The long wait over!

This is a very happy thing for me to report.....My old mate Stu McMorrin has at long last got himself a lump over the magical 20lb mark. Stu has put some hours in for this monster and as you can imagine is buzzing after the capture. Hope this is one of many to come..........

David gets a couple of beauties off the top.........

My turn to play guide this week after womble did me proud last week on the Severn. This session it was in pursuit of carp off the top. My mate martin's nephew is a fanatical angler but hasn't had alot of success with carp off the top. So we hoped to turn that around. Fish were moving and feeding as soon as we arrived and it wasn't long before david was bent into a lovely double and quickly followed that by a smaller but very hard fighting single. Sadly the session was spoiled by the arrival of 3 adult novice anglers who were shouting at each other and disturbed the fish and they never showed again. We did move on to another pool but sadly we weren't rewarded with any more fish. But David went home with a big smile and so did uncle Martin and me........

Whiskers wiv da Womble

After a failed attempt at whiskers wiv Stu the previous week in that torrential rain that fell on that dark Tuesday we weren't to be put off and returned to the River Severn once more for the thrill of the mighty Whisker; They don't half hang on in the words of Matt Hayes. This time after failing at our first venue; Stu decided on a midnight change of location. Scrambling across fields in the moonlight and with the feint illumination of Stu's torch i managed to find a hole in a field which nearly snapped my ankle. Prob the same hole his mum broke hers in last season. Anyway the burning pain and subsequent days of agony still were worth it after the 2 little splashers i managed to net; well actually not net because the net was still in Stu's shed. He had to clamber down the bank and into the mud and water and net the whiskers with his bare hands. A super job he did as well although he nearly lost/destroyed another camera in the process. How many cameras this angler has destroyed i have forgotten. But the fella knows where the barbel live that is for sure. It has been a while since i have felt the power of a barbel; and although these little chaps weren't the doubles i dream of they still gave a good account of themselves. I was being guided and using Stu's tried ,tested, proven method and also with his tackle. His barbel rods are actually salmon worm/shrimp rods and are awesome. Beautifully balanced, with the perfect synergy of strength and give which make playing powerful fish both a pleasure and instilling confidence. There was an early disappointment when i lost a decent chub but i went home a happy angler.................