With the imminent arrival of Gareth and family on the Saturday I took the advantage of going to Bowood alone armed with ice breaker (sash window weight and chain on rope), as several days of sub-zero temperatures had certainly frozen it. Arriving at peg 10 with -2C temperature I set to work but after 30 minutes of hard graft I was in no way near to being able to fish!

The nearside ice was opaque as it was a double thickness – the top layer had partly thawed then froze again so once I broke through the top layer there was a second layer below it! I have fished this peg when I have broken ice an inch thick and caught both silvers and pike but the last time I fished anywhere where it was this thick was in Finland and they were driving cars on it! I gave up after taking these and went home!

Picked Gareth et al up from Heathrow on Saturday evening and Sunday he was itching to get fishing but with Bowood frozen and the river out of sorts we decided to give the river (the Marden) a go at Hazeland, fishing the disabled area by the car park. Fishing for about an hour an three quarters I blanked on the float but Gareth on the straight lead managed to winkle out a small roach and dace.

Monday sees us fishing Bowood from 1-3pm. I was not hoping for much as overnight heavy rain and the melting of the ice did not bode well. In fact it was at least 18 inches up, heavily coloured with the inlet brook a torrent and added to that very strong winds. Needless to say we blanked without a bite!

Tuesday was a very short session on the Marden at Hazeland, just intro the section 1 field, both fishing lead in slacks after the flow had increased. I had a minnow and a trout while Gareth had a clutch of minnows in the hour or so we were there.

Various necessities prevented any further fishing until Friday fishing 9 to 12 Gareth on 10 and myself on 9. I fished my usual way with the same rig using a homemade float, 0.12mm line to a 0.10mm hook-length to an 18 and managed to put together 5 roach, 5 skimmers/blades and 27 rudd for 1-15, no runs on the pike rod. Gareth had 30 silvers for 1-10, but as we packed up he had a run on the pike rod and ended up with one of exactly 7lb.

Sunday sees us at Hazeland fishing by the boom, again Gareth on the lead had 4 roach plus a bonus chub of 1-12, while I saved a blank on the waggler with a solitary roach.

Monday – back to Bowood but another regular has beaten us to the favoured swims so we made our way over the other side of the lake and after the long walk Gareth settled on peg 19 (first peg after the island) and myself on 20.Fishing 9 to 12 again. Depth was the same as fishing the other side but Gareth had a steep drop off at 10 where he fished whereas my peg seemed to slope towards Gareth, so I opted on a flattish spot at 10m also. The wind was a bit cold but using the same rigs I managed 20 roach, 4 ski8mmers/blades, 7 rudd and a rare gudgeon for 2-05. Gareth had 27 roach and 3 rudd for 1-15. As he was reeling in a jack pike take a liking to his sardine but didn’t take it properly and the chance was gone!

So Tuesday 30th sees us back at Bowood for an afternoon session from 2 to 4pm.This time Gareth put me on 10 and he fancied 9. Usual tactics saw 7 blades, 2 rudd, 6 roach and 2 gudgeon for 1-03 was part of the catch- I also had a surprise bream of 2-05 which at one point made me think I had a pike on as it was moving so slowly. I also had two pike of 5-04 and 11-13. The larger pike came in very subdued, partly I think as the line was wrapped under it’s body, but it woke up once in the net Gareth managed to video the “fight”. Gareth had a similar run of silvers and a pike of 5-02.

It has been a slow start to the new year with a heavy cold and weather conditions preventing me from going more than two times. First out was a visit to Blacklands, prompted by the weather conditions making the river unfishable and Bowood equally so for a variety of factors. Anyway the wife suggested going to Blacklands as it was close so who am I to argue!

Friday the fifth sees me on peg 4 on Heron lake at Blacklands, the first peg beyond the now overgrown bench peg! The water was very coloured and the slope down to the peg was quite slippery so I was happy to get down in one piece.There is a groundbait ban at Blacklands and I did not have any worms so my attack was going to be pellet and maggot/casters – these were the white maggots left over from Monk Hall back in September that had been stored in my bait fridge! I set up one rig on a top kit with a Chinese hollow elastic that equated to a 6-8, a chianti style homemade job to 0.12mm line and 0.10mm hooklength to an 18 barbless.

I primed two swims at 10m the left hand one with a decent amount of 2mm expanders and the right hand one with about 50 of the maggot/caster mix, there after I loose fed over the top of both lines. It was cold and the water very coloured so I was not surprised when I didn’t get an immediate response, however after two hours of inactivity I was stunned when the float went under with double maggot which produced a little hybrid of about 3oz. Ten minutes later I had another bite which I hooked but lost on the way in. A further ten minutes passed before a third bite produced a bream of about 2 to 2.5lb, I had inexplicably forgotten to put the scales in which I was to regret!

Another lost fish followed soon after before pulling out of a better fish possibly a carp but may also have been one of the big perch that frequent Heron. A lull followed and after a couple of cups of coffee the float dipped and I hit into a solid fish that I guided towards me slowly but with no great drama until it realised it was hooked and decided it didn’t like it – this was the start of a ten minute battle which ultimately saw me shuffle the carp into the net -just! It was too precarious to unhook on my seat so I took it up onto the flat grassy bank behind to unhook. My guess was it was between 15 and 18lb having weighed similar fish in the past, a quick photo and back it went, leaving me to have another cup of coffee and to take the decision to pack up and go which may appear strange but there is a reason behind my madness! Heron has very specific tackle requirements based on carp fishing but out of camping season they turn a blind eye so I can fish for the silvers, I don’t want to spoil the opportunity for others as if they see me on the cctv hooking/ landing carp consistently then they may change their mind about allowing silvers fishing!

Moving on to the Monday I ventured to Bowood peg 10 although I did have reservations given we had experienced a run of sub-zero temperatures overnight and day temperatures not getting much beyond 1C. On arrival it was -1C, the water was highly coloured with a max of three inches visibility in to it. The water from pegs 3 to 6 were covered in a layer of ice with the early pegs clear due to the flow of water coming into the lake from the tiny brook. All the pegs were covered with debris so the water had obviously risen over the platforms but now was some two feet below the platform so the sluice at the far end of the lake had clearly been opened to reduce the pressure on the dam at the end of the lake.

Having outlined my excuses you can guess what is coming! Fishing from 9:15 to 12:00 not a bite, no sign of any fish either on the pole or on the pike rod, even trying jigging a maggot under the platform, normally a blank saver with small fish, failed. So a trudge back up the hill fishless! Since then been a bit under the weather with a heavy head cold and have got to go to Heathrow next Saturday to collect Gareth and tribe who are visiting for a couple of weeks. Hope the fishing improves by then for him!