Nature red in tooth and claw

Got to the very local water after the rains and tea to here some very plaintive calls and the goslings (reduced to two) all on their own. In an occasional  burst of signal  it  became clear why on the Group chat: one of the adults at least had met a gruesome end on the nearby road.

I'd just taken this, well into the session when an adult Canada Goose honked in to the pond. They were off, frantically paddling over to meet it. It didn't chase them off so it must have been one of the parent birds and indeed it did proceed to shoo me off as I was packing away when I could no longer see the float so perhaps the poor little buggers  might have  a chance after all.

Despite the rain it was fairly dry underfoot but the flag irises bore tell tale drops.

  

I'd opted for the island as I thought  I might  have less interruptions from the carp and soon had a bed of pellet and Source minis out. 

No overt bubbling but plenty of movement in the adjacent pads and it wasn't  long before the float moved off, but I fluffed it by winding before lifting the rod. Something I do now and then. I slipped the anti reverse on and lighted the rear drag a few notches.  Next  bite  was hit, and  on briefly. I was just investigating wether the hooks that had come with some mini krill boilies were barbed  when the float dipped and the fish was heading into the pads. Back out in the open area it gave a right royal performance before  stopping, bream-like and letting me glide it into the net. One of the bigger tench, that on another water might of had much more padding and poundage. A bit war wounded but still  a lovely female that went 4.14. Spat out a few of the Source minis too. Not the most cheerful  tench I've caught...

The rod is perfect for this sort of fishing, and 5lb line is just about right too. Tench certainly can pull but it soaks it all up.

The next bite was also hit and the fish went further in the pads but the rod won out and even some almost pike-like head thrashing didn't dislodge the hook, and in the onion bag it went. A chunkier but smaller fish this one and possibly a bit more cheerful looking? A paint brush tail if ever there was one. I can't see myself ever tiring of tench, of what ever size and however caught

I had one more fish on after the goose reunion, that stayed out the the pads and put up a near mud pig performance before loosing the hook right at the net and in the gathering gloom decided to leave them  to it.

 I didn't watch Eurovision.