River Irwell Barbel Or Chub ? - Bald Eagle In The Zone 05/01/15

Bald Eagle - A Man On A Mission.

I have not been fishing today as it is my first day back to work after the Christmas break but my old pal Bald Eagle has come out of his River Irwell retirement and has been at it again with old rubber lips !!!!!!!!!

From left to right:
Eagle, Peanut & The Rat.....lol.

John Doran, Mike Cootes & Daz Morrison.

Eagle is one of the laziest river anglers I know. He would rather sit behind a tip all day rather than skillfully guide a stick float through a run.

It is not that he can't do it, it is more that he can't be arsed doing it ......lol. Even I have to admit, regarding Rivers he is probably the best tip angler I have ever fished with. That includes one very famous river angler that taught us both our trade back in the eighties.

Myself, Eagle & Casterman usually fish the River Irwell around Whitefield, Prestwich & Bury simply because that is where we all live respectively. Lately we have been concentrating our fishing around Radcliffe and Bury, literally fishing three or four different swims a session trying to create a " Fishing Map " of the River Irwell. It is a little laborious at times but it will stand us in good stead for future years and when the memory fails to work properly.......…lol

Eagles First Peg.

As I have said Eagle is a tip man so, armed with his tipping gear, open cage feeder ” SPECIAL “ liquidised bread and some more “ SPECIAL “  bread flake - Its never normal bread he always tinkers with it or so he says. It’s a running joke between us………SPECIAL..........PMSL…….. - he picks one of his new swims, casts out and settles down for forty winks…….hahahahahahhha.

The resident chub have different ideas though and the tip flies around. Eagle pounces on the tip road like an over weight cat on a cloth mouse ……..lmao …….. and gets a hook up straight away. After a short fight she is in the net and photographed she was about 3.5 lbs.

1 – 0 for the Eagle.

You really need a new phone Eagle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great pic pal.......lol......At least you remembered you landing net pole,. You at getting as bad as the Castermam....LMAO

First Fish of the Session.....hahahahahaha.

 What a start to the session he went over 12 months ( We both did ) trying to find the chub and now they are throwing themselves at him……lol. He baits up and goes in again………BANG……..second cast and he is into another larger specimen approximately 4.5 lbs. Another good battle ensues but Eagle has his head up now he is in the zone. I have seen him fish like this before. As all good anglers do he makes it look easy, it is all about practise, preparation and home work, with a little luck thrown in to.

The Second Fish Of The Session 2 - 0

That’s it for the first swim. He gave it another 10 minutes but the action had ended. Four more pegs were tried by Master Eagle without success, no fish materialised, so, as the light descended he was off to a banker peg to see if he could connect to a mythical Irwell Barbel.

It was full dark now, Eagle was touch ledgering with “ SPECIAL “ meat, he is leaning back in his chair, fingers just touching the line fot heightened bite indication, no bites for the first two casts so it is back to the bread. Eagles first cast on bread and

" Whollop “ 

the rod is nearly ripped out of his hands. The fish just powered off upstream there was no stopping it.
 “ F**kinell it’s a barbel, Peanuts going to get some shit if it is “ he mouths to himself as he struggles to control what he hopes is a barbel. He tries but he couldn’t move it off the bottom, its firing downstream now, down to the wooden stumps in the water. If the creature reaches this snag its good night Vienna, a split second decision off Bald Eagle and he decides to slam the clutch down fully. It was a Risky manoeuvre but he had no choice. The gamble pays off and he turns the fish. That decision paid dividends for Eagle as not only was the fish turned but it was also tiring quickly now. “ Dam it, it is not a barbel if is finished this soon, the Peanuts of the hook……” he mumbles to himself as he slips the net under a lovely, bronze pristine, River Irwell chub and its his biggest to date. No scales AGAIN - we really have to get some pal - but estimated at 5 lbs plus. He was buzzing and I received some cheeky texts regarding his session and I offered to tell his story on my blog. I am glad I did because it is a belter.

The pictures of Eagle captures do not do them the justice they deserve but he breaks his phone about three times a year so the phone company will not give him anymore !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ….pmsl.

The Biggy. 3 - 0

A fantastic chubbing session from The Eagle. Three good fish, seven pegs fished. I informed Casterman about it and he was also very impressed. Great information was gathered for the collective regarding the rivers underwater contours, access, water pace etc….. – its GREAT that Eagle fishes the tip because he will leave stick float & waggler pegs to me & Casterman to fish and we will leave tip pegs for him to try, it generally works out well.

Glad I have encouraged The Bald Eagle out of his River Irwell Chub retirement. Tight Lines & Clean Hands as Greenie likes to say.

Always remember lads, you' ll catch nowt if you're not out.

JJonin Salford Friendly Anglers For Free.

http://salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk/join/

TTFN

PEANUT