Top pool with a passion...

Three hours were spent  fishing a lovely small river pool at the top end of a stretch of local river. With Chub and a hopefull Barbel in mind, I droppered in some hemp and caster in a couple of swims. I fished caster on the hook with worm as a change bait.

The morning was overcast but warm, and on arrival at about 6:30 am I had the stretch to myself.  A small perch kicked off proceedings followed by a number of perfect clones.  There were fish taking flies off the surface and in the fast shallows up stream of my pitch I thought I saw a brown trout viciously  take some unfortunate from the surface.  In the margins I amused my self by feeding maggots to a small shoal of finger sized perch, of which there were about four or five, their leader distinctive with some white aberration hanging from his mouth.

Fast shallows - were there trout about ?

I fished on and caught a larger Perch from the crease of the flow coming into the head of the pool.  It had me convinced it was a chub, till it surfaced.  I justified the need to weigh it to myself, as It looked like threatening a pound, but the scales said a mere 10oz (I must test them again - not sure how accurate they are with lower weights).  When I dropped him back near the small shoal at my feet it was comical to watch the small perch react to him.  White mouth appeared with the gang cowering behind, the bravado was knocked a bit by the giant in their midst, they hung back before risking another maggot.  Finally white mouth ventured forward, took a maggot signalling normal activity to resume.  I looked away to check the rod tip and when I glanced back the 'big' one was gone, back to the depths I guess. 

                                
Soon after I was joined by a lad that came crashing through the undergrowth behind me. "You just caught a Barbel"? was the greeting.  "No, a Perch"  my reply.  "Are there Barbel in here then "? I lied.  "Yes I always catch them in that peg " he points to where I am sat.   "Oh yeah, what d'you have em on"? I asked.
"Soft boilies.... you can have some if you want "  I smiled to myself and declined the kind offer.
We chatted for a while and I discovered that not only had he caught many Barbel, but at least a 12lber no less, and from this very peg.   Bless him,  he sat there struggling to side hook his 8mm soft hookable onto his size 6 hook.  So I offered to drill some for him to make life easier.  Then it struck me, it's that flippin  Pete from 'A Passion for Angling', he even had the floppy white hat.

It was soon 10 am and time for me to go,  I gave 'Pete'  my spare bait drill and sorted him out some pellets I'd already pre drilled.  Instructing him where I'd baited up, I wished him tight lines and left him to it.


Entomology Corner...

On the way back to the car I managed to photograph this stunning Blue tailed Damsel - A male I believe, following a quick research on google.

 Male  Blue-Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

I also snapped this "Ladybird" but was then surprised to learn it is in fact a Harlequin Ladybird, an invader to these shores.  First time I've "realised" I've seen one though.

Harlequin Ladybird (H. axyridis succinea )

I'm getting quite into this 'Bug snapping' now, it adds a little extra interest to the session getting a good shot of a new species, and to be honest I'd never really taken much notice of how beautiful some of these insects can be.  The colours and patterns they display are stunning, when you open your eyes.