"Information desk, how can i help you"

I was well up for a full day on Ryton this Sunday. I had been watching the weather and had heard that a few fish both tench and carp had been caught through the week. So my confidence was through the roof come 6am Sunday morning. My heart sank a little when I arrived at 7.45am to a foggy Ryton hoping to be the first through the gate, only to see at least five other cars in front of me, all of them belonging anglers.
I all ready knew i wanted to fish the road bank. Unlike the others who had large quantity's of tackle with them. I had only my rods and rucksack to carry so I was first off round the lake.

Once in place I stuck to the same tactics as last week with a few minor adjustments. I was getting interest on both rods from the off,  but again the fish were proving a little more than cagey. Early on i spotted a group of carp rolling (the first carp movement I've seen this year) close to an overhanging tree on the bank to my right. But sadly they were well out of my casting range. Though after seeing this i cast my chod rod onto the same tree line hoping at some point they may move down the bank towards me. Shortly after seeing this another angler arrived and began making their way round the pool. It took me few seconds to realize it was Roger. But when it did click i gave a pathetic whistle followed by a rather loud yell to try and get his attention so I could share my information. After waving back he hurried on straight into the right area and one of the few free pegs. After dropping his tackle off he returned for a little chat. After hearing my carp intel a wry smile appeared on his face as if to say "I knew they would be there".

Throughout the day i watched as the odd head or tail broke the surface and they edged ever closer to my bait. Watching this proved to be infuriating, but towards the end of the afternoon they were finally over my bait. It began with a few odd bleeps then after an age my bobbin rose a little, then a little more and then dropped back to it's original point. One of those carp definateley picked up the bait and dropped it. I could have screamed at this point. Then as if to mock me a carp breeched right over the bait, gayley splashing back into the lake. The little bugger may as well have yelled Ha Ha! as it did it.

I like fishing the road side bank as i think it gives a great vantage point over the lake. But sadly it has one draw back; the constant stream of visitors who pass by. Now i am not going to get on my high horse about them as we all have the right to use Ryton contry park and most are very considerate. As they pass i will hear them say to their kids "keep quiet there's a man fishing" which i always reward with a smile and a tip of my hat. But then there's always a few chav families whose kids seem generally oblivious the beauty of the place and are just intent on lobbing stones or branches into the lake, normally where I am fishing. Then finally there are the ex anglers or current anglers who always stop to have a chat which I really don't mind as with all anglers we allways have a tale to tell. But on Sunday there must have been at least twenty or more. In-fact I was thinking that I might lobby LAA to see if we could change the name of peg one to the 'Information desk' and who ever fishes it will have the task of sighing up new members as they pass by walking off there Sunday lunch.

Just before i had to leave i had another aborted run this time on PVA bag rod close in. The whole day was one of those that never quite lives up to what i think it should have been. All in all i was confident in what i was doing and other anglers around the lake didn't fare much better. The good thing is that the fish are definateley moving round progressively more as each day goes by.

Urgent appeal

Any regular followers of my blog may notice that the posting of this entry has been delayed by over a week. As it was completed the day after the session it describes happened. Before I had the chance to post it an old health problem reared it's ugly head and I found myself again waiting at the local hospital awaiting my second operation in twelve months to try and correct said problem. I now find myself in the awful situation of recovering just as the local fish population are just starting to feed. So I would like to make an appeal to my fellow angling bloggers to post as much as possible. As whilst I lie on my sofa recuperating I need to live vicariously through your blogs to give me hope that I soon will find myself once again find myself partaking of our beloved pastime!