Half term week

16/02/09
The first day of the school half term holiday sees me at home looking after the kids while their mum works. At last the cold weather has gone and it’s mild outside with a nice breeze from the west. These are good conditions for gravel pit Pike so can I convince Madison and Isaac they would have fun beside the water? The answer is yes and a little after midday I have two deadbaits soaking beside an island while the kids run around and played in the mud and puddles. If their mum could see them she would do her nut but I tell myself that the fresh air is doing them good, a little bit of mud never hurt anyone and it beats the hell out of TV or computer games! While the kids played imaginary games amongst the mud, I tuned the radio into TMS and thoroughly enjoyed listening to England battering the West Indies at cricket. I tried to imagine being in Antigua where the weather is somewhat different to here! Once again choice of swim was dictated by the kids so I settled down on the east bank again and I was pleased to see that the pit was much cleaner and litter free than the last time I’d fished here. This swim ticked all the boxes safety wise, there was a nice wide open space for the kids to play in. I’d be able to keep my eye on them and there were no other anglers for them to disturb.
Don't those BBBB alarms look smart?

Highlight of the day for us was the fry up, which in truth was the biggest incentive for the kids. For them, a nice big Pike just doesn’t have the appeal of a lovely hot sausage sandwich and they’ve cottoned on to the fact that fried food always tastes better when you’re fishing. We had a good feed but unfortunately the Pike didn’t, when we packed up in the late afternoon my deadbaits had remained untouched. Madison was coated in mud from the waste down and if the puddles appeared a little shallower than when we arrived it was because a large amount of water had found itself inside Isaac’s boots. Still a good time was had by all and I love the fact that my kids like being in the countryside, long may it continue.

20/02/09
At last the thermometer had climbed enough to give me a bit of confidence for a trip to Eden. However, Richard had fished the day before and really struggled, in fact my grapevine was reporting that the whole system was fishing poorly, despite the rising temperature. Throughout most of the season we have managed to keep track of the fish most of the time but in the last couple of weeks we seem to have lost them. I was undeterred and set out on the long drive anyway, everything went without a hitch for a change and I launched a little before 7am. The day was dawning but the sun was mostly obscured by thin, high cloud and a northerly breeze rippled the water.

Just after 7:15 I was moored up in the Basin area with four deadbaits scattered around the boat. An interesting chat with Giles last time out had given me food for thought so I carefully positioned the baits around the boat in order to maximise any scent trail that would leak out. I stayed in this first spot for two hours which was probably an hour too long. It was a thoroughly pleasant morning, sitting in the boat, catching the occasional glimpse of the sun and watching the ever present Harriers. But with no Pike showing it was time to move on. I upped anchors and headed off for a long motor down to the far side of the system.

Never fished this one before!

As I neared my destination, two large, strange awkward looking birds flapped gracelessly overhead, the Cranes putting in another welcome appearance. There were a couple of other boats in the area but the swim I fancied was clear. This was a spot that had been very kind to me in the past. I decided to fish here and tuck myself behind shelter, out of the wind, spread the deadbaits out and have a fry up! Ninety minutes later, after the other boats had departed I moved into another area, one I’d always fancied but had never actually fished before. An hour later I was at a loss so clipped on a lure – a Salmo Skinner, more in hope than expectation. After a couple of minutes the line suddenly slackened…A take! and for a split second before the line tightened again my mind asked the question…how big??? The answer was…not very! A jack Pike but a very welcome one! I continued for a while but despite feeling confident I didn’t tempt any more fish.

They do take lures!

By 1500 I was back on home ground fishing the far south western side of the basin , approaching the entrance to a bay. An hour in this spot proved fruitless as did another hour on the edge of another bay. By five o’clock the wind had died away and the water was flat calm. I had a moment of inspiration and decided to float troll two deadbaits on the oars. All was quiet and I could hear the tapping of a woodpecker, along with the squawk of a Pheasant from the woods to my right. As the sky darkened, away to my left I could hear the calling of tawny owls. It was a beautiful evening; all that was missing was a Pike or two! In the end I trolled all the way back to the slipway but nothing troubled my deadbaits.

