Up the creek, down the creek or on the creek

      The river that runs through the village has quite a few names: The Welle Creek, The Creek, The Old Nene, The Nene Ouse Navigation even The Nene and I'm sure that there are a few more local names that I haven't even heard yet.
      Anyway yesterday it was the be a short session of a couple of hours on any one of the five names above and whichever one you choose they're all the same place. Well we are talking about West Norfolk after all. There was the inevitable stiff Fenland breeze blowing from the south west which made the fishing difficult but not uncomfortable, the dense weed is still many feet deep on the bottom so a wobbled dead fresh silver fish or the same bait drifted with the wind was the order of the day.

      After about half an hour the float crashed down on a long drift and the first pike of the afternoon session was on, ten minutes later that pike was in the net, unhooked and on her way after a quick photograph. Just over thirty six inches long, beautifully marked and coloured, and a really powerful scrapper. She was developing a proper set of shoulders too.

      A short while later and another pike took the bait, smaller this time but just as feisty and the same routine was followed. Was it going to be a hat-trick? Sadly no, but three perch took the bait in rapid succession in a quick one, two, three but the largest could only have been twelve ounces so they were speedily returned too.
      A successful session, pack the gear into the car then it was just a case of watching the sunset and sitting on a wall and having a chat and cup of tea with the farmer.