A Great Day On Bait I Couldn't Give Away

 I only went to get rid of the last of the maggots. When I shook the tub as I removed them from the fridge I got that old death rattle indicating many had turned to caster, as for the rest well they looked pretty limp. However I've fished with worse so still fancied my chances so off I ventured into the wind. 

All I needed was to find some shelter as the wind was gusting above 40mph, it felt pretty cold in it too but the sun was trying it's best to negate the chill. Unsurprisingly the fishery was empty aside from three hardy souls.

I settled in the most sheltered corner I could find, it was still choppy but nothing compared to the rest of the pond. I fancied trying a heavy pole float and kicked off with a succession of tiny roach in the deeper water, however this was hard work and I really should have been out there on waggler, so before changing I thought I would try the margins. There was actually a lot of tow and at times my float dashed away like it was going downstream on a choppy river. I was sitting behind a large platform, fishing near the edge of it in around two feet of water.

What I found worked well was resting the rod on the edge of the platform with the butt on my legs, a foot of line from the rod tip to the float held it stationary, well sort of, it still danced around in the tow which seemed to ebb and flow but the fish didn't mind as a couple of carp made for a good start, all thoughts of waggler subsided as I concentrated on the tip of my float bobbing through the chop. Bites were coming at perfect intervals, a few roach got in among the carp but I could almost tell when the bigger fish were about when it went quiet for a minute or two. 

I must admit I go to these pools armed with maggots to try and get good perch, the flavouring I put in them seems to attract the old stripeys and it worked today as the strong jagged fight of a fish got me off the platform reaching for the net, I thought this didn't feel like a carp and as spray blew off the water the sergeant flashed it's stripes confirming my quarry was in sight. I slipped the net under a lovely fish that was well over a pound probably closer to two and I was really happy.

Anything unattended today was potential wind fodder although by now my mat was soaking wet and propped under my ruckbag one end to stop it flapping. On stopping for food my lunchbox lid went airborne and on finishing eating, the lunchbox itself followed suit, being chased by me quite comically as it skidded across the large platform. Long net handles come in quite handy in such circumstances I concluded.

My windswept antics failed to put off the fish although landing the fish was hard as I had to play them out from the edge into open water away from the platform's legs, here in the open the wind caught the net which had quite a bend at times but it didn't stop me netting a few more F1's and carp, which sure beat trying to catch tupperware.

Not long after lunch most of my poxy quarter pint of maggots were gone but they were enough to get me over 20lb of carp, perch and roach in three hours. Mind you I was also feeding the robin who's ever so hungry chicks could be heard in the bushes behind me demanding more, no doubt tucked out of the wind better than I was. I chucked the last handful on the platform for them as I was done. So much for not being able to give the bait away, the robins loved it and so did the fish.