A highly enjoyable day but at the end of it I’m still none the wiser as to the location of the Pike. Are they nearing the spawning grounds or are they lying dormant in the usual areas? My hunch is the former but time will tell.

22/02/09

I had another free day to spend in paradise but what do I do with it? After a couple of lengthy phone conversations with Richard and based on the results of our recent sessions I came up with a plan. I decided to assume the Pike were getting into spawning mode, stick to areas close to the yard and search out likely looking spawning sites. I had planned to begin fishing an area close to the yard, but another boat was launching behind me, I didn’t want to be disturbed straight away so opted to fish elsewhere. Conditions were good, mild and cloudy with a fresh wind from the west; would the Pike be playing ball? By 0700 I was anchored up in the entrance to a bay in a swim that had produced for me in the past. Two rods were cast into open water while the other two were positioned near to the reeds, one of which beside a gap which led into a small shallow bay.

For the rest of the day I aimed to fish hit and run style, spending a maximum of just over an hour in each swim and if nothing happened, move on to another. I only had to wait for half that time before the ET boat-biter bleeped into life signalling the Lamprey cast to the gap had been picked up. Every take at Eden is a heart stopping moment but for some reason I wasn’t surprised when the culprit turned out to be a jack. It was clean and in good nick unfortunately not showing any signs of unwelcome attention from big females. Still it was a start and maybe there’d be more?

I like these one handed out of the murky shallows photos!

The short answer was no, after giving it another hour a move was in order. I fully intended to drop into a spot I liked the look of, close to reeds but with a dramatic depth change. I’d never fished this spot before and what’s more I’d never seen anyone else fish it either. As I lifted the mudweights a small boat that had two anglers in it and looked dangerously over loaded appeared and stopped exactly where I wanted to fish, what are the odds on that? After cruising round in circles and running out of petrol I decided to drop into a nice reedy bay, another spot that looked like a possible spawning site. Once again I covered both the reeds and the open water and I felt strangely confident. This area is always a good place to view the Harriers at relatively close range if nothing else. I've been trying to get a good photo of a Harrier for weeks but they seem to know when I have the camera ready and keep their distance. The minute it's packed away they fly literally overhead!

That's a Harrier - honest!

After an hour nothing had happened so I was contemplating a move when I was startled by the wonderful sound of a whizzing bait-runner! A Mackerel cast into open water was on the move! I wound down and on contact the rod stayed bent…for a second or two before it slowly straightened and tell tale head shakes were transmitted down the line. I soon had the fish beside the boat and it was slightly larger than the first and had a large, well healed scar – maybe a male? I stayed put for another half an hour, the only mildly interesting thing was a pair of swans shagging beside the boat which was odd considering how much water they had to choose from, perhaps they like an audience? I then moved to another likely looking spot in the north western side of the bay but an hour here went unrewarded. By now the wind had swung to a north westerly and was strengthening but it was still mild and cloudy, good conditions! I wondered whether this would cause the Pike to be active in the open water areas that had produced in the past? There was only one way to find out.

Around midday I dropped into the basin, on the western side. I spent an hour here then moved across to the other side of this area in the teeth of the wind. The boat was being rocked about a bit but nothing too bad, certainly not enough to prevent the fry up! I felt really confident in this area, I was sure it was going to happen…but it didn’t. A pair of Cranes flew over and circled, then circled again…and again, like some kind of ariel dance, a mid air mating ritual perhaps? Ninety minutes later I reverted to plan A and went searching likely looking spawning sites again. I spent an hour close to where I had intended to begin the day. Once again the area looked good, I felt confident but the Pike didn’t show. A Bittern flew soundlessly by as did a Sparrowhawk a short while later but still no Pike. By four o clock I was knackered so decided to get off the water early for a change and begin the drive home in daylight.

On the way home, whilst trying to dodge the Sunday drivers I realised I was still none the wiser as to what those bloody Pike are doing. That now made fish to the boat on four consecutive trips which I’d gladly settle for anytime on this system. However the big girls are still avoiding me and time is running out.

