Friday 9th June

At last a fishing trip...

In fact it was two in two days, or perhaps one and a half since the second one didn't produce anything.

My friend Malcolm Gray was over for a few days early last week as the weather was just starting to break up.  After giving up the idea to go out on the Monday, we eventually got to Brooms Fisheries on the Tuesday.

We did reasonably well and between us ended up with three carp (two for Malcolm), four bream and a gudgeon.  That could have easily been more, possibly double, as we both lost several fish.  Malcolm picked up bites fairly consistently on swimfeeder and prawn.  On the short pole, I had to fiddle around a good deal, changing baits a fair bit and most bites were on bacon bits. His best fish was a common carp of about 4lb and I had a bream of over 3lb.

We would probably have done better if we had got out the previous Friday or Saturday when the fish apparently were still spawning.  I pricked a good few fish so Malcolm's suggestion that my hooks weren't sharp enough may have been correct.

Here's a couple of samples of the catch, both carp:

It was a much different story on the Wednesday when we decided to visit Mill Loch.  We legered from the north bank but did not pick up a single definite bite.  I tried fishing a longer pole both deep and shallow.  It was tricky to manage in view of the obstructions in the shallows and there was no response at all and not even many fish topping.

The cooling weather may again have played a role and one suggestion was lack of oxygenation because of sparse rainfall.  But it had been raining fairly consistently for a day and a half until Tuesday pm and there was no shortage of wind.

I did notice quite a few minute worms and freshwater shrimp when turning over rocks so obsession with other food sources may have been an issue.

I completed a shortened bike ride this Wednesday but there was not really much to report bar nice sightings of a red kite and a couple of goldfinches.  One light brown butterfly passed by the bike in a woodland clearing but brief foraging led to nothing.  It was probably too cold for butterflies.