Warwickshire Avon - The Untrodden Pt.5

Arthur Ransome, best known for children's stories like Swallows and Amazons, is probably the only really stylish angling writer of the twentieth century. His book Rod and Line has little in it that will help you catch more or bigger fish, but Ransome can be relied on to get right to the heart of what makes fishing so appealing and he usually does it by describing nothing more than a day catching gudgeon, or watching the anglers on some remote Russian river ply their rods. Ransome was himself a very keen angler, though disarmingly modest about his abilities.

Only once did he land a carp and it was an experience so shattering that he wrote about it at length. Catching just one carp may sound like a pretty poor show, but until modern tackle and techniques began to develop in the 1950s, carp were considered almost uncatchable. 

They were seen as huge, mysterious fish, the inscrutable inhabitants of deep, long-forgotten lakes. They would rarely take a bait and if by chance one was hooked its speed, power and cunning almost always meant the fisherman's tackle was smashed before he realised what had hit him.

Ransome said that even the salmon could not match the carp's appalling pace and anyone who has caught both would probably agree with him. The difficulties of catching carp when Ransome was writing in the early 1900s can be judged by the fact that the British record stood at about twenty pounds at that time. Carp commonly grow to twice that size or more.

When Ransome hooked his carp he was using a multiplier and rod combination on which he'd caught numerous large salmon. Yet when he hooked his carp with the same tackle he admitted he simply could not keep in touch with it. More by luck than judgement he managed to land the fish and was astonished to discover after what he considered an epic battle, that it was really quite a small specimen.

On that same day Ransome had a bizarre and quite unforgettable encounter with another carp. He hooked the fish late in the afternoon and realised immediately that fish rather than angler was in control of events. 

As soon as it was hooked the carp set off at a blistering pace for the far side of the lake. It was so quick that Ransome could not give it line in time and the cast snapped like cotton. Then there occurred one of the strangest events of Ransome's long angling career.

His line had snapped a foot or so above his float and while considering how or even whether he should tackle up again he kept an eye on the lost float, which lay flat on the water and still well out towards the middle of the pond. 

As he watched, he saw the float begin to move. It sailed directly towards Rancome's feet. When it came to within six feet of the edge of the lake the float stopped, there was a mighty swirl and a great bronze flank was seen to shoot off towards deeper water. Using his net Ransome retrieved his float, which still had its hook and weights attached.

As he remarked later, it was as though the fish had returned his tackle as if to say: 'Not a bad first attempt. Do try again."

However as an engineer to try again never worked with me when it came to art, my brain just isn't programmed to be artistic and Sam is the same. This effort he came home recently with and at least you could work out what is was. Anyway to the fishing, I wanted some revenge from the chub that Sam lost down at the untrodden but being a busy man this week, my fishing time is very limited indeed, however I decided to set the alarm for 5.00am and have few hours before work.

To be fair I wanted to bring the deeper here as well to see how deep the pool was because I'm sure it could hold some fish. The pool itself was as the deepest 10ft and in the main between 7-8ft. So it carries some reasonable depth that's for sure.

The fish though seemed to be in the shallower half of the pool and I'm not sure what they were because prior to casting the deeper those bits of bread on the surface didn't have much interest apart from some small fish initially. Then a good hour eventually a huge wake where a chub had taken it off the top from a competing duck.

Could it have been a carp though ? Sam reckons "it looks like an area where a carp would live" whatever it was though despite managing a freebee, never came back for more. 

So sadly I blanked before curfew called time, however on a positive note I dropped in to the swim I made the other day which was alive with fish because where I secured a couple of SSG shots on the line and the bread hit the bottom it was getting mullered by the peckers !!!

Next time I'll bring some maggots I think just to see what I can pick up. Encouraging signs for sure, because this area was affected by the pollution incident a year ago. Anyway better get off to work, got tax to pay for those sofa dwellers. 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.106 (Maggots)

Jon Arthur's recent Youtube upload was a painful watch I must admit, a really nice guy and family (His brother Mick is a good mate of mine) but a heat of the moment misjudgement in a FishOMania qualifier has spiralled and you can clearly see it has affected him mentally and it looks like physically too.  

He's properly beaten himself up over it and will probably haunt him for the rest of his match fishing days, especially when no doubt there will be those finger pointers most likely jealous of his success, and it's one of those situations that he would play back differently if he could go back in time.

