Barbel and Chub Fishing | River Wye | #3

A session fishing for Barbel and Chub on the River Wye with late winter wildlife encounters.

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Images Credits
Red Fox by Jon Pauling from Pixabay
Skylark by 12252435 from Pixabay
Kingfisher by Pexels from Pixabay
Great Tit by Jürgen from Pixabay
Chiffchaff by Premek Hajek from Pixabay

Sound Credits
Skylark by Beatrix Saadi-Varchmin from xeno-canto.org
Soundwave by Ekaterine Kantaria from Pixabay
Great Tit by Guilherme Melo from xeno-canto.org
Chiffchaff by Harry Hussey from xeno-canto.org

Music Credits
bensound.com
License code: DLOSMDBY1GRNM8NF

Good morning and welcome to the channel it’s mid-February it’s very mild conditions at the moment it’s 10° on seasonally warm uh and I’m in the Y Valley so I’m down on the river Y for the week I’m kind of in my happy place uh and my plan today is to try and catch

To try and catch a barble and maybe some chub okay it’s unseasonably warm right now um the weather’s been warm for about a week and the river’s been up it’s had a flood and it’s kind of come down it’s fine down the last 2 3 days so it’s

Actually quite a nice level and I’m hoping that the river is quite warm and that the fish are feeding I know people have been catching barall the last 2 3 days locally so you know conditions look good um it’s still high it’s still pushing through and when conditions are

Like this I don’t always have the most confidence I think most my fishing is done in the kind of Summer and the Autumn here so kind of spring flood conditions um they are challenging for me but I’m going to give it a go my plan is to try and travel fairly light okay

And to move between swims I’m not going to take a chair or or anything to sit on with me today I’m just going to set on the mat and I’ve got my got my waterproof trousers on so just going to kind of bounce between swims and just

Try and find the fish um while I’m fishing I’ll be keeping an eye on ears open for wildlife as always things we might hear or see in this area things like Ravens uh red kites buzzards maybe peragine Falcons plus kind of small birds song birds like passerines that we

Hear and see uh on the River Bank I gu we get super lucky we might see an otter um King fishes are always a chance when you bu the water side um but being so cloudy it’s quite hard for them to fish I expect then to be on the kind of back

Quers where it should be a little bit clearer for them and easier to find the fish uh how am I feeling I’m feeling I mean I’m feeling good I’m always happy when I’m on the Y uh confidence levels I say are middling you know I’m not the the most confident angler when the

Water’s really clouded and kind of chocolatey which it is today um but you know I do have a plan and we’ll see if the kind of plan kind of plays out uh as always as we go through the day if I start to get some bites if I catch a

Fish my confidence will go through the roof um if not it tends to kind of EB through the day so it’s all about confidence you know am I going to get some B uh will I catch a fish we will see okay let’s get down to the bank and see what it looks Like Wow well I’m just about to kind of get to the river but as I get to this point here there’s a real kind of strong like acrid smell as you kind of walk through the woods and it sort of hits you there’s like a sort of scent Trail just here

Which obviously it’s hard to kind of get across on camera but I’m fairly sure it’s a fox you know fox really do leave quite strong smells and there’s there’s a trail here kind of going underneath this fence and if I kind of come up here yeah it’s pretty clear just normal

Fresh air for the Y I’ll prove in yeah and just here you can kind of smell you know it’s like an acrid sort of bitter smell a bit it’s not very pleasant it’s a bit like you guess like maybe a skunk would smell like but it’s

Very strong you can a was so maybe there’s like a scat or a fox po potentially nearby I don’t if they do latrines but it’s very it’s very pungent any let’s going to have a look at the river shall We all right then First cast First Swim I’m not going to go too far out in the current I’ve got quite a heavy kind of Big Boy feeder on but I want to make sure I kind of hold bottom I don’t want it to kind of bang along and find a snag

