Arrival time: circa 11.30 at first swim.
Weather: Bright start then clouded over. Extremely windy.
Tackle: 11' 6" John Wilson Avon quiver with 1.5oz quiver, Shimano 5000RE reel, simple 3SSG link, 6lb line, 8 hook.
Baits: Bread flake.
Fish: Blank

The plan was to explore a side channel at Houghton that I hadn't viewed previously. But on the way I crossed the Trout Stream which was running very high, as was the side channel when I arrived. Things didn't look very promising.

The channel certainly had some interesting features with trees at the water's edge and occasional rafts and submerged branches. But unfortunately there were also flats leading to the water that, in summer, would probably be dense reed beds. The vegetation was now all flattened but still partially in water. Without wellingtons I couldn't get near enough to the water's edge to fish most of these spots.

Starting at a more open area of the bank I began by casting outside a submerged branch with the hope of rolling the bread flake under the small raft that had been formed. It seemed a good ploy but produced nothing. I then cast close to the front of the raft, a lucky perfect cast as it turned out, meaning that the bait must have certainly drifted under the raft. But again nothing.

Moving on, I fished a difficult swim under tree branches and thick with the stems of dead vegetation. Again the aim was to drop under some branches. It looked very chubby and I was hopeful, but again nothing obliged. At the same spot I tried a slack under the near bank a little further downstream but this didn't produce any action either.

Downstream from this point the channel appeared fairly featureless, so I walked back to where I entered the stretch, just downstream of a weir. There was a slack cum back-eddy that seemed a good bet but after 20 minutes or so there was no indication of any interest. At this point I decided to call it a day on the channel and went back to the Trout Stream to see if I could succeed there.

I tried three or four spots, two of which had produced on an earlier visit when the water was up. But the water was even higher today and, as with the side channel, I didn't get a touch.

So all in all it was a bit of a disappointment. It was good to check out the side channel, which has distinct possibilities once the water level returns to nearer normal levels. I'm also looking forward to returning to both the Trout Stream and the side channel in the summer, when both I'm sure will present an entirely different set of challenges.