The Tarp Hat

[Dave Burr]

Think we need to swap hats Shaun - lovely write up.

[Bob Brookes]

Shaun,
I really enjoyed your description of the evening. Quite poetic, with a lovely barbel at the end of it too!

I think I may need a hat change as well. Since catching my 15.02 I have fished the same spot twice more and another swim once, but have failed to trouble the scorer. That is 15 consecutive barbel fishing hours without a sniff. Please send me your 'titfer'!

[Shaun Harrison]

I had a little bit of a biblical battle yesterday.

I had spent the most wonderful afternoon roving around in the Derbyshire countryside whilst trundling bits of paste around the river and tempting some lovely chub to 5 lb plus. Just as the light was beginning to drop and the warm inner feeling of the fireside beckoning at home, my tip on my light chub rod once again tapped. Ever so slightly and a pluck was felt at my finger tip holding my line. Another tentative pull and I swept the rod back to feel the satisfying surge of a fish on the end. I held hard in the swollen river but was forced to give line, thoughts of a monster chub entered my mind but within a very short time it was quite obviously no chub that was refusing to be moved even an inch against the current. I was in a bit of a stalemate not daring to pull harder on my light gear and fine wire hook that I had chosen for an afternoon's chub fishing yet this as yet unseen leviathan simply held its ground in the strong flow treating me every once in a while to helplessly watching more and more line leave my tiny reel.

Things were desperate, I couldn't follow the fish down river as it is far too overgrown, but after what had seemed an absolute age I finally started to gain a few inches of line so agonisingly slowly. I almost had the unseen beast under my rod when it surged off on another long run downstream and I was back to square one. My mind wouldn't move from that fine wire hook, all I could think of was the round bend slowly opening. I kept my cool and just hung on and once again I was able to slowly tease this fish back up river and suddenly it was in view, a very long barbel which I then worried about fitting into my chub net. I messed up the first netting attempt but the second time I had its head in even if the rest of the fish wasn't in. It was all a bit of a scuffle in the end but finally the fish was mine.

Once again my Tarp hat proved lucky.

[Julian]

Nice Barbel for mid-winter Shaun

[Shaun Harrison]

It was a tad lean but I'm happy with 12 lb plus barbel any time of the year

[Mushy]

What a smashing Barbel Shaun, well done Sir ! I had a similar trip out yesterday, plenty of lovely chub and then at the last swim, the rod hooped round and the pin screemed, thoughts of Barbel, but no a very lively 5 ib Chub, who says they don't fight ! Must get one of those hats btw might get a barbel then

[Bob Brookes]

Shaun,
I really enjoyed your description of the evening. Quite poetic, with a lovely barbel at the end of it too!

I think I may need a hat change as well. Since catching my 15.02 I have fished the same spot twice more and another swim once, but have failed to trouble the scorer. That is 15 consecutive barbel fishing hours without a sniff. Please send me your 'titfer'!

I have just received my Tarp hat. It's a cracker and I cannot understand why I have taken so long to buy one. I can't wait to wear it fishing, hopefully catching something worthy of a picture!

[LuckyLuca]

You'll love it Bob! Light weight, comfortable, waterproof, perfect.

[Bob Brookes]

You'll love it Bob! Light weight, comfortable, waterproof, perfect.

and with attitude!

[Shaun Harrison]

Glad you like it Bob, I love mine. I have always been a hat person and feel quite lost without a hat or cap depending upon my mood to hand. In fact the weather turned bad Saturday night whilst out carping and whilst rummaging around in my bag looking for something I smiled to myself when I retrieved a choice of 3 other types of hat/cap as well as my Tarp Hat that I was wearing. I guess I really need to go through my session gear and chuck out the extras that have ended up in there that I really don't need.

My Tarp hat is the comfiest hat I have ever owned and being the proud owner of a full head of hair it is the only hat I have ever owned that I can wear for the full day summer or winter without the 'scratchy head syndrome' and can occasionally get away without looking too 'squash haired' when I remove it (curly hair syndrome). Most other hats and caps once they have been on my head a couple of hours I am then committed to a hat for the rest of the day as 'hat hair' is definitely something I'm not particularly fond of the look upon myself.

Hope yours is as lucky for you as mine is for me. See you soon.