As cold as charity. No even colder

      I decided to make a trip to the drain to catch some fresh bait for freezing, not that you'd need a freezer to start the preserving process it was so cold that my hands ceased to work after an hour, that and the proverbial lazy wind armed with razor blades made bait catching a truly unpleasant experience.
      After an hour I called in to see the farmer in the hope of warming up by the stove and was offered a coffee with a dash of scotch in it. That revived the optimism and energy levels.
      Before leaving my totally unsheltered swim I'd thrown some old casters and maggots in as groundbait and on my return it was a fish a cast, small roach and rudd which were the fish chosen to be retained for bait and bream, and perch which were all returned.

      Only two hours fishing yielded forty two roach and rudd of a perfect size, seven perch and three bream. I didn't have any pike tackle with me, just to increase my focus on the matters in hand, and inevitably I was smashed by two pike stealing fish from the hook. One broke the line which was easily solved but the second broke my whip so that's a visit to the tackle shop to re-equip. Slightly ironic in that my last three specifically pike fishing sessions have all been blanks with hardly a bite registered.
      Then the pumping started again so it was back to farmer's kitchen to thaw out and enjoy another heartwarming coffee and chat. And why not.