I hadn't expected to have time to fish this weekend. We've been busy all week and I had promised to help my farmer neighbour with the sheep shearing on Saturday and probably well into Sunday. As it happened we got through them quicker than expected so yesterday afternoon while some plucky Brit who used to be a useless Scot was knocking a ball over a net I went down to our local river.
The Vienne is the size of the Severn and borders the chateau farm estate where I live. At one end is an old derelict forge with a mill race where the water to power the bellows used to be. Now the buildings are ruined and the race is more of a stillwater with just a small flow from the main river going through it. It is around 120 metres long by 10 metres wide and runs parallel with the main river at the other side of an unkempt tree lined island. The race is now mostly littered with fallen trees and large stones and holds a few chub to around 3lb and some carp just up to double figures. I've had a few out near where the race re-enters the main river. Because of the snags and the possibility of fish getting into the main flow I fish it over-gunned with a 2.75lb tc rod and 12lb line.
So yesterday I sneaked down while little wife was watching tennis and had an hour before being summoned back for dinner. I left the tackle as the island is uninhabited and returned an hour or so later. I'd had no takes so I moved up a bit into the snag ridden part and just after my first cast a huge catfish tail circled my float, then I saw a trail of silt heading towards my bait and the float disappeared. So did 30 metres of line in one astonishingly quick run. Then the fish came back and charged towards me as fast as it had disappeared before turning and taking at least 130 metres of line in one unstoppable run. I followed it, passing the rod from hand to hand around the three trees between me and the main river. At one point I had to wriggle between two trunks while passing the rod and while all this was going on line was streaming from my reel. This same drag setting had stopped a near 19lb wild common carp and several other mid to high teens last week.
I got to the tail end of the island and couldn't see where my line entered the water. It was certainly beyond a patch of streamer weed 60 metres downstream. When it finally stopped I managed to pump about 15 or 16 metres of line one at a time back onto the reel before the line parted causing me to fall on my arris.
And the say that fishing is a sedentary sport
mg: