Arrival time: 09.20.
Weather: Overcast and not too hot with occasional light breeze
Tackle: Greys 12' Prodigy TX Float rod, Allcocks 4" centrepin, pre-loaded waggler , 6lb line direct to 14 eyed hook.
Changed to a size 16 fine wire / 3lb hook length.
Baits: Bread flake and sweetcorn.
Fish: Roach

After much deliberation as to whether I should go to a lake or a river I decided to try the Car Park Pool at Offord. I had planned to fish a swim on the opposite bank to the car park, taking a float road to fish what is basically static water. I had hoped for some roach with the remote chance of a tench. However, on arrival, the pool was heavily weeded with a large area covered by surface weed and possibly algae. Plumbing the depth in my chosen swim I almost lost the plummet when it snagged in weed, so I moved to a spot near the access to that section of bank. It was just downstream from a small weir and I hoped it would be less weedy and the water better oxygenated.

Having settled, almost an hour after I arrived, I fed some hemp and coarsely crumbed bread. There was a little flow from the weir but it was hardly discernible and the waggler setup I was using worked fine. The flow actually stopped some time after I arrived.

I started with a small piece of bread flake and was surprised to get a bite on the first cast. I missed it but it was reassuring. I continued to get bites, and missing them, changing after a few casts to sweetcorn as it was less easily nibbled off the hook. This worked as I soon hooked my first fish, a roach that wasn't big but certainly not a tiddler. This was to set the pattern for the session, namely lots of bites but only the occasional success in hooking fish. My second hooked fish came off as I was bringing it in.

After a while I changed the 14 eyed hook to a pre-tied fine wire 16 on a 3lb hook length. This resulted in a hooked fish almost immediately, although subsequently I was still missing bites.

An intermittent breeze was blowing into my face and made it more difficult to hit the bites. When the breeze eased it was possible to see slight preliminary movements of the float before the fish actually took the bait, but with the breeze these were not seen, meaning that there was less time to react to the true bite when it came.

I think the final tally was four fish, with one other coming off. Not a big bag but they were all decent roach and well worth catching. I had taken a float rod with tackle suitable for a possible larger fish, such as a tench, but in the event I think I would have been far better off if I had taken my match rod.

There might not have been a lot of fish landed but the bites kept me busy and the pure peacefulness of the place was worth as much as the success of the fishing. I had deliberated going to a commercial lake, where prior to the bank holiday I might have expected to find quite a lot of people, which didn't appeal. As it was I was almost alone, with only one other angler on the opposite bank and other than him only nature to keep me company. Exactly how I like it!