Grim is the best word to describe both the weather and my weekends fishing. First light Saturday saw me picking up Phil K for a trip to the Mersey at Northenden. We both knew it would be tough as the thermometer in my car showed minus 5. The constant icing of rod rings and a disticnt lack of bites soon saw us packing up and enjoying the delights of a local roadside "butty bar". I think we managed about an hours fishing in total but spent an enjoyable morning checking out some new swims in different areas of the river.
By this afternoon the weather had started to warm up, and i joined Tony and Pete on their local brook for an afternoons Roach fishing. The last time i visited this bit of water, Tony found a shoal of roach from which he proceeded to catch a succession of fish between 12oz and a lb. Amazing from a stream so small that i can touch the far bank with the tip of my rod.
However, this afternoon only Tony was lucky enough to find the fish. I managed to scratch out four small roach by roving downstream, but never really got into a shoal.
The winter months are always tough with fish difficult to locate. I'd much rather be out on the bank than sitting at home no matter that the odds are stacked against me. This time last year i spent alot of time searching out new swims on my local River Irwell while lure fishing for Pike. Maybe next weekend i shall do the same, at least i should get a bend in my rod (the bottom again).