Ice stopped play

      A sunny but misty day and it is freezing cold. The drains and rivers are frozen over and the ice is getting thicker and thicker, the ice does break up when a little water is pumped off but the broken ice forms rafts and floes and they freeze up in the clearer water with great rapidity. I lobbed a half-brick onto the ice and it simply bounced and skidded away into the reeds on the opposite bank.
      Obviously the pike fishing has come to a grinding halt, I drove down to the river this morning for a reconnaissance to be greeted by the views above and below and a growing and steadily developing sense of frustration.
      A cup of coffee with the farmer didn't lift the gloom about the conditions but access to an estate reservoir where we can form a syndicate and stock the twenty acre lake with trout lifted the spirits a little. Apparently the water is full of coarse fish and there are some big perch in there too, there's nothing like a little downtime planning to give a gentle lift to the spirits. Of course the reservoir is frozen solid too.
      Never mind you just have to be philosophical about the conditions and believe that the fishing will be all the more enjoyable when the ice does eventually melt.
      Now, let's have a look at the long-distance weather forecast and search for a glimmer of hope. Or warmth.