We had some much needed rain this morning so myself and Dan hit the Wandte hoping it had put the barbel in a feeding mood. We arrived about 7pm and I had a bite first cast - miss. Barbel second cast, no bite, just wound down to check the bait and it was there, 1lb 11oz. Things were going to plan...
Then no more bites until well after dark when Dan had a barbel of 2lb 4oz. I noticed when it was in the net it had a second hook in its dorsal fin, and on further inspection it turned out to have a split fin with a section of landing net, a hook and a load of line stuck in it, we set about cutting the unwanted rubbish from the fin. Once free Dan went to release it - putting it back in the net to carry it to a suitable release site... Yep. It got caught in my net and I had to cut it free again. Stupid mistake and a hole in my new net!
Next up I had a barbel of 1lb before Dan wrapped things up with a cracking 2lb eel.
Not quite the feeding frenzy we were hoping for but at least we had a few fish. The problem is that the run-off time after rain is so quick because the river is so small. To benefit from the rainfall you really need to be fishing in the rain - and we are mad enough to do it!
Wandte river levels from the Environment Agency.
Fresh water indeed!! It's funny how some things never change. The Wandle always used to fish at it's best when it was chucking it down.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to pop you a comment and let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. It reminds me of when I was a kid fishing on the Wandle. We used to spend hours down there on the Carshalton arm, and between the confluence and Hackbridge catching Rainbows and Brownies on lumps of bread!!
I relocated to Norfolk about five years ago now, and spend most of my free time up here on the Wensum in pursuit of Pike, Chub and Escapee Carp!!
I can still remember one session that I had on the Wandle, it had been raining solid for about two days, a friend and I decided to hit a swim that we had located near to Hackbridge. When we got to the peg the River was storming thru and was the colour of tea.
The Wandle had always been a dumping ground for people’s unwanted aquatic pets (Think Terrapins, Goldfish, Golden Orfe etc).
Armed with our Quivertip rods we began by fishing with the maggot feeder into a backwater against the far bank. By the end of the two hour session we had caught 9 Brownies (Think the biggest was about 3 lb) 4 good sized Roach two massive Goldfish and my first Golden Orfe. My mate also had a Crucian Carp....great memories!!
Once again, thanks for the great blog!! Tight lines!
Ade
You did well brian, I couldn't believe how low the water is going by the chart,
ReplyDeleteYou could do with about 5 weeks of heavy rain to get the oxygen levels moving and the waters moving,
,,,Paddy,,,
Hi Ade, glad you like the blog, I love fishing this river and since I read this yesterday I've had my first goldfish. Trout and crucian carp are still on the list as is a tench. But the number one target is a double figure barbel! I hope you continue to enjoy...
ReplyDeleteCheers Paddy, the river runs low so quickly after the rain I think we're going to have to watch the weather and time our trips carefully, obviously work will get in the way!