Second trip of 2008; again just an afternoon.

The trouble with arriving in the afternoon is that all my favourite spots are taken. However, on this occasion a chap left soon after I arrived, so I quickly moved into the spot where I had the big carp last year; let's call it the tree swim; because I sit under a small tree.

It was very quiet and nobody seemed to be catching. I had spoken to a chap who was leaving and he had had only one bite all morning. Still, I persevered with the margin fishing and after a while had a good pull; hooked it and lost it after a few seconds; the hook hold failed. This was to set the pattern for the day. I lost four fish, two of which felt good, and one of those actually smashed me. Total frustration.

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I managed to land two fish:

Mirror carp (6lb 8oz) - legered bread flake [18.10]
Mirror carp (6lb 0oz) - legered bread flake [19.40]

The frustration continued. After a torrential downpour that left the bank like a mud bath the evening turned out quite nice. About half hour before dusk a carp started feeding on the top by the reed margin. I cast a crust only to have two Canada Geese swim over to try to eat it. Four bloody attempts to get that carp were all thwarted by those geese and then I tangled my line behind the reel drum; at which point I gracefully gave up.

The fishing may have been iffy but the wildlife put on a good show. Besides the Canada Geese, one pair of which had a brood of cute little chicks, I saw a heron and had some particularly bold chaffinches visit me.