Ideally want to keep my gear and from everything I’ve heard and read they kind of sit on the edge of the current particular when it’s kind of pushing through as it is today so I’ll just probably yeah about a third of the way over I’m thinking just on the edge of the

Crease I’ll cast out and I’ll feel it down to the bottom make sure I can feel it and once it’s there I’ll pay out a bit of line to kind of create a bit of a bow take the tension off the off the rod and then sit and waiting and see what

Happens move it down there it is clun okay myself that down bit of line up all right make sure the clutches well Set okay that’ll be all right we’ll see how that one goes it feels a bit close in if I’m honest but we’ll give it five minutes it’s 10 o00 exactly so I’ll fish till 5 10 and then recast and I’ll do that for the next 40 or so minutes in

This swim and and then move along there’s there’s four swims that I’m quite fancy in the stretch I fished it a couple times before well in kind of similar conditions to this and once when it was much clearer in the summer um I did catch when it was like this

Before and that was going to swim right at the top of the stretch so I’ll work my way up to that you know 40 or so minutes in each swim and then work my way back down again and just keep doing that you know it’s 10:00 now it’s not

Going to get dark until 5:00 so 7 hours of fishing that should be plenty of time so hopefully get a bite we’ll see we’ll see you know it is just love sitting here the it’s so quiet I feel like I’m sort of nestled in the bowl of the river

Wine all the birds which are slowly starting to wake up from Spring are just starting to call just sort of sitting and listening as I’m fishing fishing what can we hear we can hear Robin tinkling over there I can hear some jack doors there’s a rook there’s a

Woodpecker a great spot of woodpecker just chicking chck okay looking up we got some big birds going over what are they what are they they could be Ravens I think they’re just crows actually but I’ll keep my ey open for Ravens Today right I give it 7 minutes that time see what’s going on again came in cing it’s good some I’m fishing okay down there I think what I’ll do I’m going to change baits I’m going to try a bit of meat this time and just I’ve got a hair rig on

Here I’ll show you the rig in a bit it’s really simple I’m using a little bit of spagetti to hold the meat on which is pretty old school but it’s it’s nice and biodegradable and cheap easily available just get a few sticks out of the store cupboard I mean we fishermen nowadays

Use so much plastic plastic hair stops plastic this plastic that you know and a lot of it ends up in in the rivers and in The Lakes ultimately I know it’s any sort of tiny bits but we shouldn’t be putting anything at all in the environment if you ask

Me so whatever we can do to minimize all the better really little bit further out that time there’s the bottom let the drive take a bit out make that bow okay there we go I’ve actually got a timer running on my phone here I’m using like an exercise Interval Timer

Which basically gives me I’ll set it to 7 minutes so when I cast it 7 minutes and it beeps wind in gives me a minute to kind of change the bait and cast out again and it does that for eight rounds so that effectively gives me

About about 30 40 minutes in total and I don’t need to think you know it just does it automatically and then at the end of that that set I’ll move on so that’s going to be the plan by casting regularly I’m hoping to kind of build

Like a build a bit of a scent Trail attract the fish in you know if there’s any fish here or slightly Downstream I’m hoping they’ll smell all that all that feeder mix everything that’s in there smell my bait the lunch and meat and come up on to it and if after you know

30 40 minutes nothing’s happened time to move oh that’s nice somewhere high up I can’t see it if I keep looking might find it eventually there’s a bird singing up there right in the sky announcing its presence and it’s the first time I’ve heard it this year what

Are way it’s the 17th of Feb and it’s a Skylar it’s going on the that feeder Justus dis Lodge get the Skylight for a minute I think something just hit the line I think you know a twig or some weed or something come down I’m going to bring it in anyway I don’t think that was a bike yeah so Sky loocks you know they there we

Go there was something on the line there actually I saw it just came off there a Farmland bird declined a lot actually in recent years due to intensification of farming but find little rough patches in arable fields where they kind of raise their tricks their chicks in a kind of little

