I returned to the Clay Pit to have another crack at the side pools with the hope of some tench. On arrival the swim I had fished on the previous occasion was taken so I went to the next pool. The pools are in fact joined by a narrow channel so there was no reason why one should be any better than the other.

I was using the same setup as before but on this occasion I had only bread and sweetcorn for bait. This turned out not to be a disadvantage.

The chap with whom I had spoken on the previous occasion, and who had given me a number of tips, arrived shortly after me. He fished the first pool at the opposite end to the chap who was there when I arrived.

Things didn't start off as quickly as last time, when I took a carp shortly after arriving. But I plugged on, starting with bread flake and after half an hour or so changing to a single grain of corn. I was just about to give up on the corn when the float sailed away and I was into a tench. It fought to reach the far reeds but I gave no line and the tackle held. After a bit of a battle I netted a 2½lb tench.

There followed some missed bites that weren't too positive then, around 11:15 am, I hooked into another tench, this time on bread flake. The battle was similar, the fish trying to reach the far reeds and then fighting hard before being netted. It was slightly larger at 2lb 12oz.

The fiddly bites continued and it was a while before I hooked one, which turned out to be a small crucian. I had suspected crucians all along when I was getting fast unhookable bites following a lot of preliminary dipping and movement of the float.

And that was to be my last fish. The temperature had risen, the afternoon becoming very warm, and the sun remained bright. After nearly a couple of hours without a bite I decided to call it a day around 2:30 pm.

So, not a lot of fish but I was very happy with the two tench, bearing in mind many earlier trips to this pit resulted in either just small rudd/roach or nothing at all.