That's why <----------Mick---------------------------------------------------competitive match fishing---------> because I'd have no qualms about cheating whatsoever 🙈 in-fact I remember fishing Tunnel Barn once for a Shanghai AC match and I'd plumbed up the depth 5 minutes before the match has started, removed the plummet and flicked out the float rig in to the margins and a fish had hooked itself on a bare hook a few minutes afterwards. 

Obviously me being me I'd tightened up the clutch and let the fish take some line, where upon the sound of the horn 30 seconds later I'd scooped the 3lb manky F1 in the landing net. 💪

Fish with two rods, yeah I'm sure I've done that too, if I think about it, but then I did 'accidently' leave the bomb and pellet rod in after going back to the float again. No issues fishing the canal this way though because I was back up Wild Garlic Way where I'd have a sleeper rod out for the carp and a float rod with maggots for anything that came along. I fancied catching a fish this time though because I had a nightmare here the other evening when I couldn't buy a bite. 

I intended to give it another go here before trying elsewhere because the carp was on patrol and Nic from Avon Angling had spotted it too when he was here as well, so the big roach didn't seem to be showing but at least I might get a chance to catch the carp because I wanted to see if it was the same one I caught here almost a year to the day. 

I'd hooked it recently on the roach gear so could do nought about it and that took bread that day like it did when I caught it off the surface, but I literally dropped it on its nose last time because it was spooky as hell when it was out in the middle of the canal, where if you flicked bread towards it, it would skoot off the other way. 

On-route to the area to fish there was a hype of activity in the reeds because yes fish were spawning again. A load of them too so that could well make the fishing a little tricky but I didn't take long to get the first bite to be honest so at least I'd not blanked,

The first spot produced a few small roach, a perch and small hybrid but as expected the bream were not showing. The carp rod had gone out next to some reeds with some bream mash and some pellets over the top but that remained silent throughout the session. I was fully expecting to see it or them during the morning as it was glorious but they were suspicious in their absence.  

The bites dried up in the first swim and being the inpatient me I decided to try a few other spots. The first next to a oxygenated lock but despite a couple of fish topping the float remained motionless. So the next port of call was tight to some near margin reeds where it's no more than a couple of foot deep. Eventually the bigger fish started to show themselves but nothing to write home about really with the 5 or so bream caught the biggest shown below.

As the morning went on the bites were hard to come by really but with the sun blazing down on a relatively clear canal, for here anyway where there was a least a foot of visibility, not entirely unexpected. 

Sometimes it's just nice to be out at this time of year when everything has woken up from the winter slumber. The fish I bet must be feeding on these tadpoles because there was thousands of them in one particular spot.  

A slightly disappointing session really considering the amount of fish that were here the other evening but I still enjoyed myself and that's the main thing. I spotted a few mayfly too so I'm hoping to give the trout a go on the lure soon because I bet they are on the munch at the moment.  

The Tiny River Alne - Shirkers and Shuftiscopes

Thankfully I don't have to speak to the DWP that often, 'don't contact us, we will contact you' 'we have received your letter, you will get a response in 11 weeks' nice of them isn't it. Still none the wiser after 12 weeks, so I tried to ring, 5 times I was cut off after 10 minutes or so, then 97 minutes on hold, doing better this time, and then 'our service is temporarily unavailable please call again later' 😠😠😠 Beeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppp !!!!!! and it cuts off. 

I've had to renew my driving licence last week, it's anyone guess when that will turn up, at least the evening greeted us with a lovely sunset as I was losing the will. So hoping for better I tried again in the morning and after nearly another hour I finally get though 'No decision made yet!! 

Where they’re now advising 18 weeks for a response WTF !!!. Piss up in a brewery springs to mind, I don't know why I thought anything other than the contrary, good to see my hard earned tax money is being put to good use. Not just me moaning about the service though, see for yourself. 

Now talking of not turning up, the chub down the Alne, well when the heck are they going to arrive because the trout have been the only species that have fancied a grab of the lure, well apart from the odd rare perch. However the last session here from under the polarised sunglasses a decent size chub followed the lure in to the bank but sadly didn't decide to make a snatch for it. 

With a smidgen more water on, the lure rod was ditched and swapped for a link ledger rod where for this short after work session, I'd feed four or five swims with some bread slop and then fish a large piece of bread flake on the hook, to try and tempt one of them. 

