I have a tradition where I go barbel fishing every summer solstice because I enjoy experiencing the short night, so I went barbel fishing on a new river tonight. The River Nidd. What a supermodel of a river it was. Small, intimate and beautiful, right out in the wilderness with overhanging willows, pools, everything a river angler could want, and on a beautiful evening. Small river barbel fishing takes me back, and it was really refreshing to use just one soft rod and to bait by hand. A kingfisher took a fish right next to me and nature was absolutely bountiful.
This was textbook. A quiet few hours, then as the sun went down the tip betrayed barbel through line bites. At 10pm it screamed off and I was hanging on to a barbel which shot under the far bank trees. After an intense tug of war I won the day and landed a nice fit dark young barbel. A lovely back-to-basics evening and I’m right back in the barbel groove.
As an aside I went watching owls the night before and saw a long eared owl and then 2 barn owls hunting. The barn owls were incredibly efficient hunters, catching mouse after mouse and carrying them back to the nest.
Nature is wonderful, especially at this time of year.
View attachment 47621