A brief thaw...

Cold, cold, cold! When will we get some mild weather? On Friday night it was 50/50 if I’d make it fishing this Sunday, by midday Saturday it was 60/40. I hadn’t visited Eden for three weeks and hadn’t been fishing at all for a fortnight, stuff the weather I had to get out there! Giles was up for the trip too and as we made the journey north we discussed the prospects. The weather was cold but not as severe as it has been recently, we figured that after a couple of weeks of frosts the Pike should be used to the temperature and if we could find some, we could catch them. The journey seemed to take forever, we did pull over at a garage so Giles could buy food and I could get rid of some but soon we were pulling up at the yard and getting the boat ready.

When fishing Eden my usual starting point is somewhere near to where I last caught. This time it was on the south western side of the basin but it was a few weeks since my last visit and I wondered if the trail had gone cold. After 90 minutes that’s how it seemed, we scattered a variety of deadbaits around the boat but nothing picked up the scent. The day turned out to be not as bad as we feared weather wise. It was mostly bright but with some cloudy spells and a nice wind from the west rippling the water. The temperature was never what you could call mild but at least it wasn’t as cold as it had been of late.

For the next part of the day I had a plan and I had no problem convincing Giles to give it a go. Our plan was to use a method that had been very productive on other waters but one we hadn’t yet used here, for a variety of reasons. Come to mention it, I haven’t seen anyone else use it here either. Here and now is not the place to go into any detail on the method itself but today it worked. Just a small Pike to my rod but in poor conditions, with odds against us I considered this a result. I am sure this little Pike will be the first of many.
By early after noon we were back fishing the bay, way up in the north western corner, a spot I’d not fished before. It may well be productive but it wasn’t today. For our last move we were back in the basin, with the deadbaits spread around not far from our starting point. We spent the last part of the day here, in the same way we had spent most of it; chatting, laughing, putting the world to rights and theorising about the fishing. The sun began to dip and the temperature began to plummet. We could have stayed on into darkness but for once neither of us fancied it, so it was back to the yard. Time is running out on the 2008/09 season, another five months and the rivers will close. Will a BIG Pike cross our paths before then?

Apathy and Irony

I had another busy weekend with only a small window of opportunity to squeeze a few hours fishing in. The plan was to get up at the crack of stupid o clock in the morning and spend a few hours fishing the pit. Once again things didn’t exactly go to plan! The plain truth is, when the alarm sounded the thought of fishing the pit wasn’t enough to drag me out of my warm bed. Eventually after hitting the snooze button for the umpteenth time I managed to get up and out. The kids were stirring upstairs so I poked my head round their bedroom doors, Madison wasn’t getting up for anything but Isaac was keen and after ‘five more minutes’ toddled down stairs for breakfast. By the time the flask was full and we were prepared it was 0730 and a gloomy day was slowly starting to brighten.

As forecast the day was a stinker, gloomy with strong winds from the south and persistent rain. Many anglers seem to think these conditions are the kiss of death for Pike but in my experience it is a pretty good forecast for fishing the gravel pits in this area. On arrival at the pit I spent a while deciding where to fish. The hidden swim in the trees would be a non starter today as there wasn’t enough room to erect a shelter which would be essential with a six year old in tow. I was surprised to see only one other angler fishing, a Carper zipped up tight and cosy in a bivvy. This meant I had an opportunity to fish a large swim that is almost always taken by a carper or two. This spot has plenty of scope and water to cover and I hadn’t fished it since the early nineties. ‘That‘ll do for me’ I thought but on arrival with my kit, closer inspection revealed it was an absolute tip. If being litter strewn wasn’t bad enough a bunch of muppets had made a bonfire which was covered in broken beer bottles, judging by the smell this had been a recent event. Once again my six year old son had to be considered and I wasn’t going to risk his safety with a pile of broken glass. Plan B was to fish the southern bank which was deep with an easy cast to a productive island. Here too I had to fill a plastic bag full over other peoples litter, sadly there was ample evidence that the culprits were Pike anglers. Not only would my fellow anglers be getting a bad name but the area was obviously being Pike fished by idiots. I looked longingly across to my hidden swim in the trees!

