The River Angler

With the recent run of mild weather, Geoff and I both felt it was worth taking a break from the usual winter roach/grayling fishing and having a bash at the barbel again.  So on Wednesday we headed to Aldermaston on the Kennet.  It was a bit colder than earlier in the week and the wind was biting.  The river looked good.  It had a touch of colour and looked to be up since our last visit back in about October.

The Kennet

I opted for a mobile approach whilst Geoff decided to stick it out in one swim.  I went for the boilie and paste wrap method and I think Geoff swapped around with baits a little.  He also used two rods to my one (although I did use 2 in one particular swim).  I ended up fishing four swims, all with similar results: bugger all, the same as Geoff but at least he didn’t trudge up and down the river all day, like what I did!

I had one halfhearted bite, which was probably a chub, otherwise the only thing moving the rod tip was the gale force winds!  I suppose the highlight of the day was seeing a couple of Red Kites wheeling overhead and a couple of Roe deer in the adjacent field.  However it got progressively colder as the day wore on.  By early evening it was bloody freezing, so we packed up and headed to the Reading services for some well earned fish and chips.  Well, we had to get something remotely fishy in the end.