Grass Carp 11lb 4oz
Not a bad season all in all, with a few personal bests and winning the Internet Angling Club's annual species race. IAC Species Race
I normally start on May 1st as that is when the IAC species race kicks off but as I don't fish weekends and my mother was taken ill I didn't manage my first outing till 4th May. However over the next few weeks I amassed a few species race points the highlights being 3 new personal bests. Eel 3lb 2oz, Ide 2lb 6oz and my species race Joker an 11lb 4oz Grass Carp which fell to the float on a 5m whip I was amusing myself with (no not that way, I'm neither sadistic or masochistic) using a size 16 hook to 4lb line rather than the method feeder it was supposed to take.
Barbel wise it was a very poor start to the river season, I only had 2 in June and 3 in July despite 5 days on the Swale and 5 days on the Wye. However things started to look up in late July after changing bait (thanks to Mick Wood) and finding the confidence to try some new venues. I managed a new best season's total of 78 Barbel over 44 Barbeling sessions totalling 326 hours, not up to Trent standards perhaps but good for me, mainly fishing the Yorkshire rivers with the odd foray to the Wye and Trent. I also met up with an old mucker, Reg, on the banks of the Wharfe and we shared a good few sessions, despite his age of 72yrs he's probably fitter than me ! My Barbel highlight was a new personal best of 11lb 10oz from the Trent however I've got to say the fight was disappointing, I don't suppose you get that fat charging all over the place !