By eight o clock I had two deadbaits out soaking while Isaac and I were enjoying the shelter of my little pop up bivvy while the wind whipped rain in. I fished one rod, baited with Lamprey to the Island. Normally this would be a simple cast but the wind was making things more difficult, either gusting and blowing the bait of course or dropping and leaving the risk of landing in the trees on the island. Perhaps I should invest in a bait boat? Not! Eventually I held my nerve and saw the Lamprey land bang on target at about the fifth attempt. The other rod was baited with smelt, and while I was content to leave the Lamprey in place this one was alternated between the deep margin shelf or open water towards the island.

For the next two hours I spent some precious one on one time with Isaac whilst peering through the open bivvy door, keeping an eye on my rods. I helped him read his ‘Star wars’ magazine and he giggled at the ‘Bunny suicides’ book but best of all was watching him feed pieces crisp to a friendly Robin. He was particularly excited when the Robin spotted a worm and after a brief tug of war the bird made off with a second course to its meal. As time ticked by, the sky grew gloomier and the rain seemed to be getting worse, the puddles grew deeper and the bank grew muddier. Everywhere I looked the bankside seemed to be scarred by litter, I suppose that’s the problem with fishing a day ticket pit like this, it is also inhabited by morons.

At around ten o clock Isaac and I were suddenly alerted by the shriek of the BBBB alarm, the Lamprey cast to the island had been picked up, my persistence in casting had been rewarded. The strike met with a solid weight and the rod bent round nicely as I pumped what was obviously decent fish back towards me. The fight was unspectacular, typical of a winter pit Pike and I soon had a good sized fish in the net to Isaac’s excitement. On the mat, the hooks were removed quickly and I recorded a weight of just over sixteen pounds, very nice but unfortunately showing the signs of bad handling from a previous trip to the bank, at least it was returned alive. “What do you think of that?” I asked Isaac as we watched her glide away with a flick of the tail. “That’s cool Dad” he replied “Shall we go home now?” I looked around me and up at the sky which seemed to be getting darker and decided that was a good idea. That fish may have sparked the beginning of a feeding frenzy but I doubt it and we’ll never know, half an hour later we were home, stepping out of soggy clothes.
After the time, money and effort I spend travelling for my fishing I suppose it’s ironic that my heaviest fish of the season (so far!) has been caught from a local water after minimum effort. As much as I enjoyed catching this fish and sharing the experience with Isaac I can honestly say I’d get more satisfaction from catching a fish half that weight from a beautiful natural fishery. Roll on next week!

Persistence

Richard and I had a plan! The weather had turned mild at last but the forecast was for a wild windy day. Our plan was to meet up early and travel a fair way by boat to fish a sheltered part of the system. This area is very hit and miss but has turned up some good fish for us in the past and we had neglected a little recently. The long range forecast had predicted cold weather to come and we felt sure the Pike would be feeding ahead of this cold front, if we could find them. Fishing from separate boats we could search, keep in contact by text and try our hardest to find some fish.

It could have been a great idea but I overslept by an hour and after a nightmare journey (bloody road works!) it was well and truly daylight by the time I launched the boat. While doing so I chatted to a couple of friendly locals who were also setting out for a day’s fishing. It was nice to reaffirm that most of the guys fishing the system are good people and nothing like the morons who have soured the various internet forums lately. Anyway, I launched fully intending to fish the sheltered area as planned, I’d spoken to Richard on the phone and he was already settled into a swim that had produced for us in the past.

As I motored along, it was evident that the wind was nowhere near as strong as had been forecast. I watched a pair of awesome harriers circling over the reedbeds close to the boat on my left. I never tire of watching these birds, they never fail to impress me. Away to the south I could make out three large pale blobs flying across the bay and I’m almost sure these were the Cranes. While looking south my eyes scanned the basin area which was empty of boats, had a nice ripple and looked spot on. I couldn’t resist dropping in there for an hour so altered course and was soon anchored up with four deadbaits scattered around the boat.

