Who pays the ferry man?

Pre-Easter temperatures soaring, a couple of days off and what to do? None of my local club waters or day ticket options open till 1st April so I hit the much travelled commute route to  a lake the other side of Fakenham, that should have warmed up a bit. Stopped for a coffee to get some change for the day ticket but card only.  Never mind, they must have change right? Stopped for a bit to drink my coffee. Pleasant spot where the Glaven is forded. Let's hope that blossom does not foretell a blackthorn winter cold snap, though snow at Easter is not that unusual event.

Down the flinty path and on to fairly firm sward though any further might even trouble a Discovery. Ticket person arrives as I unload the charabanc, a bit miffed I'd only got  a shiny 20 to hand, with no change. Anyhoo, I was allowed on my way with a return visit with change promised. I found my usual quieter spot tucked away in a corner and set about the pre-season prep I hadn't done whilst I soaked up the welcome sun. If  I'm after mud pigs it's usually the sleeper rod, with a ready made braid braid hook link and a small pva bag of  pellets  more of an anti-tangle device with a bonus of a small amount of goodies round the bait, which is usually a Source wafter. I had a few bags pre-tied up from the autumn, and just needed to load up the applicator for a fresh injection of interest.  ( I'm sure that's happened in many bivvies that have sprouted up since the 29th....just how have we anglers got away with being able to do outdoor sport during recent lockdown and now stay away from home overnight since  Monday?). Spot the tub aged variant.

I'm not one for sitting behind motionless rods so I would be also using a small method feeder to at least have a few casts and hopefully jangling alarms. As written above I usually plump for this swim, in truth as well as being tucked away it's usually (or because of?) productive with margin and open areas to go at. Once the  fish are active and homing in on bait and feeders I've found I can get them going well about 25 yards out with plenty of fizzing and bites with the sleeper rod over by the reeds under the alders, quite tight in but not exclusively. One bonus of the over wintered bags impregnated with spicy sausage was a quick recast  could just about be managed if needed. 

As it happened the method rod was just an interest  maintainer with five good takes from the sleeper. rod. Three slightly better mirrors got off near the net but on long enough for the thrill of the fight and the sight of them twisting and turning in the clear water. Two made it to the oversized net, another mirror and a common.

All in all a pleasant few hours and as a bonus a beer and an escape before the ticket money was extracted...