On arrival, the conditions looked a lot better, even if the River was running very low. Andy had already been fishing the River for a couple of days and had located a good concentration of fish, so soon pointed me in the right direction. I rigged up with an open end feeder on my Fox Kevlex Specialist rod, with fixed spool reel loaded with 6lb line. At first I was a little apprehensive about fishing so light, but Andy assured me there were very few snags. I started by feeding a few feeder full's of halibut pellets and groundbait, then I drilled some 10mm Hailbut pellets ready for the hook baits.

What happened next i could hardly believe. My first cast was made to some over hanging trees on the far bank, and as I was mending the line on the rest, the rod was literally pulled from my hands! On striking i knew straight away I had hooked a Barbel, and it felt a decent size one at that. After a fun game of tug of war, I safely netted a lovely looking fish of just over 6lb. My second ever Barbel, about 10 years on from my first!

Next cast gave a repeat performance with a similar sized fish, with the rest of the day going exactly the same, seeing me land 14 Barbel altogether. There were highlights however amongst them. The first being a fish of 7lb 13oz, one measly ounce under my personal best; still I was made up with it! The next fish turned out to be a cracker and a new PB weighing in at 8lb 2oz, i could'nt believe my luck, I certainly wasn't expecting a PB! What happened after that fish though, was simply awesome. The tip pulled round as normal, but when I struck, I knew straight away I was attached to something a little more special. After a serious tussle on the 6lb line, I finally netted my prize, and at 9lb 7oz I was truly delighted!

I will definitely be back soon, Andy tells me that the Grayling in the River can sometimes be a pest. I certainly wouldn't mind, I have still yet to catch one!