Back Catching

For no good reason I decided to fish the opposite bank from yesterday. There had been a bit of snow overnight and the chill breeze made it feel as cold as yesterday, but the sun made it feel a nicer day. After a bit of a wander I picked a swim with a bit of space so I could spread the baits about. After a bit of plumbing about I found a shelf to my left onto which a put a smelt. A large piece of lamprey was chucked out into the middle of the river. There was the occasional flurry of snow or sleet throughout the morning which came as the breeze stiffened making it feel a lot colder than it was. A family of swans popped over for a visit/feed, but seemed to sense they weren't going to get fed when they saw the big pike floats.

After a couple of hours I got my first run, on the smelt, which amounted to nothing. Half an hour later I got a similar bob, bob, run again contacted with nothing. Finally just after twelve I contacted with a chubby little jack, of 57cm, which spewed out several tiny roach as I lifted out of the water. Half an hour later, just as I had prepared my pot noodle, a second fish was banked, slightly bigger at 67cm and just as chubby. Hoping that there was a shoal of jacks forming prior to spawning I stayed in the same swim, but sadly nothing more happened.

It was nice not to have another blank and to celebrate I popped to the pub down the road for a warming meal and pint.