Arrival time: 08:00.
Weather: Cloudy start - brightening late morning and becoming hot.
Tackle: Greys 12' Prodigy TX Float rod, Allcocks 4" centrepin, 4BB waggler, 6lb line with a 3.8lb Supplex hook length to a 16 eyed hook.
Baits: Maggots, sweetcorn & hemp as attractor.
Fish: Roach, perch, small chub & bleak.

I had cut short my previous session on the Houghton back channel because of the heat and had maggots left over. At the same time another very hot spell was forecast so I decided to go to the Offord Top Stream to try for some perch before it once again became too hot to get out. On arrival the amount of surface weed on the car park pool was unbelievable and the top stream was also affected. But fortunately a gentle flow had kept the middle clear and I managed to find a spot where it was possible to fish over the marginal weed.

The temperature was 18℃ when I arrived and it was really quite pleasant with just a gentle breeze. Fish were topping and things looked promising. I started with maggots and something tried to take them on the drop. The next cast produced a reasonable roach. A good start.

It wasn't long before the first perch was caught. Nothing big but very plucky as always. There followed a small fingerling chub and the occasional bleak on the drop.

Watching a distressed fish cross the stream I first thought it might have been a snake, but as it reached the margin of the far side surface weed there was a big splash as something went for it. I thought that was the end of it but not long after it reappeared and started swimming back towards my side, only to be taken by a predator as it reached the edge of the surface weed. The general consensus from comments received on the video suggests it was a big perch.

Things then went quiet for a while!

I had tried sweetcorn for the roach and thrown in hemp as an attractor but the corn didn't seem to interest them.

I decided to try something that had worked before on the stream, basically a free line approach with just one small shot on the line. I had found in the past that perch went for a dropping bait or were happy to take it off the bottom. I felt for bites as with touch legering.

This worked with a couple of roach being hooked quite soon after I started. And then a couple of perch. A number of takes were missed however.

As midday approached it had become very warm and the bites had fallen away. Conscious of the after effects of my overheating on the previous Monday I decided to call it a day. It had been a fun few hours with bites throughout and a nice mix of species. No big perch obliged, even though they were obviously about, but it was enjoyable.

A tiny shrew was moving around my feet - so quickly I thought I had imagined things - but at one point it emerged from the undergrowth to give me a clear view. A fascinating little creature.