WARNING! This post contains an image of a JW Avon rod and Garcia Mitchell reel. If you feel that you may be offended or traumatised by cheap and / or old tackle or descriptions of obsolete methods please look away now.
I had planned a session after catfish today given the forecast of 14 degree temps. However, a chilly easterly wind put the mockers on that so plans were changed, rods swapped in the holdall and a later than planned start. Plan 'B' was to try swing tipping for roach at the big lake and if they were 'aving it, I would drop a catfish bait on the edge of the swim. As I drove over the bridge at Chabanais the river look very inviting so I drove down to the one swim in the town centre where there is a platform to fish from. Initial impressions were favourable. The water level had dropped to normal and there was good clarity. Plan 'C' was put into place using my emergency JW Travel Quiver / Avon that I keep in the car and my faithful Mitchell Match reel that resides in the Aldi day bag used for 'peche douce' or light fishing to you foreigners.
The swim is normally easy fishing and gives good results for roach up to around a pound or more. The fishing platform was covered in sludge following the high water other than that everything was tickety-boo. I started with worm on a 14 and an inline wire feeder. An hour passed without a nibble and just as I was thinking of packing up the road loaded smoothly and I found myself playing something that wasn't a roach! It took off towards mid river and then grudgingly allowed me to get a bit of line back..........
Another hour passed without incident and so I de-camped to the big lake where I hoped the roach would be waiting. Nothing, zilch, nada. Tried worm, sweetcorn, artificial maggots on the swing tip and the JW with the float tip on, casting a large zoomer into the distance. I fluffed about with depths, shot and bait all afternoon without a single bite or sign of a fish.
