No Leaves, Leaves

 I'm always a tad concerned when I arrive at a popular fishery and there's nobody else there. Do they know something I don't? It does give me the choice of swim though. The gravel pit was nice a clear unlike the other day at the estate lake.  started in a corner swim with a waggler setup and a feeder rig. The waggler fished close in with maggots or casters over hemp. The maggot feeder was cast out to the middle. The first fish out on float was a small roach with a rather bright orange patch just behind the mouth.

Small roach and bream, with the occasional perch followed in fits and starts. I'd catch two or three fish then it would go quiet for ten minutes or so. It didn't seem to matter whether I feed a few maggots and hemp or a handful. I tried casters as well but that just lead to a longer wait between bites. I was recasting the feeder every ten minutes or so but hadn't even had a chewed maggot on it. After an hour I'd had seventeen fish. Just after the hour mark the tip pulled round and I had a small bream. The pattern with the float fished maggots and casters continued as before. At the two hour mark I'd added another 18 small fish. At this point a really strong gust of wind shook a lot of leaves from the trees all over the pit. making it nearly impossible to cast the float in with out catching a leaf.

I had a wander along the bank and found the other corner swim clear of leaves so moved down there. I continued with the same tactics as before. The first fish out this time was a slightly larger roach with a injury on its side.

 
The bites were a bit more consistent in this swim but mainly from small perch. The feeder rig produced another small bream. On the float rig I tried hemp and elder berries to see if I could avoid the small perch but couldn't get a bite on them. After an hour I'd caught thirty three fish twenty five of which were small perch. Another hour passed with the leaves slowly creeping into this swim. The bites slowed down and I managed twenty four fish before this swim became unfishable as well. The feeder rod had given a couple of rattles but only produced chewed maggots.

With the pit unfishable due to the leaves I decided the frustration of trying to get the float in was not worth it and retired gracefully. Ninety four fish in just over four hours had kept me amused so not a bad day. The leaves falling from the trees are going to be a problem where ever you fish at this time of year.