The weather is so unseasonably warm, that although my mind has reflected on a last night or two on the Thames after the carp I keep coming back to those River Loddon Barbel.

15.5lbs Lodden Barbel

The start of the week saw daytime temperatures reaching eighteen degrees dropping of to around twelve at night and so soon after such a cold week I knew that the whiskers would be twitching. I have been trying to keep one step ahead of the anglers, and the fish, firstly by fishing during the afternoons leaving when most were arriving. This gave me the advantage of not only managing to fish the river when the water was at its warmest but also bait up a few swims without fear of disturbance from others.

This tactic has been consistently rewarding, and today was no exception. The first swim fished; normally the banker swim produced nothing. I half expected this as others were on my tail and since noticing this, swims around had been baited in the hope of moving the fish, it looked as if the plan was working. I only fish a swim for forty minutes and after the first, I  dropped into a swim for the seventh time over the last few weeks, strangely feeling confident as I had not caught from it before. I didn’t have to wait long and after an epic battle landed my second largest barbel of 15lbs 5oz. on a sonubaits  Hali Hooker. The other swims produced no action, but all were baited with a mixture of halibut pellets and Hali Hookers on departure.

As I crossed the fields at dusk the evening anglers were arriving, little did they know? As the week progressed, and although the daytime temperature was still in the high teens the nights were becoming chilly, mainly due to the wind changing from the southwest to one from the north. From reports, the river had become extremely tough, not unusual, as the conditions had been too good for too long. I had perfected a method that was catching and by timing my sessions accordingly my confidence was high.

Friday came and again the river called, so arriving at 2pm I had almost the entire stretch to myself, apart from the banker swim that l knew wasn’t producing. Knowing that the weekend rush was just a few hours away I dropped into the swim that had produced earlier in the week, baiting a couple of new spots just down stream, areas not usually fished. The first swim did not produce so after an hour I moved.

 The first of the two swims, that had been baited some twenty minutes before, produced a violent bite as soon as the bait hit bottom, surely a pike, but to my amazement a barbel of 9lbs 8oz graced my net, result.

I lost tackle in the other swim so it proves to be a no-go zone for future visits and a brief stay in my original position felt wrong, time to leave.

9.8lbs Lodden Barbel