Finally Back Fishing 26-8-17

Well it seems like I havnt fished for ages,my last session was an evening carp fishing on a local water of which I caught a lovely common .I set the camera up ,got the fish ready for a quick snap for it to slide from the mat back into the water ,I was gutted as I didn't have another bite that evening .............

Wet mat..............

Anyway in between being busy at work and goin to America for a much needed break,I couldn't wait to wet a line on my return.Seems the rivers have been up and down while I've been away and as this last week I've suffered from jet lag,I was definitely gonna hit the river for some much needed barbel fishing on a different stretch that was carrying some water.I arrived at the river and immediately knew where I was heading.Ive only caught chub from this swim but I know barbel get caught here so I set up my rods.Usual start pellet on left hand rod,boilie on my right hand rod.I would be fishing feeder on both rods with a mix of crushed halibut pellets,hemp and a good squirt of MC.I was approaching this swim differently tonite,casting each rod out every 20-25 minutes to get some bait down before dark and once it goes dark casting out every 30 mins on each rod.It wasn't long before my left hand rod pulled over,felt chubby and wasn't on long.I checked my hook and it was blunt. A quick change of hook length and fresh pellet and re casted to the spot.It would be just before the sun went down when my left hand rod twitched violently,barbel time and after a few good runs,She was mine and in the Net.

Second barbel of the season with part of its tail missing.I recasted and sat back with a nice coffee as the sun went down with no further action as darkness came.Lots of midges out tonite,so annoying but I had my spray to keep them away.At around 9-40 my left hand rod flew over and a better feeling barbel was on the end working my clutch for quite a few runs,Eventually and the third attempt I netted what looked like a double.I reeled in my other rod and rested the barbel.I got the barbel ready for a Picture then weighed her.Ive never caught a deformed barbel before,a very long fish with a slight kink in  the body.

A cracker at 9-8...........

Look how much the tail dips down..............

Any way a good evening out,nice result 2 Barbel............

Tight lines Bloggers,glad to be back.............