Monday 17th returned to Pondtail for another session on 5m whip on the same peg (2) but with a different hook! Fishing from 9:10 to 12:10 I set up in identical fashion perhaps best explained by a picture!

Hopefully you can make out how the olivettes and float are locked plus the dropper stotz used. Anyway I started by throwing out 3 small “fists” of groundbait, 2 hard and one softer and proceeded to loose feed 8-10 grains of wheat every couple of minutes. I was soon into fish with the multi coloured tip easily identifying bites on the drop and lifts! The session went better with 50 roach and 4 perch and just the odd fish lost for a 4-09 total.

Wednesday sees me back at peg 10 for a session from 9:30 to 12:30, once again the pike were conspicuous by their absence, with no runs nor blank spells between bites which usually is a sign. Obviously the warm weather is not getting them into their usual seasonal habits. I had added a little bit of fishmeal groundbait to my usual mix and the difference was startling as the blades that appeared once in a blue moon became the dominant species with 21 blades. 10 roach and 4 rudd giving a 3-04 total. I had tempered my approach and had reduced my hook-length to 0.12mm as there was still a bit of colour in the water but I am sure it was the introduction of the fishmeal that prompted their appearance. As usual I fed only wheat.

Events and the weather then conspired against me so it was not until the following Tuesday that I was able to have a session on the Pondtail – this time peg 1. I was glad to be out, especially as it was my birthday and I am no officially a pensioner! The Pondtail did not look great with cold dirty water cascading into the pool, fishing from 8:45 with the same approach and tackle it took 40 minutes before I got my first bite and fish, so at least I hadn’t blanked! It was a full hour before my next bite and then from 11am until I packed up at 11:50 I caught a further 14 roach making it 16 in total for 1-06.

I returned on the Friday to the Pondtail to find the water was coming in at a more reasonable pace but there was a significant tow. This time I opted for peg 2 and a 6m whip, fishing from 8:55 to 11:35 I had a roach of one ounce second cast and that was it, no matter what I tried I could not buy a bite.The session was brightened up by the appearance of a stag munching fr4om the low branches on the far side before running across the hill to the dense vegetation opposite me. Unfortunately my phone could not get a better shot than this!

I decided to go to peg 10 on the Sunday as Monday was taking up with house maintenance! Once again no interest in the pike rod nor signs of pike striking. In a similar fashion to the last visit to peg 10 the fishmeal once again produced blades with a couple of 4oz skimmers added in.The session was interspersed with rain but was okay as it did make the unshipping of the pole easier with wet hands!The final total of 16 rudd, 26 blades, 12 roach and a perch went 4-14, all apart from one rudd coming to double maggot as I made the decision to keep on maggot while occasionally trying the corn as some of the blades would suck a kernel to a skin but would not get it in their mouth!

November beckons and I am of a mind to give the top field a go with the feeder (and pike rod) just so I get out of my usual rut and do something a bit different!