Mixed bag from Tanyard Part 2

Vagabond · #1 04-20-2007, 08:28 PM

Part 2

Eventually the tench bites were coming less frequently, so I gave the swim a rest, took a picture of Fred the Moorhen

and popped a few chopped worms in the snaggy margin the far side of the rush clump.

I was hoping for a perch, but got a bonus fish in the shape of a rudd, which took the worm on the drop. I say bonus fish because there are not many rudd in this particular lake, and I was not expecting any.

That rudd was the only one today, but soon a number of perch were at the worms,

but so were the tench! I put on a big bunch of worms and pushed the float down to present the worms mid-water. It worked – a decent fish grabbed the worms and dived into the snags. I pumped the ensuing tangle clear of the bank. I could see the orange ventral fins of a good perch amongst the tangle, and got the fish clear of the rushes, and reached for my net.

The hook pulled. “Haarrrh Haarrrh Haarrh” said the adenoidal mallard in the rushes opposite. “He he, He-he-he” sniggered the green woodpecker in the woods behind me. I won’t tell you what I said – that perch was a good two pounds.

No more perch came, and soon nothing but tench and goldfish were taking the worms, but then came a bream.

Other bream followed. I remembered what Ivan Marks said about bream – they don’t like groundbait dropped on their heads, but tench don’t mind. Now I prefer tench to bream, so out went the remainder of the groundbait in great dollops, right on their heads!

It made no difference. The bream stayed, lots of them. A few more tench, and the odd goldfish made up the bag until I had run out of worms and maggots both. I must have finished up with about 30 each of tench and bream plus a dozen goldfish.

Not a bad day, eight species, but I can’t forget that lost perch.