First Time Out Alone!

I felt well enough to have a session on my own so decided to go to the local pond again one evening. It had been a sunny day but there was a chilly wind so I put a fleece on and took a waterproof jacket in my rucksack. I had spent the afternoon going through my gear so that I would take only the essentials as although it was only a few minutes’ walk I didn’t want to overdo it. A flask of tea and I was ready. I managed the walk without any problems and soon set up my gear. I was using my float rod and had it set to the depth which I was catching fish last time which was about three feet. A single red maggot on the hook and a neat cast out saw the float bobbing a couple of inches out of the water. Far too high for any fishing especially with the shy bites in this water and the wind was blowing it about wildly. Clearly I had lost a shot since last time so I reeled in and looked in my box for a small shot. Not for the first time I reminded myself that I needed to get some more shot but after some searching around I found one which balanced the float just right with only the tip showing out of the water.

I waited confidently for a bite and began to notice my surroundings, the birds singing, the wind in the trees, the road traffic next to the pond and the pond itself. There were rings on the surface where fish were rising and one or two splashes where fish were jumping. It was idyllic if a little cold. As the sun went down the breeze was getting colder and I soon had my waterproof jacket on as well. I made a few casts without catching anything then the float bobbed and I was into my first fish, not a tench as I had suspected but a rudd. The fish were still rising and jumping but I was not catching as much as usual and it was a good ten minutes before I caught the next fish, another tiny rudd. I had put some groundbait in but it was not doing a lot of good so I cast into a different area. The float was ominously still so I brought it in with a nice lump of weed on the hook. This happened a few times in different places so I shallowed up to about two feet hoping that I was now above the weed. 

Then came a period where I was catching a fish every few minutes, mostly rudd but a few tench who didn’t like to keep still for their photo, curling themselves up and slipping out of my hand at the first sign of me opening my fingers so that I could take a picture. Then something different, the float rapidly shot away and I was into another fish, it didn’t put up much of a fight, in fact I wondered if I had caught another load of weed but I soon saw an orange flash beneath the surface, another goldfish! I have been catching one every time I have been to the pond recently and they have all been different. God only knows how many there are in the pond, obviously the local residents have been putting them in and they seem to survive and avoid the heron. I know that there are more than I have caught because other anglers have been putting them on the club’s Facebook page.

Then it went quiet for a bit, I tightened the zip on my jacket as I was feeling the chill and decided to take the rod around the lake for a speculative cast. Finding a clear swim was not easy as the weed is in full growth and the light was beginning to go but I found one or two but didn’t have a bite. Then I got to the far side of the pond which looked fairly clear and caught another rudd and tench before I decided to go back and sit in my chair, huddle up and try to keep warm. It was deep into dusk although I could still see my float and the fish had come on to feed again and it was a fish a cast. The temperature was dropping and I started shivering, I was wearing four layers on a May evening and was shivering, what a country we live in! I decided that enough was enough and quickly packed up what little gear I had and went home. It had been an interesting session and I was surprised how much activity there was on the surface and left wondering if I could catch them with a fly or small piece of bread, something to try another time.