Friday was my final day of coaching with Paul from Slough and although I had told him that we could not go back to the river Kennet, things changed during the week. I had been given special permission to take him to this exclusive syndicate stretch of the Kennet last week and I did not wish to impose by asking again but during the week I had cause to speak to John Butler the head bailiff. Paul’s name came up during the conversation and I was asked when I was bringing him back - he had obviously made quite an impresssion.
So at 7.30 a.m. we were again eating bacon and mushroon sandwiches in Max’s cafe at Padworth on the A4 between Reading and Thatcham. We went to the Warren beat to the swim that Steve and I had fished earlier in the week. I had bought a pair of wellington boots for Paul so that he could stand in the water whilst trotting and I set him up with fifteen foot Shakespeare power float rod and an Adcock and Stanton centrepin reel loaded with six pound Drennan float fish line.
As this swim is much faster flowing than the only other swim he has trotted, I put on a two and a half swan shot loafer float. This is heavier than I would use but the extra weight would help him control the pace of the float without pulling it off line too much. He had forgotten little of what he had learned in the last lesson and was soon contolling the float on its way downstream as if he had been doing it for years.
He was catching roach and dace straight away, every trot down resulted in a fish and after about twenty minutes of steady feeding with maggots and hemp his rod arched over and he had hooked a fish that was pulling back.
The result was his first ever barbel, of about a pound and it was caught on a centrepin. He followed this with six smaller barbel during the day, all about the same size, like peas in a pod. This bodes well for the future sport on this river.
He had another fantastic day, ending up with about fifty or sixty fish, including some nice dace and roach.
I am very sorry that this is the last day that I have been contracted to take Paul out but perhaps next term we can renew our aquaintance. He has the potential to become an exceptional angler.
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