River Barrow Piker: Shovel Face & Baldy, on a Roll.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Shovel Face & Baldy, on a Roll.

Ok ! So the blog posts have been a bit sparse of late. Excuses, I have none really but in reality the river wasn't calling me, I walked the tow paths regularly, Christmas came and went but all the time the river just looked cold and uninviting, maybe it was a bit high, a bit coloured, a bit fast, a bit slow - a bit whatever, I dunno. On top of that to put it mildly the weather was crap. Hey maybe is was post Christmas or "January Blues" But I don't think so!

Pea Soup @ Leighlinbridge

So roll on to about ten days ago, that nice dry spell and a touch of frost had kicked in. I was watching the river like a hawk, for the first time in a long time the Barrow was calling - in fact, it was roaring at me, begging to be fished. It was dropping and the water clarity increasing by the day. I ran through my gear, big lures and bigger dead baits were the order of the day. I reckoned the Barrow Pike were on the move. It was time to get my arse in gear.

A Barrow lure chaser.

A Barrow Jack - Lure addiction

And what a rollercoaster ride its been for the last week or so. I've had monsters follow my lures - rods pulled clean out of the bank sticks - a string of doubles to the bank and as many lost (hate a missed run) and all the while the the Barrow Jacks kept the matinee entertainment going in full technicolour. Yes, its true to say that the Barrow can be an absolute ball breaker but if you can drag yourself away from the television and social media you're in with a chance of meeting one of these great wild prehistoric beasts. The apex predator.
Its great! I've just fallin' in love with the Barrow all over again and its not even Valentines day yet.