Arrival time: 9.00
Weather: Quite chilly but not too windy. Bright spells but clouds were gathering.
Tackle: Hardy 11' 6" Specimen Avon, Shimano Exage 4000RC, link leger, 8lb line, 8 hook
Baits: Spam, cheese paste.
Fish: None

My hopes that the water level would have receded were misplaced since although the level was down, it was still way above normal. Once again I blanked.

The car park was unusually busy when I arrived, partly due to a number of contractors' vehicles. But there were also more cars and a number of anglers could be seen on the main river. A chap I had met when I was last there was unpacking his gear and had already scouted around the water. He warned me that the level was still high.

I made my way to the mill stream followed by a chap who had pulled in the car park shortly after me. The stream was still looking very difficult to fish. With him following me I had to make a decision on where to pitch and I chose a spot about midway along the stream where I had caught on previous occasions. He went on to fish at the head of the stream.

My choice of pitch did in fact give me a choice of a couple of spots. I started off in the upstream of the two, dropping cheese paste into the slightly slacker water under the near bank. I had made the cheese paste from a recipe found on line; stilton, cheddar, liquidised bread and a touch of garlic. The resulting past had turned out just right. Soft, but plastic enough to stay on the hook. I was keen to see how it worked.

My hopes soon started to fade as I didn't get a hint of a touch in this first spot. I therefore moved downstream slightly where I could cast to nearer the far side, where the flow was much reduced. But with the centre of the stream belting down it was difficult to keep my bait where it was cast.

Fishing from a standing position with rod high I worked the cheese paste along the gravel bottom on the far side, casting to various places within the swim. But despite trying this for quite a spell and exploring different areas, I didn't get any indication of interest whatsoever.

I popped up to see the other chap who had a feeder out in the slacker part of his swim but the water was still moving at a pace. He said he had had a couple of knocks but nothing else. To be honest, the knocks could have been caused by debris in the flow.

By now I was beginning to realise that once again I had a challenge on my hands if I were to catch anything. Having tried just about everything where I was pitched I moved downstream and tried another couple of spots where bullrushes were providing slacks to explore. I was quite hopeful given the nature of these swims, but again I didn't even get a sniff of interest.

After finally trying for a while in the bridge pool I accepted defeat and packed up just after lunch. My only good luck was that it started raining just after I had packed the car! Although, on the plus side, I also had a good sighting of a kingfisher and watched a grass snake swim away from the bank, so nature provided what the fishing didn't.