Having fished this stretch for a good while now it is very random when the different species of fish turn up. Certain conditions where you would think the dace would be showing, you catch trout and then when you think trout would be up for a feed the chub turn up.

It's a lovely place to be in the summer months but the threat of a shower my lightweight waterproof jacket was donned just in-case it hammered it down.

The first primed swim I managed two small chub that were caught within 10 minutes of each other. With the bread flake suspended off the bottom within seconds I was getting plucks from small fish I presume, but there was no denying a chub bite.

Lovely fish in cracking condition that were caught in one of the deeper swims where up and till recently the swim has been static. Now with extra water on almost trottable.

Another couple of unmissable bites missed I moved downstream to the next swim where within 10 minutes I'd missed another bite, this time a drop back bite where my slow reactions the fish had felt the hook. After a massive bow wave that started close in I thought what the heck was that and decided to feed some bread where it was taken off the top just as it passed under an over hanging tree.

I was fully expecting and otter to appear but now I'm convinced it might have been a carp but despite drifting more bread down the fish never re-appeared, so I didn't get to see what it was.

The chub were still biting though and after missing another bite 🙈 I managed another two fish, the best going 2lb 8 ounces. I've caught fish approaching 4lb here in the past but they only usually show in winter when it's about the only fish that is biting.

After that swim went dead I went upstream and managed another 2 small chub from two different swims so 6 in total. I was very pleased indeed because apart from that one chub following the lure they have been suspicious in their absence.

As soon as the sun came out the river went dead, If I fished at dusk would the better fish have turned up ? A light and fragrant prawn Keralan coconut curry concocted when I got back, an enjoyable few hours indeed. 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.79

With some renewed vigour to go fishing down the canal, well ok, I woke up early Sunday morning and after the kids got up and were overly noisy I decided that some peace down the towpath was a solution to ones predicament. 

The sun was high in the sky again so carp spotting was in order down at a section where a while ago I actually spotted a decent number of them.

After creating a fist size hole in my handing net within the first mile when the mesh had draped down and ended up jamming in my disc brake I got about the job in hand.

The stretch is usually busy because it's a nice route in to the town and this morning was no exception. Mainly bikers and walkers with the off narrowboat here and there.

There were plenty of zander snack sized fish about, and in one swim I actually saw a zander of a few pounds launch itself clear out of the water to get its breakfast. 

Those carp were nowhere to be seen though and I fish a couple of swims thick with cover to see if they were hiding there. A couple of miles ridden, nada and then on the return the same again. Those areas that did have them in resident before didn't appear to hold them any more.

By this time the sun was beating down and with the carp not showing whatsoever I decided to make haste. On the way back I bumped in to a CRT volunteer who said "it's been dredged mate, they took all the fish out".

"Oh ok thanks for that !!"

Strange because those areas that have been dredged I've caught fish recently, oh well better not let him know that, don't want to spoil his day. 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.78 (Otters & Eels)

What a stunning day this was with the mercury reaching a rather nice 28 degrees. After enjoying the beer garden in the pub a few hours after lunch, later I was trudging the towpaths for carp. I'd not been up at this bit for a good while but I'd spotted carp in the past so with the sun beating down to illuminate the canal this would be one of those rare days that it might be easier to spot them.

There was a nice breeze and the towpaths were a little quieter than I thought they would be, but then many were probably BBQ'ing like I would do later, and enjoying their own gardens or someone else's. 

The two mile stretch I ended walking really is a rather nice place to be. Often the canal is in shade because of the trees that shroud it but any carp on the surface would be pretty easy to spot.

What I did spot in a few areas were shoals of snack sized roach which were lovely to see. One particular shoal was a thousand strong I'd imagine. Very spooky mind you as a small piece of bread thrown in amongst them they scarpered never to be seen again. 

I've rarely wet a line here apart from a few of the lock mouths for zander but the results have been mediocre so it's been off my radar. I have caught them here don't get me wrong, but it's never really got me thinking I need to do a bit of a campaign down here. 

Some of the swims look perfect for a decent fish to be laying up though with plenty of overhanging cover that stretches over the canal. A couple of the swims also were full with snags where trees and branches litter these turbid waters. 

With the two miles covers though I didn't see any sign of carp whatsoever. One particular where area I'd seen them before, was a couple enjoying some Pimm's on the towpath that had been moored up for a few days and they'd seen naff all.

