavered around beneath the oily surface. About 10yds downstream lay my chub bait under a line of bushes where the river deepened to 6ft and remained so for about 150yds. The full extent of the 150yds was steady water, tree-lined and littered with fallen boughs. Absolute neglect, absolute barbel country – why not?
