🎣 🐦⬛ A pool roach session, followed by a birding walk at Cotwall End Valley
I’m at home now for five days on the bounce, with no work at all, so plenty of fishing scheduled.
I was hoping to get on the Severn, but one look at the sharp upward curve on the river levels website, told me that I’ll have to wait some more before I go chub fishing on there again.
In the end, I settled for a trip to a pool, in pursuit of roach.
And why not? If you’re enjoying something, keep at it.
You might not make a name for yourself catching small roach from pools and ponds but that’s fine.
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to become famous, I just want to enjoy my angling.
I was fishing in five feet of water, with a single grain of corn over loose sweetcorn.
I caught regularly and, more importantly, I enjoyed it.
Tackle: Greys Prodigy TX 12’ rod. Shimano 3500M reel. Maxima Chameleon 4lb line. Drennan 0.6g waggler. Drennan Super Specialist size 12 hook.
Nature notes: Two very vocal ring-necked parakeets in flight around the nearby woodland.
After fishing, I took a walk in the valley with my binoculars, looking to add a new species to the 2024 list.
I saw one of my targets, a bullfinch, preening itself in a thicket on the golf course.
Then, arriving on the drive, a great black-backed gull flew over, which was a new one for both my lists.
That’s 43 for the valley and 31 from home.
I’m happy with the start so far, plus it’s a marathon and not a sprint, so I’m well on track for my targets this year.