I was really hopeful in stumbling upon one on the return and after fishing a few of the lock mouths to see if there were any chub about I spent a little more time scoping out any likely spots. Talking of chub I've really missed them I must admit. The more I think it about, probably my favourite river species. 

After passing the lazy otter not long after on one particular secluded stretch I spot the tell-tale bubbles from an otter. This was 5.30pm or something where you wouldn't expect to see them, but as anglers we know that not to be the case.

Now look away blog reader Nick Duffy from the National Anguilla Club because I watched it take a reasonable sized eel up on to the bank, play about with it for a bit then it went off hunting again. Not the best footage sadly as I had to grab my phone quick as my 72x zoom camera in my bag would have been far better, but still you can make it out pretty clearly. Well I can on my phone anyway but then you can zoom in closer on that, not sure about a YouTube video.

I've seen Otters not far from here before to be fair and filmed them too and it turns out a local club lake literally a stones throw where I captured them that did contain carp, is now not a patch on it's former self for obvious reasons. This stretch also has mink and they happily live together, brothers in arms !!

On the return back to the car again no carp spotted, so that pint and some pork scratchings to reward myself again for catching one of the rare carp that swim in these turbid troubled waters, sadly never happened. And yes you guessed it, I'm not going to return any time soon. 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.77 (Carp)

I like my tea hot, strong and in a big old dirty mug. It's an indication of character, is that. Shows I'm dead common. I realised just how common when I saw this lad on the telly, dressed in full Japanese gear, demonstrating the Japanese Tea Ceremony. There's more to it than sticking the little finger in the air and not cooling the tea in the saucer. The whole thing is a ritual, right from the brewing of the tea, the kind of pot and cup you use, to the way you pour it and drink it.

The aim of the ritual, which is about 900 years old, is to bring on a contemplative mood, and to bring hosts and guests into perfect harmony. There are even different forms of ceremony for different times of the day. Even more interesting though was the fact that the lad on the box who was about as Japanese as I am, makes a living from demonstrating and lecturing on the ceremony.

Suddenly a whole new career opened up in front of me: demonstrating to a waiting world the ancient British angling ceremonies. It wouldn't cost me a penny in costumes: I'd already got 'em. Apart from a couple of items I could rescue before the dustbin men came round.

Already I could hear the televised chat show host:

'Our special guest tonight is the distinguished English angler, Mr Mick Newey, who will demonstrate the age-old rituals associated with his mysterious art.

'Mr Newey is wearing the traditional angler's costume: Tatty bobbly hat; anorak decorated with abstract designs formed by the action of gravity on draught bitter and cheese sandwiches; baggy and low-slung trousers and broad-soled wellies with a hole in each toe.

'We shall be talking to Mr Newey later, but first let us look at the ceremonies recorded by our outside broadcast cameras on a typical day's fishing.

'The approach to the water is crowded with ritual. Here we see Mr Newey performing the Stile Leaping Ceremony. There he is at the top of the stile, executing a graceful high kick with his right leg. Listen now to the strange cry he emits between clenched teeth and notice how his eyes suddenly fill with tears.

'See the climax of the ceremony as his left foot slips and he clears the stile in a graceful parabola, falling in a carefully controlled heap.

'Watch him as he crosses the field, performing the Cowpat Skipping Dance, very much akin to the Scottish sword dance; slipping now and again as he makes the inevitable miscalculation. 

See him speed up in the Bull Running Sprint as the lone bullock in the field turns out to be in full possession of its faculties.

'At the water he performs the dangerous Bank Walking Ritual, carefully avoiding all the hidden holes. 

Apart from the last one, which leads him naturally into Welly Emptying and Trouser Wringing.

'The next few ceremonies are self explanatory: Tree Tangling (note the accuracy with which he casts his bait into the topmost branches); Pike Disgorging (note the sudden absence of fingers on the right hand); and Packing Up (note the power of his movements as he kicks his chair up and down the bank).

'We follow him into an ancient British hostelry for the Fibbing Ceremony. See how wide he spreads his arms to an enthralled audience. And in that one, remember, he is only demonstrating the size of the bait.

