Time flies by

Been a while so here goes:

Bit more mileage for the charabanc now things are easing up not least at work. The Fens may be mostly flat but there is water in between, rather a lot in places. Not many bends either. Need to find a few here and theres for some quick sticks whip fishing and of course perch and zander between jobs. I think my time is running out workwise so it might be my last river season out West. 

I say running out, we need to cut our cloth and there's not much to pay off the mortgage so it would be nice to have done that before I take the retirement plunge. My mind is still young but I ache and groan far too much for someone not quite yet 60. I think end of March 2022 unless things alter drastically. 

At the other end of life's rich journey are the Little Uns. We thought a quick go for some tiddlers might be nice but it wasn't. Cold enough that it snowed and not a bite. They have ideas above their station after catching those back end pike. I'll let it warm up a bit before next time. I took an end of the day opportunity to pop down to the Very Local Water for the first time since it closed in late summer, almost on its last legs but it's filled up again nicely. And it snowed again, so I never got out of the car.

That was last weekend. Suns out guns out  this Saturday. Shorts and tee shirt weather in fact. After tackling the conifer hedge (no birds nesting) I set myself up on the Very Local to see if the tench or bream were having a mooch about. Went to slip the bank sticks in the old faithful holes from last year and low and behold one of my  lost puddle chuckers was bobbing round in the emerging reeds. A right result. The pads only just pushing up and apart from the odd mud pig moving not a bubble to be seen. One blink and it's gone moment  just on chips pick up curfew time, felt like a tench but the barbless QM1 #12 pinged out. Cant wait for the rhodos and flag iris to bloom, and that milky warm water, fish, weed and all. 

 

Was glad I opted for more sensible garbs on Sunday, the sun was lovely but the changeable wind had a nip in it which ever quarter it swung too. No swallows but a kingfisher plopping in from the big willow at the Next Nearest Local. I'd bought the kitchen sink but opted for the waggler rod. I flirted with corn but the spring faithful triple red maggot was what they wanted having spread a sparse-ish picnic platter 8 foot down three rods out.  As ever the tow seemed to vary but two number six on the deck was enough to hold well.

A couple of roach to start before the odd bubble appeared. How cold to the touch the fish were. Almost frozen I'd say.

A bumped bream and  a lost tench that took me into the lily roots way down at my feet forced me into  a hook change  (think the original was a bit blunt, bursting the maggots), a drop down to a B560  #16 which upped the bites and fish hooked ratio, coupled with a drop the wind and visible breath in the air. No hook in lily roots drama from this lovely female tench  but it did scoot quite quickly into the safety of the stink net when a menacing shape loomed out of the depths.

A feisty male bream, newly emerging spawning bumps and all followed, which filled the stink net nicely. I  did hustle it in a bit at the net given the dark shape below.

Had a couple of these too, which along with eels I think are the Next Nearest's dark horses and ones I hope to get into a bit more this year.