Three Out Of Three Thanks To A Friend

New Year's day and I was heading towards the pit half expecting it to be busy. If it was I had an alternative. To my surprise there was nobody there. No anglers, no ice, and most surprising of all no robins. I had half a mind to fish the far side, but lacking conviction I opted for my favourite corner swim. A small spotty in the tiny bay and half a small mackerel under the overhanging branch. A bit of liquidised bread around each float and a bit on the bank for the robins that still hadn't appeared.

I moved the baits every half hour or so as you have a large area available to you from this spot when it's not iced over. Just before lunch I gave the baits a bit of a stab with the knife and moved them back to their original positions while I had my lunch.

With no bites forthcoming I contemplated moving to the other side. By the time I'd finished contemplating another pike angler had materialised on the far side. I decided to stop put and just cast a bait further out towards the middle and keep one in the shallows near me. Half past three and the robins turned up and stated feeding on the breadcrumbs. Don't know what had kept them, perhaps they'd taken my advice and got a decent job. As I tried to get a picture of the paler one the float out in the middle slowly moved away. After quite a hectic fight I had what looked to be a familiar fish in the net. It was the same fish as last Tuesday but now five ounces heavier. Oh well, a blank saver at least.

A sardine replaced the missing mackerel and I fished into dark but nothing more was forth coming.  Three out of three but two different fish. The other pike angler didn't appear to catch anything.