I arrived at the lake in darkness, expecting a cold night but excited nonetheless at the prospect of being able to stay as long as i liked in the morning - and a chance to see the lake in daylight for the first time in a while.With absolutely no wind, rapidly dropping temperatures and tuesday’s blank weighing on my mind, I settled on fishing the swim where I have had the most success, and where my confidence is highest.

Getting set up was no problem, and neither was finding my mark for both the rods (I could almost do this in my sleep now), so it wasn’t long before i was away and fishing. I decided to bait with some pellet and hemp on the margin rod, and stick with the boillie only approach on the right hand rod. Both rods were baited with glugged RSG (Red Shrimp and Garlic) boillies.

After feeling somewhat detached from the fishing process on my last session, I was determined to make the effort to get a bit more involved. As the temperature spiralled, and froze the condensation on the inside of my bivvy, I sat out watching the beautiful, flat calm lake. There was absolutely no sign of fish moving, but there rarely is in my experience there. It was so quiet and peaceful I felt there was, perhaps, a little magic in the air.

  

Sadly, I slept soundly and untroubled by my buzzers. It was a cold night, without a breath of wind, and I awoke to a rather spectacular frost, and a breathtaking sunrise.The morning sun soon melted away the frost, and brought a beautiful, sunny day. I rebaited both rods, switching to tiger nuts on the margin rod, and a bag of pellets on the right hand rod. Again, I had no joy before packing up in the early afternoon, as the sun began to fall behind the opposite treeline.

Despite the fact this will go down as another blank session, it was actually rather enjoyable. As a friend wrote to me this week, fishing is more than just putting a big Carp on the mat, it’s all about ‘being there’, and seeing things that no-one else will see. By the time the first joggers had made it down, the frost had faded, and I felt priveliged to have witnessed that crisp, wintery glory all by myself.

  

Now that the frosts have arrived, and the water at the lake has gone clear, I feel a rethink is needed to get me catching again. It’s never going to be the same type of sport as I had in October, but November has brought a new challenge, and if I succeed in catching, that fish will mean all the more as a result.

Bring it on!

 

Stumble it!