A game of two halves really, scrappy, untidy, but I can't complain about the result reached under the big Fenland sky. There were no signs of Pike moving anywhere and all seemed calm on the surface of the drain.
Smelt cast towards the reeds and a collapsed tree on the far bank produced one take that took the tackle into the sunken wood and debris and resulted in a lost fish. Later while catching some fresh bait for freezing a large perch followed a small Roach as it was being brought to the bank.
A small live Roach went into the swim and a couple of minutes later down went the float as the Perch continued his feasting. The Perch cruised around as if he owned the drain and only as he approached the net was his true size realised, then, right at the lip of the net he opened his mouth and out came the bait and hook. The only thing in the landing net was one small Roach that swam away.
That is the only way I can describe it without incurring the wrath of the boss because of my language.
For the remainder of the afternoon I might as well have fished with bare hooks so I went back to catching roach for bait.
Then home for a beer and began planning the next trip.
