Well fair play to BBC weather, they look to have been on the money for this week end [had to happen eventually :wh]. I fished yesterday, without the need for a coat [at least at first] whilst this morning I returned very wet & rather cold from walking the dogs...
I had it in mind to get in a final trip of the season up to the Ribble, but the level was more than double my 'comfort zone' so I'll see how it's looking next Saturday instead. So, back to Blackbrook Basin in search of, well anything really, but ideally tench & crucian. It was a glorious morning in the North West, but bright sunshine coupled with the gin clear nature of 'the basin' wasn't a great omen.
There were a couple of guys on the bank when I arrived; one had missed a couple of bites, the other hadn't had a touch, but... they had seen a couple of mink on the far bank

another bad omen...
Regardless it was a lovely day just to be out, so having opted for a peg at the wide end I set up initially with a grain of corn with a small feeder 30 yards out to my right as a sleeper. I've really taken a shine to the Drennan
Glowtip floats, despite their fine tip / my relatively poor eyesight

mg: but for fishing up to 30 yards out with the sun at my back they're just the ticket [well I like them!]. I set up a size 20 on a 2.8 lb hook length with a single #10 stot as a tell tale & started with a single red maggot. In a perfect world I'd have gone with a lighter hook length, but the basin suffers with a Hornwort infestation & even though it has largely died down at this time of year, there are still big clumps of it on the bottom.
I cast out, sprayed in a few loose maggots & sat back enjoying the setting & the cacophony of birdsong around me.
Time for a coffee... pants! Remembered the flask but forgot the coffee & milk - doh! However I seem to have accumulated plenty of cold drinks courtesy of the Co-op's £3.25 for a sarnie, snack & a drink deal, which has become my staple for lunch when fishing. Besides, it was too warm for coffee, I told myself...
I flicked in a few more maggots which saw a definite lift of the float which resulted in a small but pristine roach. I put 2 red on the hook & cast out again - the float dipped almost immediately for a slightly bigger but equally pretty red fin.
I had another half a dozen or so roach broadly of a similar stamp all on the waggler, but no sign of life on the feeder, so I pulled it in & switched to bread. I persevered with that for an hour or so without a twitch so changed to a maggot feeder with a red & a white on the hook.
I'm always happy to catch roach, but I really was hoping for tench or crucian which thus far had not been in evidence, so I upped my waggler set up to a 14 with a pinch of flake... so obviously when the float dipped again it was a skimmer! Bites then dried up completely, ironically after it had clouded over. I did at least get a couple more roach, but on the feeder - maggot appeared to be all they wanted so I reverted back on the waggler as well & had a few more similarly sized roach.
By now, the temperature had dropped markedly & I really was rather regretting the lack of coffee plus the light rain which had been forecast made an appearance. I was into 'one last fish' territory & it duly obliged... the smallest roach of the day by some distance
I was in the process of stripping down the waggler rig when the tip went again - another roach but a little better this time, perhaps going on 1/2lb. So no tench or crucian, but a lot better than last week - hopefully all who ventured out enjoyed some success :w