An hour or so later I was on the move, back to the plan, heading towards the area I’d intended to start in. I on an area I hadn’t tried before with moored boats along with a side drain and it was looking good. The drain traditionally shelters shoals of bait fish in the winter and my thinking was Pike should be in the area feeding up ahead of the forecast cold spell. I was happy here and felt confident that a fish would put in an appearance. One bait was tucked up nicely beside a moored boat, surely this would be the one? Unfortunately this didn’t last as two other boats moored up in the drain entrance and started fishing just yards away from me. All the miles and acres they have to fish, and they have to stop so close to me!! Pair of plonkers! What should I do? My mind was made up when the boat I’d cast against was boarded by two lure anglers with inadequate tackle who set off and roared up river as if they were in a big hurry. What did I say about the locals earlier? In all honesty, the vast majority are nice people but there are some tossers around!
A sheltered part of paradise

I’d been in contact with Richard who had tried a couple of swims, both of which had produced for us in the past. There was no one swim in particular that appealed to me so I decided to move, change tactics and float troll a couple of deadbaits. I fished a Herring on one rod and a whole Lamprey on the other and for probably the first time this season the boat was powered by the oars. I slowly covered over a mile without a touch. On the way I past Richard who was still fishless and was motoring back to finish the day closer to the boat yard. The trolling had been fun though I wish I’d been using livebaits. Looking into the water, much clearer here than other parts of the system I wished I had some good trolling lures too! That could be something for the future.

By the early afternoon I was back on more familiar ground fishing the basin area once again, Richard was to the west of me in a shallow swim. We stayed like this for a little over an hour then decided to be social and tie the boats side by side for our last move of the day. We’d fished hard all day but hadn’t managed to locate any fish so why not share a cup of tea and a chat as the sun sank? We chose a sheltered spot, fairly close to the reeds and within minutes of settling in Richard finally had a take. The fish picked up a Sardine and was very small but conveniently unhooked itself along side the boat. Well at least we’d managed one fish between us!

Ten minutes later while deep in conversation and gulping tea I was snapped into attention by a fast whizzing bait runner, a take at last! I bent into a solid fish which had picked up a Lamprey and after a brief but spirited tussle Richard netted a nice solid fish for me. I unhooked it in the net, over the side of the boat then lifted her up for a quick photo before letting her swim away. We didn’t weigh it but it would have been around10 to 12 pounds and in the circumstances I was well happy with my first fish of 2009. With a couple of quick takes we had to stay put for another hour, there could well be more fish in the area. We ended up fishing well into darkness and risking another dodgy journey through the gloom back to the boat yard. And so ended another day in paradise.

First fish of 2009, I'm a lot happier than I look!

Back to base in the gloom.

Freezing New Year

The weather was all wrong, another in a sequence of frosty, cold, dull days. However I had a full day ahead of me so there was only one choice of venue, the only place I want to spend my time. Giles was up for the trip too and despite the poor conditions, a few fish had been coming out and we felt we had a chance. Stuff the weather, we were going to give it our best shot anyway.

For some reason, car journeys with Giles are never mundane affairs, something always seems to happen. Today there was no near car accident or anything like that. We were cruising along easily in the pre dawn darkness, Giles went to light a cigarette and the next thing I know there’s a strange sound, an awful smell and I look round to see Giles sitting with his head in a cloud of smoke. Yes he’d set fire to his hair, a large chunk of fringe was now a frazzled mess on the car floor. I suppose it could have been serious but this didn’t stop me from laughing until my guts ached. It was bloody funny and I had tears of laughter in my eyes, even Giles saw the funny side after a while.

We launched the boat without problem, the dyke was surprisingly free of ice. We motored out as the light began to grow in the east and were soon anchored up in “the basin” fishing three rods each. We used similar methods, a couple of deadbaits were fished static on the bottom while a third was used to drift a bait with the wind, then slowly sink & draw it back to the boat. Within ten minutes I looked up to see Giles float moving purposefully towards the boat, he had a take on a static Bluey and by the time he set the hook it was virtually underneath us. A brief battle ensued before a nice fish of around thirteen pounds was netted.