Nest on the floor um and you know they they are a beautiful call you know o to a sky like and all that you know the Poetry around that they just up in the sky and they the thing is they call continuously they just sing continuously and they’re

Almost like a drone you know like a helicopter they just go up and hold it hold that pattern they might go up a bit they might come down a bit but they’re hovering hovering hovering and calling and calling from this time of year onwards into the sunmer males kind of

Holding their territory attracting females and they are really the sound of the summer you beautiful birds and lovely to hear the first one kind of hope that kind of summer and spring around the corner Hopefully Ren crawling over there rapid fire little tiny machine gun one of the loudest birds and one of the smallest Birds Britain’s kind of second smallest breeding bird Latin names trog troes and mention that not to show off because they kind of trog they sort of nest in caves

Almost they’re like little holes you know so they’ll find like a little hole in a bank or in a tree maybe they even like nest in Old teapots and shoes and things like that beautiful lovely little birds full of character absolutely full of character and sort of make up lack of

Stature by the the noise they produce let’s give this another another go buz’s coing out there as well meowing meow meow like a flying Kit All right I’m just working my way up the stretch to the next spot and as I got to this little kind of back water that feeds in just sat down there was a king fisher it’s beautiful obviously heard me coming Buzz stuff up but it must have been perched up on the

Branches down here and it’s exactly like we described at the beginning you know because the water’s so colored in the main river the kinging fishes are going to be on these back waters you know it’s much clearer here it’s more settled I can even sort of see small fish moving

About down there so it’s much easier pickings for a king fisher to be fishing down here so yeah lovely lovely to see and I guess this might be where you know things like otter are going to be too right now until the kind of water the

Color drops out the main river this is where all the action is going to Be That was a bite we’re in well first fish guys it’s trying to get me in the snags which I think I don’t know what it is it’s probably a chub keep a bit of pressure on him I’m going to stand right at the edge as well

To try and keep him out of any snack that are down here in this flood Water what have we got let’s have a look oh it’s a chub yeah lovely nice fish okay and there out those SNS as well there we go lovely lovely lovely lovely that was a nice rattly bite right let’s rest him up in the net for a

Minute and then we’ll have a little look at him all right so I’ve rested him up in the net for a good 5 minutes while I got a few bits of my Bobs ready I’m going to get him out um give him away I mean he’s

Not a monster but be nice to know exactly how much he weighs my guess is about 3 and a half we shall see and let you guys have a look at him and we’re getting back Splendid we’re off to a off to the start my goal on a day like today really is

Just catch a fish so it’s nice to get a a sort of proper fish on the bank it’s not a barble but I’m certainly not complaining let’s have a look at you shall we still very Lively well rested it’s quite it’s quite thin you know you could definitely put a bit more weight

On let’s just quickly give him away find out what number he is a these fishermen are obsessed with weights and numbers right I’m going three and A2 what are we saying oh £3 7 and 1/2 oz so it’s half an ounce off 3 and 1/2 exactly yeah that’ll do right let have a

Look recalibrating my estimation of fish sizes right come on you he’s going to he’s going to wle yep going to hold them as well as I can there we go lovely whoops 3 and A2 pound of Y Valley chub caught on caught on lunch and

Meat right he wants to go back let’s get you back I think po him in the net and then put him out into the currents let you watch what goes on there we go here we go lovely well thank you very Much yeah off he Goes all right guys so this is uh the next one let come across and there’s one above this I also want to try that does quite well for barble um I want kind of show you this let me stand on the right side so you can see it it’s really quite

Tasty I like the look of it um there’s these yeah they’re Willows I think yeah willow trees well let me show you like out here that’s creating like a big slack area at the back here with the and it’s pushing the flow out into the main

River so there’s quite a nice kind of big yeah calm slack on the inside here that’s created by these trees and I think you if I was a barble that’s where be hanging out you know just off the main the main current much calmer conditions down here I think if I can

