The Big Guy Comes Good at the End

Within half an hour of my arrival Martin was bent into a hard fighting Barbel on 'his' stretch of the Warwickshire Avon.
At the end of the session he told me that this was my blog and I should not write about his day but that in my opinion is not the true essence of angling. A social sport that bonds its followers, brothers of the angle and when your mate has the sort of day Martin has just had it deserves to be in print (and picture) and broadcast across the internet.

This was already his second Barbel of the day as he had for several hours been camped (by his own admission) in the best peg on the stretch.

A good looking fish of about nine pounds. I had dropped into a swim a couple of pegs down was so far biteless and would remain so for the rest of the day. Not the kind of end of season finale I had hoped for!

The sun was definitely shining on the big guy and he soon after added another Barbel to his tally, this time a chunky fish weighing in at 10lb 13oz. The river might be icy cold but the Barbel were still feeding.

Martin was already having a good day but that was about to get even better in an unbelievable way. As the light began to fade a Chub fell for his mini boilie hookbait. With the fish still in the net he shouted down to me that he had a definite 'five'. As he passed it up the bank to me it dawned on us both that he had captured the sort of fish that most Warwickshire Avon anglers can only dream about.

In some rivers a 6lb 8oz Chub is a common recurrence but on the Warwickshire Avon it is a definitive fish of a lifetime. Some anglers are desperate and put in loads of  time and effort to try and catch a 'five'. Here Martin was holding up a true leviathan in comparison. A fish deserving a blog post.

The golden sunset a fitting finale for a golden day for 'goldenballs'. Top angling big guy.