Sparkling success (ish)

Date fished 1430 on 24/8/18 to 1430 25/8/18

How do you measure success? Just in your fishing trips, I can't be accountable for all your successes and failures!

Not freezing to death cos you didn't think you needed your sleeping bag when night fishing?
Not being attacked by frisky sheep at 3am?
Not blanking?
4 1/2 hours "sleep"?
Realising great food can be cooked in one pan?
Weather in 24 hours containing wind, rain and blistering sun?
Dead mice?
A heavy dew that literally you watch soaking you as you sit up till 1am like a gnome?
Sharing a beer?
Catching 4 Barbel each?
Finding out David Beckham has a (very tasty) whiskey brand?
Ablutions?
Chatting and laughing with a friend?
Sharing kit?
Sunsets?
Sunrises?
Sitting in the car to warm up!?
Scenery?
Finding out that sparkling water hurts when you drink it?
Having a "snore off" without knowing you are?
Hot cups of coffee at 0530?
Struggling to put up a bivvy with more poles and holes than.... ( you can finish that one) ?


Ok, so not all these are true, and there was plenty more that didn't make the pre watershed edit. But, Ellis and I visited Cundall on the river Swale, targeting Barbel and doing a 24 hour over night trip.

We targeted a likely looking area, opposite over hanging willows and unfortunately the false success above was the " catching 4 Barbel each".

In fact we did not catch any Barbel. We both caught perch on worms to avoid the blank and Ellis hooked a Barbel, but his drag on his reel failed to work, so as he was trying to backwind the Barbel took him in the willows. When his reel finally worked, the fish had gone and left Ellis snagged.

So in truth, we went to target Barbel, but did not catch Barbel, but hand on heart I can say this was a really successful trip. It's not the catching (always) it's the doing and the other little things along the way!