Plop it in sort of near the edge of the current there on the crease uh and sit and wait it’s it’s it’s a swim worth kind of given a go so what time is it now it’s half 12 I’m going to fish here till well at least halfast 1 I think

I’ll have my lunch here and sit it out and then I say I want to go up to my kind of favorite spot further up and see how that looks as well and give that plenty of time but this this looks nice so we’ll give it a go go [Applause]

That’s gri the Rooks are noisy over there a whole bunch of them I guess it’s a rookery lots of nests and well not this time of the year but they’ll soon be breeding up there they do sort of breed together um yeah all together in a rookery and it’s quite nice listen to

That noisy buggers there been some great tits calling as well which is really nice again sign of spring and their call is quite an easy one to learn um it goes teacher teacher teacher teacher oh easier great tick great tick great tick great tick and there is another bird I guess it

Calls a little bit like that called um Chi chaff which is a war BL it’s not a very different type they’ll start returning quite soon from their migration and then are sort of saying zip Z zip Z it’s Chip chaff that’s the chi chaff with a great tip

Is up down up down up down up down like a ambulance Nina Nina Nina yeah that’s the great tip beautiful birds um quite a large tit both have a big black stripe right down there they tell me say both like the males and the females but the males have a slightly

Broader band so if you see a really wide black band and it extends across both legs it’s more like a male common bird in the UK but really nice to hear all right so I got to um the final swim and yeah it’s really pushing through and

The banks are super dodgy so I kind of hacked my way through some brambles and old hog weed cow parsley and I’m on a bit that I feel kind of comfortable in uh but it’s really slippy now there if we do get something i’ got to be super

Careful uh not to kind of slide in but let me show you what the swim looks like there you go so it’s kind of really pushing through there’s actually a big tree kind of coming over here it’s Fallen recently been felled or come down naturally it’s

Been cut off uh but it’s really kind of pushing and funneling the water through the middle and then also on the inside we’ve kind of got this this Willow here as well creating quite a nice slack again like in the previous swim so I don’t fancy my chances of holding in the

Current but I do fancy just trying on the edge of that Slack and I say we’ve caught barble here in all conditions so you know theory is they live here so barble our bust let’s give it a Go thought I had a th man I do got a B A nothing oh should have waited should have waited I felt like a thump and then you could see the tip was banging well keep going get some more paste on could be a bar just sort of mouthing it a

Chub who knows let’s get back in though I know exactly where I cast it’s right on the end of the the willow there it’s so difficult casting here I stand up I haven’t got enough headro I sit down it’s hard cuz my rod rest let’s try and go that side of it

That’s basically what it was yep okay let’s give it another Go right we’ve move swims again and this is actually a swim I didn’t fish on the way up but on the way back down again I thought it looks quite tasty actually there’s a nice sort of slack on the inside here just as you go down towards that

Willow there quite an obvious crease it’s a bit boily but I think we can s of get out into that and hopefully we’ll hold bottom and just see really I don’t want to get too close to that Willow but I’ll I’ll cast this on the crease above

The will on and see if there’s anyone at home oh I almost feel better casting standing up for some reason I’ll give it a go I actually stood well back from it I know it’s high but I still think chub can be a bit a bit spooky or easily spooked just that’s a

Bit closer in than I wanted to be actually not the best cast but I’ll leave it in anyway and see how we get on make sure the next one goes out a bit Further Right we’re in the final swim this is the one that’s had a little time to uh to settle onto that bait that I put in and we’ve got about yeah well half an hour until sunset really move you down a bit it’s just starting to spot a bit as well with rain

So yeah not too bad at the moment but it’s now or never really with the bble I’ve got a boily on over the kind of the ground bait that we put in and it’s had it’s good had part best part of an hour I’d say to sort of settle

