Arrival time: 08.30
Weather: Early rain but brightening later.
Swim: Roving.
Tackle: Hardy 11' 6" Specimen Avon, Shimano Exage 4000RC, link leger, 8lb line, 8 hook
Baits: Spam and bread flake
Fish: Blank

Having had some reasonable success in producing videos of my fishing trips I decided on a visit to the Welland at Stamford. It's always been a very reliable venue for me. I had only previously blanked once when the river was in flood. But today was to prove fishless despite conditions seeming to be good.

The forecast was for early rain that should have stopped before I arrived. But it didn't, and I got very wet. My 'moderately rainproof' shoes soon let water and I had wet feet for the remainder of my stay. I also left my stool at home so had to either stand or squat. These were no doubt portents of what was to follow!

I set up just past the 'beach' swim where I had taken three chub on my last visit in the winter of 2019. With my phone set up to video the action I was reasonably confident that I might get an early take. But my confidence was seriously misplaced. I didn't get a touch.

After a while I dropped down onto the beach swim itself, which again had provided many fish in the past. But again not the hint of a chub.

Moving up to the swim above the shallow gravel section of the stretch I cast across to the far bank and here I did get a jab on the rod top that I missed. Not having a stool meant I was fidgeting about a bit to keep comfortable and I didn't have my hand close enough to the rod at the critical moment.

And so it went on as I explored all the chub haunts that had yielded fish at various times in the past. Even a 'sure bet' spot on the stretch past the footbridge didn't oblige.

Conditions appeared good, the water level not being too low although the flow was quite weak. In the past the chub have gone off the feed when the water has coloured up, possibly because of an upstream sluice being opened. It was a bit coloured today but hardly enough I would have thought to affect the fish. It will remain a mystery.

One surprising thing was that I met another angler who had caught a fine trout of around 2lb from the beach swim that I had fished earlier. He was float fishing maggot and hadn't caught anything else. However, the fact that a trout was feeding would tend to suggest that the water quality wasn't the problem.