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Just put a few kilo of Bait on a spot at the estate lake, ready for an overnighter this Saturday 🤞

Off on a perch hunt this weekend. Got 48 hours from Friday till Sunday. I'll have a carp rod out also.

Well after 2 winters talking about zander fishing on Rutland we finally did it with just a week to go before close season. It was a very calm day which was good as it was my first time in a boat over very deep water, but you soon forget any nerves once the rods are out. For the first few hours we tried the vertical jigs, but with almost no drift it seemed a dead loss and I started feeling the cold and a bit like captain noddy! Late morning we travelled round a corner to a slight bay and tried the pike lures and vertical jigs again, no joy. We ate lunch then had another go before heading back to the initial area for the final couple of hours. This next go over the central ground was different as we had a light breeze and slight tow and straight away you knew that you had better presentation. On our 2nd drift I got a bang on the vertical jig whilst looking the other way, I couldn't believe it, then another bang so I hit it and slowly pulled it up, felt like a pike or decent zander and I was made up when a 5-6lb Zed hit the surface - that's a first for me! On the next drift my mate had a bang on his sleeper rod, then another and he lifted into another Zed, this one went 7 1/2 and was a PB - so a great day overall, brilliant to catch on a method you've not done before - can't wait to go again next year.

I was sorting a cupboard out and found some old pics. One made me chuckle as if I'd not had the picture no one would believe it. It's not super imposed as one mate reckoned. The pigeon was a racing pigeon that landed in front of my mates bivvy and was obviously very tame. My mate took it home in the end and it flew off the next day. Anyone else got pics of things you didn't expect to see on the bank?

Anyone go this weekend...? a few of the big names were conspicuous by their absence this year.... Trakker, Mainline, Greys, to name a few.... still the show was heaving when I got there at 10.30 this morning... Bought a boilie chopper from NGT for a tenner, one of their Tackle Banks for a fiver and some Rubber/Plastic baits from the Gunki stand for my drop-shotting... Laughed my socks off at the barefaced front of RidgeMonkey's £1000, £1250, and £1500 bivvies.... utter joke...! Tons of Pop-up bait companies, and by that I mean "here today, gone tomorrow" types... a few names, faces, & mates.... Had a natter, had a wander around, had me foot run over by a lass with a pram (why...?) had a right laugh at some of the prices for old tat and slobbered over the new Sonik Xtactors... an okay way to spend a Sunday morning, specially as the wife dropped me off and picked me up afterwards (I only live 8 miles away from the place) Home for a nice cuppa decent tea that didn't cost nigh on £2 (rip off)... always moan about it, but go every year... Ho Hum....

I haven't mentioned this to anyone before as they would think I was mad but I heard a splash in the margins and saw a squirrel swim on his back across the river and climbed up a tree on the far bank!

I once saw a mole swim which I thought was strange. I was searching for carp with my mate and we came into this swim and this little creature had just left the margin. We couldn't work out what it was at first but those massive claws gave it away. It swam right out into the middle of the pit and gulls started dive bombing it so it came back. I actually called the mrs there and then (she's got a masters in zoology) to make sure I wasn't going mental. She told me that all mammals can swim which was news to me. Either way, there is something about a mole swimming that still makes me chuckle to this day.

I did just make it up but it would've made excellent viewing 😁