The beginning of January brought a week of frosty nights and
day time temperatures that got lower by the day until they barely nudged above
freezing. This came to a head on Monday
morning when I woke to find a load of snow had been dumped on us, I hate
snow. However a couple of days later
cloud and rain brought slightly less arctic conditions and an opportunity to
fish. I didn’t get up early, instead I
had a leisurely breakfast and waited for the worst of the traffic to
disperse. I didn’t fancy single lanes or
farm tracks so played safe for a change and parked up at my least favourite
stretch on the river. I generally catch
here and the reason I don’t favour it so much, is it is too close to
civilisation meaning I sometimes have to interact with other humans.
The morning was cool and bright with the sun playing hide
and seek behind clouds which were travelling fast on the fresh westerly wind. I walked a way upstream with the usual plan
of working my way back down and was set up by 1030. Nothing happened in the first spot and it
looked like going the same way in the second but just as I was starting to tidy
up a sardine swung downstream was picked up.
I hooked a Pike without any weight that did nothing bar splash around a
bit before I lifted it out of the margins.
This was soon back in the river and I decided to move on anyway. I fished two more spots, one familiar and the
other a swim I’d not yet tried, which like so much of this river looked spot
on. No more fish took pity on me today
and I was heading home in the early afternoon.
A week of rain passed and with the river over its banks I
made plans for a visit to the olde lake for a change. As I was making an effort it seemed sensible
to get up at a half decent hour and get to the water for first light. I should have a much more straight forward
drive for a change and I’d miss the rush hour for once. I was on the road by
0630 but only a couple of miles into my journey the electronic signs flashed up
telling me a section of the road was closed.
No worries, I know the back roads pretty well so diverted through the
countryside. I should have known better,
when there’s trouble on the eastern A roads the chaos just spreads down the
lanes like a flood.
All was going well until I was just a few miles away from
the water when it became apparent that a lot of other traffic had made the same
diversion as me. That shouldn’t have
been so bad but bloody great lorries on country lanes that are single track in
places doesn’t work, especially with traffic trying to come the other way. Everything just ground to a halt and I didn’t
move an inch in forty five minutes.
There was no point in turning round, the time for that was when I’d
first seen the sign, by now it would be the same story in every direction so I
patiently and stubbornly stuck to the plan.
Somehow an ambulance managed to squeeze through from the other direction
and after this, things started to move again but it still took ages to get
anywhere. Finally I was able to turn off
the clogged road and make my way through even narrower lanes and a few minutes
later I’d parked the car by the lake.
The previous day had been mild with a deluge but the night
had been clear and the temperature dropped low enough to stiffen the grass and
leave a bit of ice in the edge. Recent
rainfall had coloured the lake slightly and raised the level meaning I had to
wade through flooded grass to higher ground at the edge. I set up in a deeper area, punched a half
lamprey out on a leger rig as well as chucking a smelt and sardine out on float
legers. My plan was to recast these two
regularly and so search the swim, after all this the time was 0930 so it was a
relief to settle into my chair and pour a brew.
I wasn’t even half way through the cuppa when a float sunk as something
made its way off with a sardine and I happily bent into a fish. I was even more pleased to pull a Pike of
seven pounds or so over the net, my stubbornness – probably my best angling
attribute – had been rewarded. The big
puddle in front of me was the ideal place to unhook the fish, it barely came
out of the water. After recasting a
fresh sardine I sat back to finish my tea and relax in the brightly lit East
Anglian countryside.
An hour passed and I was starting to think about making a
move when the other float wobbled then lay flat, this time it was a smelt cast
to the bottom of a slope into deeper water.
This fish felt a bit bigger but shrunk in front of the net and was
actually a bit smaller. After a
frustrating journey it was good to get a couple of fish and sitting in the sun
was more pleasant than it ought to be in January. I tried to watch the birds but my eyes aren’t
good enough to recognise most of the smaller flying things but a Buzzard was
easy to spot as was a Sparrowhawk a while later.
I’d been sitting here a while and was once more pondering a move when at just after 1100 the sardine went again and I wound in another, similar sized Pike. I’d barely got this rod back on the rest when the smelt was away again and a few minutes later my fourth fish of the day was in the net, I certainly hadn’t expected this when I set off and it seemed even more remote when I was stuck in traffic. Fifteen minutes later the smelt was picked up again and this fish did have a little more strength to it but still wasn’t as big as I thought it might be though the best of the day.
I sat it out for another hour which passed quickly and
quietly, itchy feet got the better of me I couldn’t stay in one place any
longer, it was time for a move. I tidied up and walked back along the bank in the
direction of the car. I ended up setting
up again in a swim with nice overhanging trees which looked pikey. Time passed quickly but not because it was
all action, in fact nothing stirred at all but I was content with my lot. I started to pack up around 1430, the sun was
dipping and the temperature dropping quickly.
I tidied up all the odds and sods that had somehow circled my chair then
looked up to see a float dip once more.
I wound down quickly, pulled the rod round and felt a head shake for a
second or two before it came off, oh well.
By 1500 I was back in the car knowing I’d have to divert again but this
time the biggest obstruction was caused by bad parking outside a rural primary
school. My journey home was slow, all
roads still busy but still a massive improvement on the morning.
