Brenching

The alarm was off and I was up and out of the house like a mad march hare before daybreak.
Well the first part was true anyway.

I arrived at the lake later than planned due to a) not setting the alarm correctly and b) because of the slow old boy taking a early morning Sunday drive on a Saturday.
So it was not at day break that I got to the swim but about 40 minutes after, so I hastily set about getting the spombing due as quickly as possible. The spomb was put to good effect and in quick time two around some 3/4 rod lengths out was baited up. This was then left to rest while I had a quick chat with the overnight carpers. They'd not seen much action bar some mid doubles and I was soon back in the swim getting the rods out.

The first rod out was the reliable in line maggot feeder with a 3" hook link and the second was to be a in line lead baited with a sweet boilie and a PVA bag. Once out it was time for breakfast.
Breakfast has become a bit of a thing of late, gone is the gulping down a bowl of cereal at home, gone is the porridge bot on a winters morning and hello to the bank side butties!
After breakfast and only a hybrid to show for my endeavour, which had hung itself on the size 12 maggot bunch, I noticed that during the many retrieves, on a number of occasions the maggot had either been sucked or taken off of the hook.

The in line feeder rig consists of a in line maggot feeder taped up to reduce the flow of maggots, a quick link, 3" fluro hook link with hook sizes varying from 10-16 depending on whats on the hook or hair. To start with I had used a size 12 with the maggots bunched on to it, but due to the issue of bait being nicked off of the hook I decided to change to the fake baits.
So off with the hook rig and on with the hair rig. The hair had two fake bait red maggots hooked in a V shape rather than the T shape that a lot of other tenchers seem to favour. Whilst I've found the T shape effective, the V shape seem to deter the small silvers.

So with the rig change sorted, the feeder when back out and it brought a near instant result. The bobbin rose and the was pulled tight to the alarm before it dropped back. I connected with something, but it was soon evident that it wasn't a tench and the nodding of the tip signalled a bream had come into the margins.

The bream was soon netted and whilst not a monster by any means, it did show that something was feeding over the baited area.

It was soon returned and the feeder was back out and I settled back to enjoy the sights and sounds around the lake.
A  pair of Great Crested Grebe's were on the water courting in their normal head bobbing manner, three pair of buzzard were using the thermals to climb the thermos, a pair of kestrels were roosting on a branch on an Oak tree.
On the ground signs of plant life were spied and I took a couple of snaps of the wild flowers Primrose and cowslip, were taken around the lake.

Whilst enjoying these sight, it was noticeable that the insect life was not as abundant as previous springs, but this way to due more to the chill in the wind.

After an hour enjoying just being out there the maggot feeder rod was away again. This resulted in another bream taking a liking to the fake bait.

Fake baits are flooding the market and I've noted that with this there is a massive difference in the shape, appearance and feel of them. I'm in the mind that the fake bait needs to feel and look right to fool the fish or maybe its just to fool the anglers so I've stuck with the original and still the best in my opinion.

The morning drifted to midday and a few more bream took a liking to the rubber maggots and it was soon evident that a shoal had moved over the baited area and that they were hoovering it up every last piece of bait. Bream could be seen breaking surface and ever so often I get line bites too.

Just after lunch the boilie rod alarm was screaming and a fish was on the run, but there was one issue, the baitrunner was too slack and the running fish made a tangle mess of the mono before I even got to the rod. I lifted the rod and the fish was already gone. I was left untangling the spool before recasting.

By the time the session end, I had had seven bream and a small hybrid all from the margins, but not a sign of the tench that I had been targeting. With the weather turning milder, I'll soon be able to do short evening session on the pond so I'm hopeful of snagging a few over the coming months.

Back home and preparation are started for the next session and 2kg of hemp was bubbling on the stove.