A belated birthday

Due to pressures of work, my birthday on Monday had to be celebrated a day late this year. That celebration should have been by netting a good bag of chub from a much lower River Medlock now the constant rain had subsided. What I didn't bank on was a return of the frost, and a freezing cold river, which I sampled first hand with my right hand as I slipped down the bank and reached out to steady myself early in the session. So with one wet arm I proceeded to try to tempt the resident fish to snap up my bait, try being the relevant word. The fish were even less up for it than me. Only one trout felt the need to sample my bait. One bite , one fish in six hours, in the freezing cold. The brownie below fell to a double maggot offering below the big weir at Clayton bridge. This swim is normally prolific with smaller fish, so much so I tend to not bother here unless I am scratching for bites. There are generally better specimens upstream of here. Anyway you know it is a dead loss when a banker swim only throws up one fish in the last hour.

Having endured a long session in the cold with little action I decided to turn it in a little earlier today. After a hot bath and revived somewhat, I decided a trip to the pub with the family might save the day . So it was off to the Haddon hall for a steak and a couple of pints, which hit the spot, before  rounding the night off with a glass of chardonnay or two from my birthday bottle and City on Sky sports. Even City did their best to spoil the day, losing at Everton.

This week I need to find a spinning rod which fits in a suitcase. I have decided to fish the club's pike fish in on the Irwell in a few weeks but don't have a rod. I also want to take the rod to France the week after next as we are going to Eurodisney for the umpteenth time, and I have spotted some monster Perch in the main lake between the hotels on my previous trips. I am not sure on the legalities of fishing in Disneyland but am sure it will be a challenge, if only to not get caught! Rebel!!