Frustrating

Tuesday 17th May

After the weekends success i was keen to keep the pressure on and planned a couple of midweek sessions, the first being a Tuesday evening trip. There was a few other anglers on when i arrived so i headed for a nice quiet area and got set-up.
Despite fishing pretty well, keeping my bait tight and casts accurate, I suffered three lost fish in the first three hours. All were damned hookpulls again same as the majority of other lost fish ive had of late. At first i thought it might be down to the hook size and pattern but ive played about with four different patterns in various sizes and seem to still be losing fish. I normally use very short hooklinks, could this combined with the feeder bouncing around 3-4 inches away be causing the problem? further investigation is very much required. Anyway, I found myself with about an hour of daylight left and nothing on the score sheet and was really cursing my luck.
As the clock ticked past 8.30 i had another take and finally landed a fish, at 7.3 it was a fairly decent one too and i felt somewhat vindicated after losing the others earlier.

7lb3oz

This feeling was shortlived however as ten minutes later i lost another fish! This time the hookpoint had turned. Soon enough the darkness began to close in and it was time to pack up. I left the rods out lying on the ground as i packed everything else up and was pleased when the left hand baitrunner started ticking over resulting in a last gasp Tinca of 5.14. Thinking back, its amazing how many 'bonus' fish ive landed over the years just by leaving the rods out to the absolute death, quality.
Before i left i piled all the bait i had left into the spot with the intention of coming back tomorrow for the night.......


Weds 18th/ Thurs 19th May

I had a day booked off work on Thursday due to an appointment so i siezed upon the opportunity to do a rare midweek night. Upon arrival at the lake there was only two other anglers on so i had a good choice of pegs. The wind was cold and the sky was clear meaning a potential cold night ahead yet despite this i went against my better judgement and headed back to last nights swim . Even though its very shallow i hoped that the bait i had put in would have kept a few fish mooching about.
Within a couple of hours i was regretting setting up there, something didnt feel right and i had that unconfident empty feeling we all get from time to time where you know youve made a mistake and let yourself in for a grueller. A move was out of the question as it was getting dark fast and the location of the swim made any kind of move very difficult indeed, those that read this and know the lake will know exactly which peg i mean!
I landed a tiddler of about 3lb and lost two  fish just before dark which didnt do a great deal for my confidence, the swim looked dead. Whilst there wasnt much happening in the water though i felt like a regular doctor Dolittle as a procession of woodland creatures passed by the bivvy door. As well as the usual waterfowl and small birds, i had a Pheasant, a Weasel, A Squirrel,  some Bats, several Rats and the little chap pictured below. In fact the mouse got so confident it actually came inside the bivvy at one point.

Into darkness the fishing didnt get any better really, i had a Bream at about 12.30am and a Tench of around 5lb at 2.30am and that was it until i lost a fish at about 7am. That was all the action i had for the session and packed up slightly disappointed.
I might give it a rest for a few days i think to recharge my batteries a bit, four sessions in six days is a lot of fishing for me and the fishing itself is starting to get a bit monotonous . Same rigs, same baits, same swims, yes im catching fish and im sure ill continue to do so but  God, how i long for those rivers to open!