The plan was to return to the tip of the Triangle and fish the crease between the main river and the lock cutting. I had caught chub there before and with some flow back in the river I hoped to catch again.

On arrival it was bright with a clear blue sky but chilly at 12⁰C with a fresh breeze. I was using a cage feeder packed with crumbed bread and some broken-up boilies. Anticipating perhaps an early bite I was to be disappointed and after an hour and numerous recasts I hadn't had a touch.

The wind was freshening all the time and the sky clouded over. With the rod tip high the quiver tip was being badly affected by the wind, both directly and by the line billowing in the gusts. I changed to a leger weight and tried a couple of spots on the far bank where overhanging bushes were into the water and a raft had formed at one side. But this was no more successful than the crease.

With the wind becoming a real nuisance I decided to move, walking back towards the car park. I first tried a spot where a bush was overhanging the river on the near bank. The idea was to change to a single SSG shot and let the flake drift under the bush. It was a tricky swim and casting was difficult requiring no more than a gentle swing of the bait. But there were no takers.

I next moved back downstream a few yards to where a limb of a large willow had fallen into the water at some time in the past. There were branches each side but enough clear space to cast and let the flake drift under the downstream branches. After a short while I had a good pull on the quiver but made contact with branches on my strike, causing me to slacked the line. I felt the fish but couldn't be sure if I had hooked it and after slackening the line it certainly wasn't on.

I persevered in this swim for the remainder of the session, getting a bite most casts but they were only sharp pulls that proved impossible to hit. I changed down from a 6 to a 12 hook and started using smaller pieces of flake. After quite a while I managed to hook a fish which proved to be a small chub. A predator, which I suspect was a perch, chased it in as I was retrieving line, but it didn't manage to grab it before it was lifted clear of the water.

The wind was now gusting strongly and I was having some concerns about being under the tree but fortunately only twigs and leaves were dropping down. The small chub proved to be my only fish although I continued to get the sharp pulls on the quiver.

So it wasn't a very successful session but the bites in the final swim kept me busy even if I couldn't hook the fish. I wished I had taken my small box of micro lures as I could have had a try for that perch but they weren't in the tackle bag. Isn't it always the way!