Supersize me

Date fished 4/6/2022

6.30am until 12pm

I can hear the running water calling for June 16th, but today's water was still. 

An early morning walk with Tom yesterday followed by a celebratory McDonald's (or two) without having to leave Hexham was enough to plan a return trip to Tilcon. This time Tomald was also coming. I better get the camera ready, I thought as I got the same kit from Thursday ready again.  

Tom picked me up at 6am and we headed to the lake. A barmy 10 degrees on the thermometer. There was no one on the lake so we had plenty of options. Tom fancied fishing in his corner, he has not been there in a while, so we walked around that side. I opted to fish in the next swim which was shouting distance. 

I had the usual float rod, flask of hot coffee and sweetcorn, Tom had two rods, groundbait, toilet paper, pellets and pop up boilies with feeders. (All the essentials).

The thermometer had not taken the wind into account, it was alot cooler than 10 degrees. I swapped my cap back to my wolly hat, Tom had to go get his big mac coat from the car and still complained of being a bit cold! 

A few nuggets of loose feed next to the lillies and I was soon fishing. It was my rod that took first dibs, a perfectly formed tench scrapping all the way to the bank and beyond. Flipping between my hands a few times. Quickly followed by its twin, although I wished they had gone large.

The first

Second tench

Despite the cold, we fished on past breakfast. Tom catching a little skimmer before finally getting a proper bend. An old friend, a Carp Tom has caught off the surface previously, easily recognised by its small, non food stuffing mouth. 

There was a flurry of activity for me next, several roach and silvers coming in quick succession. With a quarter of the lake to go at, Tom soon started to cast further from the lillies. This paid off and a good sized F1 found the net. I netted my smaller hybrid/skimmer and prepared them for a double hook up shot. 

A steady run of fish and missed bites on the float kept me warm, between sporadic glimpses of the sun which really heated us up. The brilliant golden colour of a rudd had me thinking about blog themes. Mmmm, I wonder.

One such dip of the float was met with solid resistance, the fish actually going off in the lillies. I played it carefully not really knowing what it was. Eventually it popped to the surface, a nice male bream, still with spawing tubercules.

4lb 4oz

Tom and I chatted and joked to warm up, the best moment being when we wondered if Tom's net was regular, medium or large!? It certainly made us happy (without the toy!).

Whilst we were loving it during today's trip not all of the golden arches products got a mention. Of course I deliberately left out chocolate milkshakes because as so often happens, "we've run out of milkshakes!!"