Success early on, excellent! That made the early start in the bitter cold well worth it! Surely this would be the first of many? We stayed in the first spot for about ninety minutes, then started following a plan to keep moving every hour or so. The thinking was; it’s been very cold for over a week so we didn’t expect Pike to be moving about very much, therefore we needed to move, recast regularly and cover as much water as possible to try and put a Pike or two in the boat. We searched a couple of spots in the basin area without success, then tried “the bay” with the same result and so on to the island and the narrows. The bright spots of the day came around noon. Firstly we were honoured to see a Bittern fly serenely past then disappear into the reeds. Then, a few minutes later a large dog Otter put in a brief appearance. I think this is possibly the first time I’ve seen an Otter in the wild in mainland Britain. Richard was fishing from his own boat and he too struggled but did manage a small fish early on.

The weather forecasters had got it spot on, it was bloody freezing, I’d go as far as to say it has been years since I’ve felt this cold while fishing! We kept trying; in fact we fished a total of seven spots without success and only gave in when the sun sank spectacularly in the west. We often stay into darkness but not today, it was just too bloody cold!! Another blank for me but at least I’d managed to put the boat on a fish for Giles, we both blamed the conditions for the lack of sport. I am quite prepared to fish the system through the worst winter weather but I’ll be bloody glad when it turns mild again!

It’s been a quiet few weeks fishing wise, mostly due to lack of time caused by Christmas festivities. I managed two short trips to “the pit” these were uneventful but part of a bigger plan, all will be revealed…or will it? Loose lips sink ships ….The most amusing thing about these trips were the antics of a “bait boater” but more on that another day. Too much food and drink, too much Wii and definitely too much ‘indoors’. It was time to blow the cobwebs away with a long overdue trip to Eden.

Well things didn’t go at all to plan. Late night, not enough sleep, too much other stuff and not out of bed early enough. I arrived at the dyke after an hour or so of uneventful driving through a frosty winter landscape. I told myself that I wouldn’t have missed much in these cold conditions, the afternoon would offer the best chance of a Pike or two. After three days of Christmas over indulgence my head was full of stuff and none of it related to fishing, I really craved my fix of big skies and wilderness, chilling out was the order of the day, a fish would be a bonus.

As I alluded too before, conditions were cold, there was ice on my boat cover which didn’t thaw all day. Add to that grey skies and a bitter wind from the east and most anglers will tell you conditions were about as poor as they could get. Sensibly I opted to fish a spot right in the teeth of the wind. This was a shallow spot in a bay, away from the usual areas and I’d had a take or two here in the past. Looking around, there were several boats in sight, scattered about here and there. I’d passed Richard on my way, he was fishing an area in the narrows that was out of the wind from which he’d caught on a previous trip.

I used the normal four rods; Bluey and Mackerel were fished static on the bottom, a smelt which had been soaked in oil was popped up, cast out and twitched back to the boat. A whole Lamprey was float fished off bottom, allowed to drift with the wind then slowly wobbled back to the boat. I fished the bays, the reed lines and the open water. I reasoned that on a cold day I may need to recast regularly and hopefully drop a bait next to a lethargic Pike. Two hours later I was shivering after a battering from the easterly wind. My hands were numb, my eyes were streaming and I’d caught precisely sweet F.A. It was time for a move; do I play safe and fish the ‘basin’ for a couple of hours or do I join Richard in the ‘new area’? I decided on the latter, just to warm up for a bit. If nothing happened I’d fish the ‘basin’ for last knockings. Just as I started the engine a text came through. Richard had just boated a low double, things were looking up.

