It seems ages since I have manged to angle at my most favourite of locations in Wessex; time seems to pass more quickly the older I get. I usually manage to fish on midsummer’s day, but not this year unfortunately.

Non-the-less, I managed to escape the normal high-pressured life that I seem to currently lead, and was able to stop at a juncture and relax for a time at this ancient pool.

I arrived late afternoon on the 28th to warm overcast weather. I avoided a couple of the more popular swims and made my way to one of the farthest. I hooked a Tench the moment my first cast landed, but missed it. I then slowly began to catch Roach after Roach, with no signs of the Crucian’s, nor my favoured Tench. I then hooked a small Tench which was great to see. The swim was awash at times with bubbles and was really exciting fishing. Soon after small Crucian’s began to appear; no two-handed fish, they were all palm-sized. Sport continued, and in fact increased from about 19:00 to 21:00.

The 29th saw me back at this lovely pool and back in the exact same swim. Weather again was warm and overcast, but today there was rain in the forecast. Today, just as yesterday, the action seemed immediate but this time all the Crucian’s were a size larger. The largest I’m sure thought it was a Tench as the fight was incredible from such a small fish. Again, I managed to encounter a number of small Tench. It was not long before the forecast rain appeared, first as a light mist which didn’t affect anything and I hardly got wet at all and the fishing continued quite successfully. However, when the rain did appear in earnest, the catching immediately stopped as if being turned off by a light switch. I persevered and the rain did ease to give a dry spell when the fish began to bite again. Towards 19:00 I had one monster of a bite that broke me immediately; that was a sign that I had had more than my fair share of luck over the two days and the pond told me to leave.

It was superb to be able to catch quite a number of Crucian Carp (I stopped counting), but even nicer to be able to connect with quite a number of new brood of Tench. I do not think I caught anything over three quarters of a pound, which is super encouraging for the continuation of this my most favourite of fishes.

Note: not a single Perch on this trip.