New Year Same as the Old

The first session of the year didn't get off to the sort of flyer I'd hoped. I did however remember the teabags this time. I decided to fish the Ouse again, this time further downstream and on the opposite bank. This section had been good to me in the past, but not today. Apart from the lack of fish it also lacks sunshine, the high bank and low sun mean it doesn't see any for a few months. While it wasn't really cold today the lack of sun means the greasy alluvial mud, deposited by the last flood, doesn't dry and can be quite treacherous. As I discovered when I slipped and cut my head on the end of a branch.

 








After no action in the first swim I moved on. Not long after settling in a few roach scattered to my right followed by a large swirl near the bank. I moved the bait from under a tree further down to the vicinity oft he swirl, while the other remained under the tree to my left. Just after lunch a pike  by the float on the left. I don't know whether it was attacking the float or what, but as there was a bait four foot under the float I left it there. Rather than move about on the treacherous mud I decided to stop put, especially as I'd seen active pike. Sadly that was the only pike activity I saw. Oh well, it can only better - can't it?

 








On the way back to the car, in the dark, I managed to lose the path. It wasn't until I realised the house lights were on my right and should have been on my left that I realised something had gone wrong. I turned off my head torch allowing my eyes to become accustomed to the dark and headed back the way I came, eventually finding the correct path. The problem with torches is that they restrict your view to whatever is lit up. Whereas leaving your eyes to get accustomed to the dark, especially in the countryside, allows you to see a lot more.