My second trip to Barnwell with the hope of catching tench. I didn't think I would get the spot I had last time as I was sure that a local might beat me to it. But when I arrived I was surprised to find that there were no other anglers on the lake. So my initial feelings were of great hope. The wind was blowing into my face, which was a bit of a downer, but I approached things with a very positive attitude. I put in some groundbait before I started tackling up etc., a mixture of Dynamite Frenzied Hemp, breadcrumbs, hemp and sweetcorn. Then the first cast with sweetcorn resulted in a small rudd taking the bait before it reached bottom!

Although I had caught a couple of rudd on maggots on the previous occasion, this time they proved to be really troublesome. To stand a chance of a tench I needed the bait to remain untouched on the bottom, but the rudd were robbing it on the way down on most casts and, even if it made the bottom, they found it there! Swapping to my custard flavoured bread paste didn't help. A change to hookable halibut pellets avoided the rudd but produced nothing.

The wind was also proving very difficult so I decided to set up a float-leger rig using a small bomb weight and the existing waggler. My hope was that this would counteract the effect of the wind while also getting the bait down to the bottom more quickly. But unfortunately it didn't discourage the rudd. A few of the rudd were of a decent size but they were mostly small.

I persevered but not much changed and I was becoming far less optimistic of a tench turning up. I decided, therefore, to abandon hope of a tench and retackle to fish shallower for the rudd. I removed the leger and replaced the hooklength with 3.8lb Supplex and a 14 eyed hook.

I hooked what felt like a decent fish with this new approach but it slipped the hook. Following this the rudd were of a similar size to those that had been bothering me earlier. They were, however, a bit easier to hook. The wind remained an issue.

After a while I became a bit bored with the rudd and decided to pack up a bit earlier than planned and have a walk around the lake to check out alternative swims for future visits. I found a couple of very enticing spots with lily pad beds and because they were on the leeward side of the lake, they would perhaps have been a better bet for me. But it was information for the future.

I also checked out the section of the Nene backwater that flows through the park and which is included on the ticket. As with many small streams during summer it was largely inaccessible. But I did see some good chub at what was in effect a viewing point for park visitors, which was encouraging for a future chub session.

So it wasn't a great session although my expectations were probably set too high. But I now have a couple of alternative swims to consider plus the knowledge of chub in the backwater.