A while later I was anchored up about fifty meters away from Richard, sheltered by trees and a reedy bay behind me. The same four rods were cast again; Mackerel just off a point in the reed line, Bluey in the open water, Smelt popped up cast into the bay and twitched back. Finally the Lamprey was allowed to drift away from me. An hour past, Richard moved along to another bay and I was left wondering what to do. Should I stay put in my comfortable position or should I move? I decided that I really should move but would wait for a yacht to pass by before I did so. All of a sudden I noticed a calm patch of released oil in the vicinity of my bluey cast into the open water. Was my float moving? Yes it bloody was! The oil patch had been caused by a Pike chomping on my bait! It was another knee trembling moment, would the strike connect with a monster?

It did connect with a Pike, no monster but a fin perfect six pounder, another fish from this very special water, and after a few blank trips very welcome. Shortly afterwards Richard boated a jack in his new swim. I decided to stay put and settled back to enjoy another spectacular big sky sunset. Unfortunately I’d forgotten my camera so couldn’t record it. Obviously with no camera, when Richard packed up just after dusk, so did I!

This new area, one we hadn’t fished until very recently, has turned up a few fish and why wouldn’t it? We haven’t seen any other boats in this area which is also promising. One to keep visiting in the future, especially as it is relatively close to the boat yard. Also shows there are sure to be other unfished areas that are worth exploring.

That’ll be that for 2008 which has been a memorable and highly enjoyable year whether fishing alone, with my family or with great friends. Lots of time spent laughing in beautiful, peaceful surroundings and we even caught a fish or two. I hope anyone who happens to read this has had a great Christmas and has a prosperous new year. Below are some photo’s from 2008, I have some wine to finish…
Oct'08 History

Summer'08 The future?

Summer'08 Fun...

Feb'08 The Blue Cow

March'08 They do exist.....

More of the same

9am on the first Saturday in December finds me and the kids walking through the Christmas crowds in the town centre. The market is busier than normal; “Justa pand yer strawbreeeees…” (why are market traders always cockneys and where on earth did the strawberries come from?). Everywhere I look there is tinsel and glitter, hideous Christmas music piped through every shop and the crowds! They get worse by the second, every one gets in my way, everyone wants to be in my space. Can’t stand it anymore! Get me out of here!!

Twenty four hours later and I’m anchored up in the basin with four deadbaits spread around the boat. Mine is the only boat in sight, the only sound is the usual squawk of wildfowl and the occasional strange grunting sound. I’m not sure if this was made by a bird, animal or machine but it beat the hell out of ‘Jingle bells’. The day was cold, clear, sunny and bright with a breeze from the west. I had to break a thin layer of ice getting out of the boatyard. (I think I should probably be a lot more careful than I am in these circumstances?) In short, the conditions were piss poor for fishing the system as I knew they would be but what the hell? I fish the system when I can, if I always waited for perfect conditions, I’d always be waiting.
After an hour or so a thought struck me, why not fish another part of the system where I’d caught before in similar conditions? Here the water is clear and weedy, instead of the normal murkiness we are used to. The decision was instant, I tidied up lifted the mud weights and headed south. Forty five minutes later I was sitting comfortably fishing one of my favourite spots in the world. I love it here, its wild, beautiful and occasionally even produces a Pike…..but not today. After ninety minutes or so I lifted the weights again, intending to move just a little way but had the urge to search. I ended up fishing an area I’d never fished before that looked good, clear with attractive reed beds and a side drain entering. An hour later I moved again, further down to another spot that was new to me, opposite a big willow. Three swims, no fish so at 1400 I lifted the weights again and headed back. A pair of Cranes flapped awkwardly through the sky to my left, keeping me company.

Back on more familiar territory and fishing the southern part of the basin, an area that has produced a few takes late in the day before. Once again I spread the baits around the boat and settled back, watching another spectacular sunset and reflecting on fishing the challenging system. The fish my friends and I have been catching so far this season have come from two distinct areas; and one of which has produced 80% of these. Possibly the smart thing to do would be to totally concentrate on these areas, moving within the areas but instead we’ve spent a lot of time, like today, searching far and wide, trying to learn a little bit more. The sun set on another blank day and I felt tired and a little defeated but already looking forward to my next visit.