![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9OnRNeNucwXmFhv4TAg7KwCXhr607Lj5Alk2xkdnwhFKyOzuzAuV8d_j7t5KqlvtvsdZdJ1pA_hbnhGHx1jiag8RjdSRuutJ3Uqmuxh0FE3kKs8W7XPOJoNn8diMjPB1-CGtuTROTCA/s400/E0D6DEF7-D4EB-4FCD-A4D2-697E19F828BE.jpeg)
After a day of heavy rain I hit the river seaching for chub with
dirty water confidence. But the water was surprisingly low and clear, I did land a couple of chub to 4lb - but not the monsters I was chasing.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6PwvQl1ulIP9gDPIGceFLRccsjsQRCVVgomWuIxhPPNTFrIM-tV_XtVNw20tBMtnXh5K2JfYDAGBY-cwZUxgfwVHcBy0Q8y235EKmmos9_Qutag-fucZUMg1WTIIPFsEcN63Pv-pdeA/s400/F526B99B-468D-411D-9778-4DDE68A70FDC.jpeg)
The chub were spooking off the bait, so I turned my attention to barbel - landing 7 of them on shallow gravel runs. The biggest was the long, thin
8lb 1oz fish (above) - I'm sure it'll be a double in March.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xVkSZweM2W-64CQYW4Q98tgW-LRU1U30dNbkfJvG000KhOqse1lH3_LyEC6kRP9N1bibQ31crxGe0PxQcac3wVJ41Ixw3QUA0lRhlY6d9WPpxjx6esusOah9Ht1vqPaoME3JWtaHsB4/s400/B592CD6B-A62A-4095-841A-F700445B3D29.jpeg)
Barbel total this season is 146, and overall river total is 946 - can I hit the magic 1,000 this season? Need to average 11 barbel per month over the tougher winter season - but I'm going to give it a whirl!