The Barbel King

After returning from a trip to the Scottish Highlands and failing miserably with the fly fishing I was straight back on the Ouse in search of more Barbel.

The swim I previously caught my barbel in was devoid of life so I opted for a swim 50 or so yards downstream. I've had a few chub out of this swim in the past and would be happy for a couple more today as it seemed unlikely I'd be able to snag any Barbel today. As Spack seemed to land Chub after Chub in the swim next door my rod finally flew round and the Wolf was in. It felt like a Barbel straight off but didn't want to get overly excited as the swim was teeming with Chub and Ive never even seen a barbel in this swim before.

A couple of minutes later I caught sight of the fish and low and behold it was a Barbel. Not the biggest at 6lb 10oz but still very, very welcome.





Spack had 7 Chub in all with the biggest weighing just under 6lb and had to settle for 5lb 12oz.



I only managed to add 1 more Chub, but a very nice fish, which weighed in at exactly 5lb.

Botchomania Self Take Pics

Went fishing in Olney Yesterday, had a pretty good day catching mostly small Pike and Perch using small Livies. I then managed to land a more substantial Perch weighing a few ounces under 3lb. Camera time, trouble was I was on my own and couldn't see any dog walkers or joggers to see if they could take a pic, I also forgot my Tripod. Taking a half decent Pic was a nightmare, I tried to use a Bank stick as a focus point on a nice back drop of the river, with my flimsy fishing bag to support the camera.

1. Bit of bag in the way, focus is nice, but could do with a fisherman and his fish.


2. Nice focus, Nice shot of the bank stick and more of the bag in the way.


3. Out of focus and looking like a grumpy knob


4. The bank sticks back and im back out of focus


5. Settled with this one, didn't want to mess the fish about too Much, not toooo bad, had to sharpen the image on the Computer and was a little too close to the camera. Nice fish though.



I also went lure fishing the day before around Oakley, the fish are definitely back on. had loads of small pike and a few perch.



Then to my surprise I hooked into a nice chub, which is my first on a lure for some time, caught it on a 2 1/2" Yellow Kopyto Shad.

Biggest Chub This Year

Fished a stretch of the Ouse id struggled on in previous seasons, managed to pull out a nice plump chub, which is my PB so far this season.

Estimated at around 4-5lbs, caught from a beautiful stretch that is very lightly fished if at all, (never seen another angler down there!), also noticed a few large barbel in the same swim the chub came out of so will try and catch one on the fly sometime soon, which I'm sure wont be easy!





Also Caught my first Perch on the fly the day after, only a tiddler but another species to cross off my Fly Fishing hit list.

Chub on the Fly

Had another bash at catching a few Chub on the fly Today, managed 2 on the fly and one on floating crust as well as a couple of small pike on U/L tackle designed for Perch.

Both Caught on A Hawthorne Foam Imitation purchased from "www.Theessentialfly.com".
I have recently bought a bunch more as they have a good selection of terrestrial foam flies, which as a beginner find nice and easy to use for chub.



Ive been finding the foam flies very effective recently, their nice and easy to fish as they dont require floatant, plus being so large and buoyant their easy to keep an eye on, which isnt always easy with the sun in your eyes and being fishing over a strong current.



The second one was slightly bigger, estimated at around 3lb.



It was a beautiful day on the Ouse, around 22c. The stretch I was fishing had just about everything, Gravel Bars, Wierpools, Overhanging trees, a healthy amount of Aquatic Fauna and of course plenty of plump Ouse Chub. The Perfect stretch to fly fish for Chub.





Another great day on the river and a nice start to the new season.

First Outing Of The Season

Managed to get out for a few hours before work yesterday (18th). Have been itching to give the fly rods a go on the rivers for months now. Wasn't sure to target Chub on the 5 weight or Pike on the 9 weight so ended up bringing both.

Had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours until the rain kicked in wading up and down the river in shorts and crocks, ccccooooollllddd (still awaiting wading boots to arrive in the post).

After trying a few different spots and flies I opted for a size 12 foam Grasshopper imitation in hope of landing a few chub.



The fly was sucked up seconds after landing in a shallow run near the bank, close to a sunken tree, but due to over excited clumsiness I failed to set the hook, flicked the fly back out, Fish On..... Fish off, after 30 seconds of drama the fly popped out. Tossed it out again... Sluuuurp, Fish On, a couple of minutes later it was in the net and I had my first ever fly caught fish, a chub weighing around 3lb.



The Chub seem to slurp up the flies a lot more gently than the way I'm used to catching them when their hammering surface lures, presumably there's no rush in taking a drowning fly whereas a moving fish/mouse/frog needs to be dispatched quickly before it gets away.

Only managed the 1 fish before the heavens opened but will be back soon in search of more river Ouse chub on the fly.