Getting all your ducks lined up in a row

I ventured out onto the rickety staging for the first time for a while and it looked promising, with a large area of stirred up silt, a bit too much to the left for my liking but buggers can't be choosers. A mini Source on one, golden grains on the other. A lacing of hemp, pellet and corn, hoping to entice them a bit  to the right. Good to get the puddle chuckers and the lovely tench and specimen rods out again.

Then a pair of mallard flew in. Wary of the two bobbing floats for a while but not long before the female set about picking up every pellet, grain of corn and hemp she could find in the silt whilst the gaudy drake, all ducks arse tail curls looked on in bemusement. Too close for comfort to my hookbaits, barbless QM1's or not so I slunk off home

Headed further afield next time out to scout a new ticket for this year, and went with the flatbed feeder approach rather than wade through the small stuff on the waggler much in evidence when I've been looking round whilst I get to know the place. Plenty of mallard drakes in attendance but they hadn't packed their scuba gear so I felt a lot more at ease. Picked up  a nice pair of bream, and as usual one each on the yellow peril and pink tuna mini wafters. Still cold to the touch. Quite a silvery colouration on this one despite it being well over skimmer size, at a guestimated 5 plus. I've been told they get to a decent size so I'd better check the batteries in the scales and the self take remote.