I have got to say straight away a huge thank you to Lymm Angling Club and especially Rick Filipowski for making this, the 4th Mailing List Fish-in, a great success. They supplied us with exclusive use of four superb meadows along the River Severn at Atcham, near Shrewsbury, that really came up trumps with the barbel. 
The weekend had been pencilled in as far back as January and eagerly awaited by many List members who have not been fortunate enough to fish the Severn for barbel before. Indeed some had never caught a Barbel at all and were keen to make their first encounter.
Organised as a casual weekend, some chose to fish just Saturday, some all weekend, some just through Saturday night. Therefore Rick suggested a late afternoon barbecue so that everyone attending could meet up to put faces to names, share their experiences of the day and make plans for the coming night and Sunday sessions. And a fine time was had by all, especially Mr Marsden. But more of that later……
The day began for me at around 6.15am. As I pulled into the fishery car park I was amazed at how many had apparently beaten me there. The amount of river we had at our disposal though made locating the early arrivals a bit of a hunt. Eventually, having walked a couple of miles in the warm early sun, I tracked down life in the furthest, downstream meadow. Here I met Mike Fidler and Stuart Bullard, two List members I had exchanged mails with but had not met in the flesh. Stuart admitted to being a bit daunted by the size and flow of the Severn, being used to the upper reaches of Kent’s River Medway, a river you can jump across in places, but he was ready to accept the challenge of a big river. Further downstream I found the three amigos, Graham Marsden, Dave Colclough and Eddie Bibby already chucking bait out at a rate of knots. 
The good mornings over, I got down to some fishing. Dropping in below Eddie I tackled up, as did most, with a heavy feeder rod and 1.5oz feeder loaded with hemp and caster, baited with double caster on a size 14 hook to 6lb line. Almost immediately the small fish were on the bait and a succession of small chub, dace and bleak were coming in.
At around 9am a call came down from Eddie. Graham’s in to a barbel in the peg above. A nice fish of over 6lb. A few minutes later, another call. Graham’s into a second barbel. This one comes off. Then a 3rd hook up which he lands, a fish over 5lb. I couldn’t help thinking the wily old goat had got hold some local info and had snaffled the ‘flyer’ peg again like at the January pike fish-in. Maybe he was just lucky, perhaps it might even be he knew what he was doing. No, couldn’t be that!
Throughout the morning a number of other List members turned up. Paul Hiom came for a chat just as I got my first barbel. Only a 3-pounder but very welcome and my first barbel from the Severn. As a ‘first’ Paul did the honours with a photo, a compliment I was glad to return later.
A little later word comes down that Stuart Bullard has landed his first ever Barbel, a special moment for any angler. Well done Stuart. He went on to get two more as well, so he had truly mastered the Severn challenge. A number of fish were now coming out to different List members. John Huntley had a barbel on the noted peg between meadows 14 and 15. Neil Dunnage, a man used to the heavy Hampshire Avon currents, gave up on the deepwater stretch and switched to the faster water downstream where he felt more at home and this brought him success. Keith Miller decided a change of bait might bring a change of fortune, and so it proved as a barbel found his frankfurter sausage too tempting to resist. Dave Colclough thought he was in to a barbel, but it proved to be a 6lb pike, which he managed to land without being bitten off. And so it continued throughout a day that was alternately very sunny and warm one minute and then very wet with thunder the next.
It got to 5.00pm and so came the barbecue. The now eighteen of us made our way back to the cars to cook and consume a vast selection of burgers, sausages, chicken and kebabs, while hearing stories of epic battles from those that had caught and excuses from those that hadn’t. Thankfully there were few excuses as most had got at least one barbel. Eddie Bibby was a notable exception, although I think Eddie you would have stood a far better chance if you had spent at least some of the day awake! (He’ll deny he was asleep, or say was only asleep for 10 minutes – I’m glad somebody else saw him! – Graham)
Now the barbecue is where Mr Marsden came into his element. Graham has a bit of a reputation for having a one way wallet and a liking for anything free or at least of good value. Goaded unmercifully by Gary Knowles he ended up visiting the barbecue on at least 6 occasions whilst clutching two beers at a time and wearing a beaming grin from ear to ear. A happier man you could not have wished to meet as it only cost him a pound (and I think Dave Colclough paid that for him!). (I had to give it him back though, the tight git! – Graham).
At the end of the barbecue it was time to say goodbye to those who had to go and for those of us staying to set up for the night. We chose our pegs and settled in. Then, at around 8.30pm a storm came with a vengeance with it raining hard until well after 11.00pm. Personally I gave up for the night and went to sleep in my bivvy until first light. But others stuck it out and were rewarded for their perseverance, like Stewart Bloor who had a nice chub and a barbel, Neil Dunnage with four barbel plus a pike and Paul Hiom with a barbel. 
But the performance of the night, apart from Dave Preston’s and Terry Ellis’s comical attempt to find the car park in the dark and wandering aimlessly around the field a couple of times, went to Gary Knowles and his mate Steve. Between them they landed 30 Barbel averaging around 4lb from adjacent pegs, with a best of 7lb 3oz, the biggest of the weekend. These fish came from fast water pegs at the downstream end. The deeper water upstream yielded fewer fish, but of a bigger average size, around mid 6 lbs.
First light on Sunday saw me back on the feeder rod with maggot and hemp and I hooked a barbel that obviously thought it was a Tarpon, leaping a foot clear of the water and breaking my 6lb hooklength in the process. I got over my disappointment a few minutes later with my best fish of the weekend at 6lb 13oz.
I said earlier I had the pleasure of returning the favour to Paul Hiom of photographing a fish and this was another first. Paul had a barbel at around 11.00am Sunday morning that weighed 6 lb 12 oz. Being a bit of a nocturnal barbel fisherman, amazingly this was Paul’s first daylight Barbel.
And so ended the Atcham fish-in at around lunchtime Sunday. A fine time was had by all, the company was good and new friendships were forged. I for one am looking forward to the next one. Oh yes, it’s the second leg of the North v South match – roll on September!
