Jungle warfare – the jungle won.

I managed to catch the only one eyed mug barbel on the river last night so decided to move on to another river that flows east and is a bit nearer home. I did doze for an hour last night but decided to check into a hotel today.

Earliest check in was mid-day so by then I had been awake for 29 hours, I was knackered!

Had a look at today’s venue this morning before having 4 hours sleep and returning to the river. It was raining, the river was up and coloured and things looked very positive. I had a long yomp over a meadow and through a wood and needed a brolly so took it steady.

I took a wrong turn and ended up in this piece of woodland in the pouring rain after an 800 yard walk across a boggy meadow! I was really exhausted and had to leave some of the tackle, set up the brolly and then go back to collect the abandoned stuff. My leg muscles had practically seized up and my dodgy knee was giving me gip, bloody hell all because of a wrong turn. I fell on my arse only to find a man with a camera there to capture the moment. It will be all over the Internet by the time I get home no doubt. To add insult to injury he caught an 11lb 8oz barbel after 15 minutes!

I am still hopeful as I sit here in the rain swatting off spiders and listening to an owl in the distance. Will it be river #29? I am hopeful, at least I know that they are feeding.