Small River Eel

We had a couple of sessions on the Wandte, Thursday evening saw us sneaking up on our first swim, we had seen chub here before but the water was clear and shallow so we tackled up quietly away from the edge, we knew this would be a one-fish, one-chance swim. Just about to cast when a rather drunk tramp came crashing through the bushes and peered over the edge 'caught anything lads?'... Swim 2, after about a mile walk, it looked absolutely perfect. A variety of baits were offered as we fished into the dark without a bite!

Sunday morning the plan was to meet at 7am to continue exploring the Wandte, Dan was a no-show so I found a nice deep run and began fishing. I had Dan's kit with me so I set it up as a second rod. About 3 bite-less hours later Dan showed up, grabbed his already assembled rod, cast out and caught an eel straight away! A big eel. Dan is not an eel fan, so I did the unhooking duties and as I turned to get the scales he slipped it back. 'I didn't want to hold it for a photo' was the excuse... He'll never know if he beat the magic 2lb barrier (and I'm not sure he cares). A couple of bite-free hours later we decided the riverside pub was too tempting.

Haven't given up on the Wandte, we know there are fish there, we've just got to find them...