We had been invited to stay with our friend Reg for the weekend as he and Sandy were going to folk gigs in the evenings, then we were scheduled to go cod fishing on the Sunday so it gave me a free day to fish his club water on the Warwickshire Avon. The temperature had been below freezing for a couple of days, and was -5C on the previous evening, so when I eventually arrived at 10 o'clock the ground was white and crunchy.
Reg suggested I tried a peg where he caught several 2 pound perch a few days earlier, but if there was no sport there, to move down under a tree at the lower extremity of the stretch.
I spent the first two hours fishing worm, maggot with float and lead with no success whatsoever. I didn't even have a knock, and so decided to move to the other swim and trot, something I really enjoy but find too few waters where you can use this technique, perhaps the most enjoyable of all fishing methods.
After feeding a few loose maggots in the swim, I started trotting and after a few casts caught the chub shown in the picture. I was ecstatic catching a decent fish in such adverse conditions.
As I kept fishing, so the fish kept coming and for the next few hours the sport was excellent catching seven chub to 3lb 13oz, three roach to the half pound mark, about twenty dace and best of all a barbel. It wouldn't have weighed half a pound, but was the first barbel that I have ever taken on the float, so this was an ambition fulfilled. I have caught many barbel including five doubles, but the pleasure that this fish gave me exceeded that of all the other because it was caught floatfishing.
At about 3pm the sport stopped as the temperature plummeted, and so at 4pm when the light was falling, I stripped my float tackle down, set up a spinning rod and moved to the mill pool where there were reputed to be zander.
Well, those of you who follow these diaries will know that I had tried before to catch zander with no success, and one of my few ambitions was to catch one. So more in hope than expectation I started to spin, then on the fourth cast felt the weight increase on the line and played a fish to the surface. I thought it was a jack pike by the length as it rolled below the surface, but as I drew it over the net I couldn't believe my eyes - it was a zander and a nice one too 6.25lb.
I couldn't believe it, what a day I had just had. Not only had I caught a barbel on float gear, but also caught my first zander on a day when most people would have stayed indoors.
It was well worth the effort and a real red letter day. Thanks Reg!!!