'This is followed, as always, by the Drowning of the Sorrows. Note the time-honoured Dead Man's Grip on the pint pot. Mark the movement of his Adam's apple in the highly disciplined Triple Slurp. See how the froth sticks to his nose and a dribble of amber, or in this case a barrel aged stout with a proper kick. You see fishing at the moment has taken a bit of a back seat.

The pandemonium in work has resulted in not knowing if I have a job or not in a couple of months. It is the cut throat automotive industry after all, and out of my control too. All over bleeding software issues too which means the business plan has gone to pot. Still no need to worry about it now, I'll put the feelers out and whilst I'm at it better get those 28 off 5.4m deck boards from the front garden through the house and in to the back. 15 years the old ones have been down, but they needed to be replaced. 

I might have plenty of time on my hands soon, lets see !!!

Anyway with the weather lovely and warm again I fancied a walk down to carp corner to see if I could spot any and maybe winkle one out if one was obliging. Simple tactics of a rod, a rucksack and a landing net, with bread placed in the Nash Bread Bomb to try and intercept a carp. 

The weather was perfect for it too, the sun high in the sky illuminating the canal nicely where just shy of 10k steps in 2 and a bit hours I spotted one carp !!!

I returned to this swim at the start of the session because that's where I caught the carp from but there was nothing in situ. It was only when returning to the swim towards the end of the session I spotted the carp. It was skirting the fringes of the spindly reeds and in plain sight !!!

Was is interested though, well what a stupid question as it couldn't have been less interested 😭🤣 because get a bait anywhere near it, it actually did an about-turn and swam away from the bait. Slow sinking and surface bread After it told me where to go a few times I lost sight of it and with the towpath and boats quite busy, boredom eventually took hold and I decided to head home and enjoy the sun in the garden and sup an imperial stout or two instead. 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.75

Life is getting in the way of fishing at the minute, but to be honest that is probably not a bad thing because the canals are becoming a little tiresome now. 

I'd have usually headed out for a few sessions over the weekend but with the midlands air show wiping out Friday and then a BBQ round some friends Saturday for the most of the day, that out the kybosh on proceedings.

 The problem with the weather being so nice the canal towpaths are a lot busier so unless you go early or late, those sessions of solitude are not going to happen.

The local canals are turbid most of the time but when the boats start moving it is almost unfishable until the water stops bouncing between locks and the whirlpool of silt starts to calm down. 

The canals are nice places to be at the time of year when everything is in its spring bloom and when in just a t-shirt roving around to try and stumble on fish is the order of the day.

I am still yet to see another angler on this stretch for weeks apart from the likeminded and yet there are some nice fish to be caught. 

1lb 12oz roach, a 4lb hybrid, a 5lb bream and a 11lb carp thus far which far more than what anglers would expect in waters like this. 

On Sunday I had a small window of opportunity so I thought 'carp corner' might be worth a punt. Despite the likelihood of boats the spindly reeds on the far bank provides a nice haven for the carp to get away from the boats propeller. 

There was one carp there on the RHS of the reeds however unlike the last time I managed to winkle one out getting a better vantage point on the other side of the canal just wouldn't work.

There was a huge amount of brambles and thicket to get through making the access to drop the bait on the carps head impossible really, so that left me with no choice but to cast from much further away.

The first cast was almost perfect with the bait literally a few inches if that away from it's mouth. But in typical canal carp fashion after the fish being there for ages ignoring the bait, it did an about turn and headed right to the back of the spindly reeds never to be seen again.

The sun was bright and illuminating the canal nicely so I went for wander to try and find some more fish but there was just nothing showing at all

In the end with boats almost queuing up to get through a series of locks I decided to call it a day and get back to enjoying the weather.

A weekend of overdoing it on the food front with a nice bottle of port shared with a mate of mine Steve where we managed to get through a mountain of cheese too. I don't have it very often these days but when I do it is thoroughly enjoyed I must admit. For those blog readers interested, yes Zander removal is still going on !!

....apparently 

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.72 (Carp , Sorry Eel's)

Now our adopted local recently was the winner of the Pub of The Year 2023 competition for the “Heart of Warwickshire” region awarded by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). The Heart of Warwickshire region comprises 150 pubs which are judged on categories such as quality of beer and cider, furnishings, cleanliness, service, welcome, offering and atmosphere.

It was Warwickshire’s first community-owned pub and has a strong community focus, well it is local pub after all, but then try and tell that to the pretenders. 

