Summers finally here.......What?!!?

It seems at long last that summer has finally sprung forth as if from nowhere and just when I thought we would not see any after all the monsoon like conditions it finally seems to have settled down nicely,with the last few days hitting as high as 30c,the river conditions are however far from perfect,the water is on the drop but very coloured and carrying a heavy amount of debris.Add to this the fact that we have had such heavy flooding that it has displaced many fish from their usual haunts and patrol routes,despite this the fish when found are hungry and quite happy to feed,so don`t be put off if you find your first few sessions since the flooding quiet or harder going then normal as this will abate in time.


Robert and I set up on our usual stretch of the Thames for our 24 hour session,the prospect was one of brackish coloured water and very strong current even the slack areas were not exactly what one could call true slack areas.We opted on two separate swims Robert opting on what was not a very slack area at all,but had previously produced to him on other sessions.I decided on a slacker area and settled on fishing both rods in the margins mainly due to the fact that it was taking 3 1/4oz to hold bottom in this particular swim.


Baits for me were to be 20mm Halibut pellet and on my other rod 20mm boilie and the same for Robert,both fished on running rigs.


The morning passed without incident with just the company of the Swans as usual,things were as we expected given the recent rainfall,morning passed into afternoon and we chatted about where the fish were possibly holding up,my main reason for picking a slack area was that I had hoped some fish would have taken refuge in this particular area,but it had not thus proved correct,Robert`s swim had been very quiet with just two jacks to show for it both on halibut pellet caught late evening.

as the night drifted on the Bream decided to feed and I had numerous Bream the largest being one of 7lb,with numerous others averaging 6 to 6.08lb.Later in the evening I had a very hard and fast take on my left rod and after a short stop start fight a quality Thames Chub of 6lb was laying in the net recuperating.










I was counting myself as very lucky by now as the fishing was proving very hard going especially for Robert,whom was finding it very hard going in his pacey swim he had chosen.All went quiet for myself at 2am with not much doing at all and a very cool mist coming across the water,owls called out in the night hunting their prey and bats swooped and dived ballet-esque over my rods,however my lines remained silent.Early morning beckoned with the sun popping up and throwing back its sleepy covers at this time my left rod ripped off from the marginal cabbage patch it had been placed near and bolted off to mid-river,I was into a solid fight with the fish diving into marginal cabbage patch further downstream and hugging the bottom,I was beginning to wonder if I was into a Barbel,after some period of cabbage patch sight seeing by said fish I was rewarded with my second Thames Tench of 6lb,the fishing had been slow but made all the more worthwhile by this extra addition.








Later that morning at last doors Robert had a belting take which sped off downstream and resulted in a good spirited tussle with a Barbel,which was in great condition given the weather we have had recently whilst far from being the best Thames Barbel he has had,it was in pristine condition and very welcome indeed at 6.08lb exactly.







This ended what in the end given the conditions we have had recently in England with the heavy flooding and displacement of fish a pretty rewarding session that in all honesty if I am truthful I expected us to blank and badly.

The Thames forever in my heart and to coin a phrase used by Kojak "who loves ya baby"