Down so if there’s any fish down here I hope that I found that by Now all right my fingers Crossed oh there’s Bo missed it again it’s the day of mist fights oh God proper clunk that as well I can only think it’s chub you know the sort of mouth in the bait not really getting the hook in but it is Frustrating And next time I get a bite I need to go for it I need to hit it got a bite There there’s a hooking that me go On oh we’re in yeah finally right in last knockings oh I think it’s getting into a snag go right on to the edge and put some well on it really want to keep it out the edge what is it assuming it’s a chub I think it is a CH yep it

Is oh we worked hard for this fish let’s get this net Ready oh there we go fantastic oh oh great oh it’s a good size fish as well actually fantastic right well get it up oh gosh that is a good size fish right okay let’s get the it’s just coughing up so much spam is it that’s been eating all my

Food do the hook come out there we go good that’s that get that out of the way oh yeah that’s a good fish that’s got to be over four I’d say right I’m going to put it in the side let it just rest for a minute while I get my bits

Together I think we’ll put the light on there we go see what we’re doing I got the scales out we’ll give it a quick weigh have a look at it it’s been rested now for a good few minutes while I’ve been setting up and we’ll see what it goes

It’s a lovely fish it’s really chunky I say it spat up loads of spam so it’s obviously enjoying my bait right here yeah really fat fish actually what do you go so undignified putting it in a bag it’s actually one of the best things to put

It in actually it doesn’t rub any scales off cause any harm and uh it weighs next to nothing holds up into nothing too right let’s have a look 4 and a/4 44 lovely what a fish well that is a good way to finish the session I think I’ll probably have another cast or

Two anyway but if I don’t get any more I think this will be a good day’s fishing I say we worked really hard for this fish let’s have a look it’s it’s really it’s not very long but it’s very deep and chunky there we go how about that guys

Lovely 4 4 of of wi chub lovely fish well we worked so hard for that I’m really pleased let’s put you down on the mat cuz you’re going to flick yeah and I think we’ll pop him back in on that in the net make sure he goes in

Well okay well thank you very much let’s pop you back spin you around so you can see it’s getting a bit dark isn’t it there we Go make sure it’s on the right way up yep there we go lovely oh Splendid I’m really pleased about that we could have packed up 20 minutes ago but we didn’t we persevered all right then I’m back at the car end of a a long day it’s what is

It now it’s nearly 7:00 um yeah it’s been a good day I’ve enjoyed it um Wildlife wise we’ve seen and Heard lots of wildlife I think probably highlights for me where the king Fishers seen what four or five King fishes got some really good views of them too actually I wasn’t

Expecting them on the main river we saw them in that backw as well heard the Raven um as as hoped um lots of Buzzard siskin uh yeah lot lots to lots to be kind of thankful for today in terms of wildlife um yeah and fishing wise you

Know it’s great you know I came out with an idea of trying to catch you know chub and barble genuinely if I can catch kind of one fish I’d be really happy today they’re difficult conditions for me you know I’m not used to kind of fishing

When it’s up uh and so colored and flowing so fast but I felt I fished really hard I fished well and saw it right through to kind of Lo last knockings really um two chub Lovely One chub at the beginning there three and a half pound one right at the end Into

Darkness at 4 4 um yeah if I could change anything what would I what did I learn today what would I change next time I would well I think what I learned today was you know I think there were mainly chub bites I was getting I have

Maybe a dozen bites and obviously hooked and landed two fish so I missed most bites that I got and I think that’s cuz I was using a hair rig you know the hair holds the bait away from the hook you know and chub tends sort of mouve it

With their kind of Beaks you know and and and so I think you know actually mounting the bait on the hook will be better for chub uh less so for barble but definitely for chub you know at the end I did that I actually just snipped the

Hair off you know mounted a small bit of meat onto the hook um and that got us that final fish so I’m glad I did that you know soort chopping and changing kind of really works probably a smaller hook and a smaller bait would also work

Better for the chub today um as well but I’m still not complaining you know really happy really enjoyed that um I hope you did too if you did enjoy the video please do subscribe um and if you’re going out fishing or while life watching yourself then I wish you all

The best and I’ll see you in the next Video