Arrival time: 10:00.
Weather: Sunny with gathering white clouds and a gusty easterly breeze.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano match rod, Shimano Exage 1000RC reel, 5lb line, 2.5lb pre-tied Drennan hook length to 16 fine wire hook.
Baits: Maggots, worms, sweetcorn & hemp as attractor.
Fish: Dace, rudd, roach, a small chub & bleak.

I had fished the Dolphin Meadow stretch of the Great Ouse soon after I joined the St Ives club back in 2020 but had blanked. My approach back then was to leger, hoping for chub, but I've since learned that winter is the best time to seek that quarry. I had also learned that the match men fished the float out in the stream. So this time it was the match rod with maggots and worms, the quarry being anything that turned up. And a few species did, although the expected perch were absent.

I had checked out some swims the previous Sunday and headed for peg B17, which was situated close to a tree that provided shade for a couple of hours before the sun moved clear of it. There was a lot of pond weed and 'cabbages' were visible below the surface well out into the river. Surface weed nearer the bank provided a further challenge that proved to be a problem when bringing fish in, a couple being lost as a result.

I started with maggots and soon hooked into a fish that came off as it met the edge of the surface weed. It was probably a dace. I landed a dace shortly after. And a few more dace were caught during the session. A small rudd was followed by a better one that came in embedded in a large clump of weeds, necessitating the landing net purely because of the weight of the weeds. A better fish was then lost after becoming embedded in the surface weeds.

Worm didn't provide any bites, which sort of confirmed the absence of any perch, a species that I felt sure I would catch.

Fortunately there weren't too many boats but there were a couple that ignored the speed limit and created serious wash. A junior kayaking group on the other hand were led by a very polite and mindful chap.

Hoping to attract better roach I tried sweetcorn and a positive bite instead rewarded me with a small chub. Unfortunately that was the only fish I caught on corn, the roach not obliging.

As the upstream breeze freshened it became difficult to control the float, the surface weed also catching the line and impeding the progress of the float in the gentle flow. So, for a while I tried dropping the bait in a clear patch among the surface weed, hoping that some perch were hiding in there. I got some fussy bites, suggesting small fish, which was confirmed when I hooked a tiny rudd. A somewhat better roach then came from the spot, after which it went a bit dead. The hoped for perch didn't show.

A few more dace and some bleak took the maggots back out in the stream but it had become increasingly more difficult to control the float. And the sun had moved around such that I was fully exposed.

I had decided to pack up by 2.00pm so as a final attempt I dropped a worm down among the surface weed, leaving it there for a while but nothing materialised. When a missed bite resulted in the line getting into an impossible tangle around the rod as the float flew back, I decided it was time to call it a day at 1.30pm.

There were no big fish, and the fishing was challenging, but it was good to get out on a river after a three week break from fishing. My expectations weren't high so I wasn't at all disappointed.