My wife still works in the village school where Sam went as a toddler as a lunchtime supervisor and we've been propping up the bar ever since. 

Ben feels at home there as well and his issues embraced for those that also frequent this proper pub. We and many others just feel at home there, and that's a good thing because many establishments cannot replicate that from my experience. 

A positive being owned by the village is not having the overheads and also because it's not tied to any brewery it means Danny the landlord can cherry-pick beers and ciders from whatever brewery he wants to. 

There isn't many pubs I can go to locally that offer a minimum of 6 cask ales and often random ciders, as well as the standard pub fair. Oh and proper home food what's not to like.

Take last Sunday, after popping in for a pint in the sun, Danny was outside speaking to some Sunday drivers out for a run out in their classic cars and he greeted us before entering the pub. 

"Hey Blue Monkey Infinity Plus 1, got to try this" "oh, and check out this rhubarb and apple cider we've got in, just make sure Sarah is driving back" It ain't 4% I can tell you that !!

Then before I knew it I was harvesting some Rhubarb behind the recently constructed village / pub shop. "Take a look at this fill your boots, take as much as you want". 

 

Who doesn't like Rhubarb !!!

Rhubarb’s medicinal uses began at least 5000 years ago, to when Chinese used dried roots as a laxative. The first documented uses in western civilization are 2100 years ago when rhubarb roots were an ingredient in numerous Greek and Roman medicines. Dried rhubarb roots are also astringent.

Rhubarb did not enjoy widespread consumption as food until the 19th century. 

Indeed, the modern market for culinary rhubarb was created virtually from scratch in 1824 by Joseph Myatt, a South London nurseryman with some rhubarb plants, a recipe for tarts, and enough gumption to convince others that the otherwise bitter plant could taste good when combined with something sweet. 

The timing was perfect. Sugar was becoming available and affordable and the rhubarb stalks were otherwise going to waste. 

There was nothing to lose! Adding to rhubarb’s popularity was the fact that it is generally ready for harvest well before most other vegetables. With forcing it can be made available even earlier. It was a welcome, fresh food after a long winter of preserves and meat. With such an explosion in popularity there were many other preservation techniques developed for rhubarb. These included drying, canning and, most recently, freezing.

Anyway bringing it up to date, there was easily enough for a diabetic emergency with 2 rhubarb and apple crumbles concocted with the harvest which will be had with clotted cream naturally, and there was also enough left over to make a large jar of rhubarb jam too. And !!! it gets better this weekend they have my favourite Blue Monkey Brewery offering and that is 99 Red Baboons. 

If you're a fan on McEwan's Champion you'd love this. A proper dark, fruity and malty ale that the current crop of wild and wacky beers are quickly forgotten about, a proper traditional ale for an old'uns like me. Anyway back to the fishing !!! With the pandemonium at work ever present and being welded to a computer with the nice weather I fancied a nice walk if anything, the fishing secondary. 

So I headed to 'Carp Corner' to see if I could spot any in the warm weather. Bread bomb rig in hand, a landing net and a sling bag, that will do !!!. Oh and a whip and a few maggots to keep me occupied. After losing one of the carp last time I'd beefed up tackle to hopefully avoid being punched in the kidney's like the last time I hooked one. 

I started at the spindly reeds first where you often see the vertical stems move from side to side. On closer inspection sometimes if you're lucky you can see the back of a carp break the surface especially when the sun is illuminating it correctly.

Slow sinking and also fished on the top for a couple of hours it was clear there wasn't any fish in the whole length of the reeds. Not unexpected to be honest but there was also lack of fish topping because the temperature of the water was well over 17 degrees.

The 2nd half of the session in to dusk I'd feed some freebies pellets, bream mash and a few maggots in to a swim tight to the reeds and fish the bread bomb on the bottom as well as a whip with maggots to keep me from getting bored because of the lack of action.

What I didn't expect after a tiller twiddling tit nearly took me out because of a lack of control that when the water was bouncing between the locks that 3 eels came within the next hour all taken on the whip and maggot.

Quite good fun on the light whip but after I lost the 4th I decided to sack that off and go all out for carp. When I was here at dusk last time the fish movement was ridiculous when the light faded but not this evening. Not one bream rolled and there was on the the odd tiny bait fish top. Hard going indeed and half an hour past dusk I decided to call the session to a close because I knew what the outcome would be.