More fishing!

Rik's place 27/2


I had to visit Pigeon Cottage at North Somercotes,as I hadn't seen Ray and June since their 60th wedding anniversary celebration back in December, and I  owed Ray the back copies of Coarse Angling Today which I have always passed onto him after I had finished with them.
So January to March copies delivered and after a short chat and exchange of pleasantry's, I got down to the ponds.
A few years ago I had helped Rik put in some pretty sturdy fishing stations around his new doughnut pond for match fishing, and also one or two on his old pond.
Those on the match pond were well under water from this spring fed pool, the  deepest it had been since he dug the pond out.
I chose to fish the new pond  but two guys already there and they had been for 5 hours had blanked with their long pole methods!.
Never mind I'll give it ago.
So I set myself up on the same basis as yesterday, and was quickly into a perch of about half a pound, followed by a few roach, but it was hard work compared to yesterday down in the valley.
Before setting out I had decided to fish the old pond to see if I could make contact with his "big" perch and
to try my hand at dropshotting. 
This I did for the last hour before dark, but in the meantime fished with worm catching a few small perch and some olive green bars of soap, young tench.
Caught nothing on the drop shot, but need to give it more of a chance.


Down in the valley

I thought I would pop down late this afternoon to see if my perch had a big sister.
So setting off at about 2:30 my plan of action was to be much the same, and to fish until sunset.
The trip down into the valley along the track through the farm yard, was another surprise,crossing the road in front of me were at least four roe deer. I know the farmer doesn't keep deer so these were wild. I've never seen deer down there before.


I really have a great feel for this place, so natural, I must take some more time to have a good look around.
Anyway,on the pond the wind was blowing from left to right` indication a North Easterly, exactly the opposite to Wednesday afternoon. Surprisingly although the temperature was showing a couple of degrees lower in the shade, I didn't get cold hands tonight.
What I also didn't get was the constant bites I experienced on my last visit, but this time there were carp about. I've convinced myself that the carp follow the wind, and on Wednesday night they must have been at the far end of the pond.

The view from my swim

So worms didn't work tonight, but flake did and my first fish was a very colourful mirror carp.

Followed by a few small roach and rudd and then another mirror of similar size to the first but not quite as colourful.

My swim was full of cruising carp, but that wasn't what I came down here for, so I continued to feed maggot and stuck it out for the rest of the early evening on worm tipped with red maggot, or just two worm.
All this brought me was more roach and rudd.





A completely different trip to Wednesday in all respects!
I shall return, but need to get down to the rivers for the last couple of weeks, so perhaps on Monday, weather not changing too much, I shall visit the Trent.