It Ain't Half Hot!!

Phew, what a scorcher!! Got to the river early as knew that the heat later in the day would be too much for me, Tazzy and the fish. Travelled light just with one rod and a bag of bits and while Tazzy watched the swans every move I set up a simple ledger rig and glued two small pellets to the hair rig. 

Instantly I was getting twangs and pulls on the rod tip as the resident Chub played with the bait but the long hair prevented any unwanted hook-ups that would disturb the swim and scare away todays target, Barbel.
It took about twenty minutes for a proper bite to materialise and although it was only a small Barbel it really beat me up in the crystal clear water. I could see it was only about four pounds so I unhooked it in the water so as to cause the least amount of stress as possible.
The next fish was marginally bigger weighing 5lb 14oz and again I kept the stress to a minimum, a 'release' photo being satisfactory.

Eventually it had to happen a three pound Chub managed to get itself hooked and with the boat traffic growing more frequently annoying so the dog and I retired to a cooler place.