Arrival time: 09.15.
Weather: Bright start with increasing cloud cover. Remained mild with little wind.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano match rod, Rapidex II 2400 centrepin, Drennan 4-swan loafer float, 6lb line to 12 eyed hook (stream).
Pre-loaded waggler with a 3lb pre-tied Drennan hook length and 16 wire hook (lock cutting)
Baits: Maggots and worms.
Fish: Mainly perch with just one small roach

Another trip to Offord this time to try trotting the Mill Stream. I had my eye on the glide that runs down to the road bridge and was pleased to see it was free when I arrived. I was using a 4-swan Drennan loafer float that I thought would handle the flow but recent rain had livened things up a bit. A combination of some turbulence and a faster flow made controlling the float extremely difficult. After a fairly short while I decided to make a move, setting up in the much calmer water of the lock cutting.

During my short stay on the Mill Stream I managed just one small perch. Fishing along the crease between the faster flow and the nearside back eddy I wasn't getting definite bites but my maggots were being continually plucked off the hook. The float occasionally paused as it went down stream and I think small fish were grabbing the maggots. The same thing happened when I changed to worm. Controlling the float in the faster water on the far side proved to be extremely difficult and further downstream the current took the float into the nearside, where snags threatened tackle loss. I was only there about an hour before deciding to move.

Because I had the match rod my choices for an alternative swim were limited and I didn't want to return to either of the two swims I had fished on previous visits. So I went to the lock cutting which was on the way back to the car park from the Mill Stream. I had planned to fish it one day in any event, so this sort of brought things forward.

I plumbed up near bullrushes in the nearside margin and introduced some crumbed bread and loose maggots. Fishing a waggler I was soon getting bites and it wasn't long before a small perch was brought in. Small fish, probably dace or perhaps bleak, were going for the maggots on the drop, an annoyance that continued throughout the session.

Changing to worm was more selective for the perch and a couple of fish came off soon after being hooked. Perhaps they hadn't been hooked but were just holding on to the worm! The early bites soon started to become less frequent and I was doubting that many more fish would be caught. However, as can be the case with perch, a better fish turned up unexpectedly on worm which encouraged me to hope for a few more of the same stamp, or perhaps bigger. But it wasn't to be.

I did catch a couple of more perch and a small roach but with the sun now on the water I doubted that sport would improve greatly. And I had run out of worms having brought only the remainder from my previous outing. So I decided to pack up a bit earlier than planned. I was disappointed by how the short Mill Stream session had turned out but pleased that I had at least tempted a few fish from the lock cutting.