Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Bright start with increasing cloud cover. Still quite warm.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano match rod, Shimano Exage 1000RC reel, 4.4lb line, 3.8lb Supplex hook length to a 12 eyed hook. .
Baits: Maggots, sweetcorn & bread.
Fish: Roach, perch, bream, dace & bleak.

I had fished this spot back in July having moved there from the weir pool further upstream. On that occasion I was using a light quivertip rod and caught a few fish, including some perch. I had thought at the time that the swim would fish well by trotting a float so that's what I tried. There was more flow after some decent rain and there was more water in the channel. The flow actually increased while I was there as did the depth, but unfortunately this seemed to have a negative effect.

I had planned to use maggots and bought a pint, this being twice as much than I usually buy. The idea was to feed regularly with the hope of bringing the fish on. I could see hordes of small fish going for the maggots each time I threw them in but nothing was interested in my bait as I trotted it down the swim.

After a couple of depth adjustments I started to get a few bites but they were difficult to hit. I finally managed to hook a very small roach. This was followed by a skimmer bream. Next a small chub was chased by a couple of quite small perch, clearly visible just in front of me. I therefore concentrated on that area and was rewarded with a perch that while not that big turned out to be the best fish of the session.

A bleak was chased by perch and a very small jack pike also joined the chase at one point.

The flow had increased by this point as had the depth and this seemed to reduce the already infrequent bites. Controlling the float in the increased flow was tricky and the spot where the perch seemed to be was difficult to fish as it was behind some projecting nettles.

At this point I tried light legering after needing to retackle anyway following a line tangle. But the long rod and my basic rod rest made setting up for the leger difficult, especially as I wanted to target the perch area. So I soon reverted to the float.

A small rudd broke a very quiet spell although I had been getting bites that I couldn't hit. This was followed by a small perch the second and last of the session.

With the flow increasing and bites reducing it was time to call it a day but I did manage one more dace before packing up.

So, what started off as high hopes ended with a disappointing few hours. Fish were caught but my hope to attract some better perch didn't materialise. I left with the feeling that the additional water being pushed through the channel had in some way discouraged the fish. Either that or I just wasn't good enough to catch them !