Hot, sticky nights aren’t too good for sleeping. Add to the mix a cool box that sounds like a jumbo jet taking off and Frank’s regular trips to the loo and the sound of the light cord being pulled; ching,ching just when you feel at long last sleep envelope you. Fortunately I’ve got the sort of feet that in extreme temperatures can stop a charging bull elephant at 30 yards, so I manage to get my own back. Still a couple of hours broken sleep never hurt anybody….well much.
Luckily Frank being a Landlord and all, is a dab hand at knocking up a very tasty breakfast at 4am! Thank God for that, cos they would have got bugger all out of me except for a load of abuse. Apparently the older I get the grumpier I get…hmm well maybe. Still I was in good company; Frank who does a great impression of Blakey from On the Buses/Victor Meldrew/Adolf Hitler/Basil Fawlty and then the professional alcoholic and bon viveur that is Alex ‘The Chin’ Watson certainly made for interesting company.
Frank doing an almost convincible impression of an angler!
It was day two of this trip and we were heading off to a delightful day ticket section of the Wye near Aramstone. We arrived around 5.15am and it was slightly cooler than the previous morning. In fact a jacket was needed to keep the chill air out, however it was most refreshing not to be baked alive. We were going to fish the first swim and take it in turns. This was a spot that is well known for producing big bags of fish and I was hoping it wouldn’t let me down. There is something nice about sharing a swim with mates. It’s more sociable and it’s also great to share in the experience of catching, casting and the general day to day antics of fishing together.
Barbel O’ Clock
This is a very interesting swim. The river narrows considerably here, with an area of very shallow gravel commanding most of the swim. However on the nearside is a deep, fast gravel run. The water is almost a torrent as it’s pushed into the bank on a sharp bend and then runs off downstream. Thick weed abuts the channel and an area of still water lies to the right of the fast, boiling and swirling deluge of water forced down through this narrow channel. It’s an ideal spot for barbel to hole up. There’s loads of oxygenated water, cover and food and all in one fairly small and concentrated spot.
A feeder was loaded with bait, two elips glued to the hair and the whole lot cast to the exact spot required. If you get it right, keep hold of the rod, because it won’t take long. A few sharp bangs and the tip rips round….fish on. Soon a nice barbel of around 5-6lbs was recovering in the net. Once unhooked and released it was time for the boys to have a go. It was interesting to note that the barbel here almost pulled you in and when recovering in the net, very nearly pulled that in too. The only difference was the speed of the water and the amount of oxygen this gushing torrent produced and it allowed the barbel a very healthy environment to live in during these extreme temperatures.
The Stunning Wye
Throughout the remainder of the morning Frank, Alex and myself continued to hit the spot with the rig and fish after fish came our way. We lost a few here and there, especially Frank who’s as adept at loosing fish as anyone I’ve seen. I have to say in his defence though that the barbel here are particularly good at throwing the hook. They either bury themselves in the thick weed or twist and turn and just throw the hook as regular as clockwork. They all put up tremendous fights and all went back with gusto.
The time wore on and by around 11.30am we thought we ought to have a look at the rest of this lovely beat. We drove up to the remains of the old railway viaduct, it’s stanchions straddling the river. There are a number of really nice, pacey gravel runs up here but all were taken. By now it was blazing hot again and we decided to call it a day, however as we arrived back down at the start we saw the swim we had been fishing was still free and Frank wanted one last try. So for maybe an hour we had a final fling. Both Frank and I had a couple more out and I think the final tally was me on 7, Alex on 6 and Frank on 5 and we probably lost 6-8 fish too. So pretty productive with all things considered.
My new house…er well one day…maybe
It was time to call an end to this Wye adventure. We were hot, tired, thirsty and hungry and so it was about time we headed off back to Kent via the Air Balloon pub for a spot of much need sustenance. I had thoroughly enjoyed myself. The company was rubbish of course but at least the fishing had been good. The chauffeur was a little suspect and the chef had a habit of getting his manhood out a bit too often to take a pee, with absolutely no discretion whatsoever but other than that it was in fact great company with lots of belly laughs and just a little bit of good old fashioned pee taking. Love it. 🙂
The River Angler 
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