After a fantastic family holiday in a cottage by the sea in Wales, with not a soul around.
I thought it was about time to start investigating the river a bit more, as I had not really done very much (I got carried away with the lakes). There’s just not enough time for fishing.
As I am still quite green where it comes to river fishing and after a good look round (on a rainy overcast day). I was unable to find any fish. I settled for a very large bend, with what I hoped gave me plenty of options and looked a likely holding area for Barbel.
Rod 1 was cast over the far bank, where I could see a nice clear gravel/sandy run. With a Bait-tech Hybrid Barbel hook bait and a few pouches of Poloni boilies scattered around.
Rod 2 was lowered on to a lovely clear run of gravel, just along the bank from me. I was using a large feeder with Bait-tech Poloni groundbait mixed with krill and Tuna oil (no water), with a couple of handfuls of their Mixed Marine Halibut Pellets scattered along the margin.
A bit of peace a quite on the Avon today.
The sun has finally arrived, well for a couple of minutes.
I would like to give a brief snap shot of my life and introduce myself;
My name is Richard Handel and was born in 1965 in Suffolk. I have worked as a UK Operation & Intermodule Manager for a shipping company. I live in Hampshire now and am married with 2 young children, both girls so I am a bit outnumbered even the cat is a girl!
I have been fishing since I was about 7 years old. I started on small local rivers in Suffolk, then moved onto gravel pits and then carp fishing. My personal best is a 39.08 mirror, over recent years I have started river fishing again, on the Hampshire Avon, this is a nice break from the carp lakes.
My life has turned a big corner this year, the company I was working for relocated their Operation centre to Estonia. I was offered a job at the head office in London. This would have meant a 5 day commute and working in Stratford. As a family, we did not fancy this, as I would hardly spend any time with the children (and the Mrs). So after 22.5 years, I was given a nice redundancy package and with my wife is working full time. I became the house husband.
This has meant a complete turn around in my fishing, as I can pick and choose when I go. I have found a splendid new syndicate to fish this year, which includes 5 lakes and some 8 miles of river with only 150 members. It's an amazing change to the way I am able to fish.
I am now trying to start my own tackle business and make a bit of a name for myself in the world of fishing, as I have retired from real work.
Richard
UK Carp & Coarse Fishing 