Head and tail.

First time out for  a while and despite the hoolie blowing no rain was forecast (unlike tomorrow) so made the most of the afternoon. Far too windy to trot and probaly for the tip as well so out with the pike rods. Spring is springing, blackthorn is out, a skylark was up and these harbingers of warmth and their fiery nettle companions coming through for an unwary palm.

On to the long straight to leap frog down the near margin, too windy for tips up today.

A sardine head was first to go on the left hand (upstream) rod. An angry  tailwalker, leeched as you'ld expect with the recent rains and big water. Unmarked, with a pot belly (roe?) and a primrose mark on its right flank. Decent fish but not one to break the scales out for.

Out with with the remaining tail of the sardine in the same spot  and I'd barely set the baitrunner before a fish was taking line. No acrobatics but a game battler all the same and a little smaller than the first. A bit of  a pod on this one too along with the attendant leeches.  Love the long snouts on the fish on this part of the river.

No more from that spot so edged down to the willow at he end of this straight. Thinking about a last hour on the cheesepaste despite the wind when the sardine tail tucked into the cover was away, with the float heading away to the far bank at speed. A much more stubborn, powerful fish but not one making dashes for the cover, content to slug it out in the healthy pace. Different gravy as they say but in the outstretched net with no last minute drama. Heavy to get up the bank and with a decemnt depth to the flanks but no real length, 16ish I thought and the zeroed Korum's eventually settled at 16.09. Defintely carrying roe this one. Didn't think the self takes would be that sharp given how much the cameras was moving on the bank stick in the wind.

The flow was increasing, no doubt due to sluices being opened with the day of rain to come and I had done what I set out for so made for home, rather than the next set of chubby bushes. Plenty of VAR calamities to look out for on MOTD  tonight.

Bish bash bosh

A very quick raid on roach straight before Cira came to call, nowt on trotted flake and  a few pulls on the tip. One connected with.

Making the most of it.

Back on it late doors, even though curfew beckoned. A lot more colour after last night's rain and not much of an up streamer to help holding back. Was just thinking about the last half an hour on the tip when the first one came, a long way down the trot. I made the most of the remaining light and the meagre contents of my maggot box and though it wasn't as prolific as yesterday caught enough to send me home happy.

Had three dace, and it looks and feels as if they might be starting to plump up. Whilst a ponded stretch above a mill it's always been said to be a good area for backend dace.

The last fish again the best, and even plumper than the dace. That's where it's got it's weight coming in at suprising pound on the nose. Certainly more solid and bluer across the back

The scales fell from my eyes.

Bright with a fierce wind wind but in shelter feeling all of the 12C on the car temperature gauge. Left  it quite late to get on roach straight seeing as it was so bright. 25 minutes of feed and trot before the  5AAA avon hesitated then buried. A  bright young thing that deserved the proffered net. That flick of the switch  as the light values drop and into last knockings that we all hope for

Bites came regularly but not necessarily from the same spot even with quite accurate feeding of the red maggots. I think the strong up streamer was helping the bait run through just right. This one  felt a lot heavier, there is nothing like that thump on the rod tip, and nothing as excruciating as the knowledge of precarious a hook hold can be in a bigger roach, especially a small hook (#16 wide gape spade end) . I guessed about 13oz and I decided to weigh the next decent on to see if my eye was in.

A few netters later and I had my chance with this one. About 14 oz I thought and indeed it was. These  new Korum scales (why do we still refer to them in the plural?) have a handy zero setting for the sling.  I'd selected the lbs and oz function so no drams though there is a pounds in decimals for super accuracy option..

A few missed, one bumped and a stream of slightly smaller netters and a much better fish was on, taking line and kiting bank to bank. Deffo a pound plusser and so it turned out. 1lb 2oz and it turned out to be the last as the dreaded centrepin tangle had happened. Not enough time to tackle up again or tidy up and get the tip rod out. Always next time. Certainly is a good time for roach locally, even with the otters and cormorants.

The scales came with a neoprene pouch. Shame it was too small.

Reading the runes. All wrong.

Yesterday's roach had got in my head. Why no bites on the float but instant reaction on a staticish  bait on the deck? Should I have gone with flake in the float first? Was it just bite time? The forecast said rain, later, and I knew there was no chance of a later pass so I merely looked at a few roachy spots, and  retrieved my dropped catapult as I trudged off  through the floodplain to the Royal Confluence. I had my pike head on under my rakish Dangling Indirect Cap and had plans to leapfrog  a fair section. Almost as many otter prints as deer along the tiny track.  

Someone force me to actually incorporate a lifter in my rigs....

Smelt and blueys were the bait of choice and three rods employed to cover as much of the river as possible. I know some swear by ringing the bait changes till they find out what the pike are on. Not me, and I only put out  a fresh (frozen) bait if one falls off on the cast, a pike has it down its gob (I never have the heart not to leave it there) or it has disintegrated or been crayed to a skeleton. Lamprey always go back in the bag to be refrozen.

Plenty of buzzards and  a very vocal kestrel sounding very much like  a yaffle. A whole shoal of paddle boarders and two very olive green chaps in a very olive green kayak festooned in  Go-Pros. And the first outing of the flask for a long time. In my youth I use to take three big Boots flasks, two tea, one coffee and if close enough cycle home for a refill of the three. No food, just 20 JPS. 

Which is a long way round  to say I had no need to trouble the freezer bag until I has decamped to Bungalow Bill's Bend for the last of my allotted hours. Three rods in Shangri La. I rarely fail on Shangri La  unless the owner of Bungalow Bill's Bungalow decides to bail out his boat over my  floats or deposit  willow prunings on them. quite deliberately. I think he is the Graham on the advert, always at the beck and call of an unseen but very much heard significant other. I don't think he's called Bill or Graham though.

The middle bluey began to trundle towards me at the 58th minute of this last allotted hour, firmly grasped by a pike that wasn't a whole lot longer than the bluey was before I'd halved it. I thought the pike deserved the defrosted half  of the bluey anyway.

As I rounded the bend a familiar silver haired figure sat perched on his Shakespear box by the stile. He was surprisingly biteless but we thought  bite time wouldn't be far away. 

As I picked my way along the back gardens of the waterside complex a security light flicked on sending a shoal of very decent roach bolting off. Out of bounds to the foot bound angler. But not a waterborne one......

  

Famine to feast

I've been mostly lergied  so it was nice to get out in the gloom and murk late doors today. Silver haired syndicate man must have been on recently give the Shakespear sized seat box marks. I gave the swim a good go on trotted reds for no reward so out with a tiny cage feeder and a pinch of flake on a #12. Didn't take long for signs of interest, they'd been there all along. I couldn't get any decent pulls though, even on a 1 oz tip. I changed to reds  and a couple hung on long enough. The first, around 10 oz and my first  fish of 2020. The second was different gravy, and I had to flip the anti-reverse off as it charged off. Flashing silver and a very decent fish to draw over the rim of the net.  My scales said 1.09  What a lovely shape.

Even my mojo has lost its mojo

Ive trotted three times on the Bure. Once on the Wensum. One seen  bite and one shredded maggot.  I've piked two stretches of the Bure. 3 runs. All missed. I've piked on one pond twice. Two missed runs.. I've even found out some 3 year old cheesepaste for one brief tremble on the tip. That's 2020  so far in a post festivity nutshell.

I'm hoping for some mojo restoring inspiration from this little lot tonight.