I get the horrible feeling that my reports from Ryton Pool will start to resemble something like the Police Academy series of films. This is only the second episode and I'm already getting bored of the "action"!
We had no real plans for the day and we didn't make the decision to go to Ryton until we arrived at the tackle shop. We figured it should be warm enough to get amongst some fish there and Ryton has a few of the bonus fish we both crave for.
With no-one else in sight we wandered round to the back of the island where it was a little more sheltered from a brisk wind, albeit not a terribly cold wind. Brian settled down in the peg Roger built and I was on the left hand of the three sand bank pegs.
I won't attempt to describe the inactivity of the next 8 or so hours other than to say the scores were:
Sean - Blank
Brian - Royal Blank
At 4-55pm I was on a Royal Blank too. I had just got up to check out the car park situation by wandering to the higher ground nearer to Brian's peg. I had forgotten that the car park gets closed off just past the visitor centre at a given time and I hadn't bothered to check it on the way in. When I saw the car numbers dwindling to just two other cars, I started to wonder if I was on a lock in. I convinced myelf that all was well though (turned out to be right - gates close at 7pm currently).
Just as I sat down on my peg, I saw the float dip a little. I almost convinced myself I was seeing things, but then it moved again, before slowly dipping under the surface. I struck, but there was nothing there. In my past experiences at Ryton that's quite odd. My bites to fish ratio here has always been very high. I guess it was in keeping with the day though.
I did spend quite a bit of time fishing for Carp for once. I was that fed up waiting for the Tench or Perch (or some of those new Rudd!) to play ball on the maggot/float rig, that I used the sleeper rod to present a pellet for the Carp. Unlike those in the know who might cast into a known clear area, I simply cast into a known wet area and hoped for the best. I was actually quite surprised at how weed free quite a large area appeared to be. If nothing else, I've learned a bit more about the pool.
The highlight of the day was sadly missed by me. I had heard a bit of a crash from the next peg at one point, but I didn't think anything of it. We all have accidents during the day after all. However, it turned out that Brian had fallen asleep on his box and was woken up by unceremoniously falling off it and crashing into his rods!
I'm not sure when Ryton part 3 will happen. It will have to be timed right because Brian is losing faith with the place after 4 consecutive blanks - I think all of them being Royal blanks too. It's times like this when I wish I had recorded things last year.
I recall it starting slowly last year, but I caught Tench from the off (in April) - just the odd one each visit for a few visits (but with Perch showing too), until it picked up to several fish a session. I had a couple of short 4 hours sessions where I banked 30lb-35lb of mainly Tench and Perch with the odd small Carp thrown in. 50lb+ was easily on the cards if I had done a full day session.
Maybe the cold Winter has set everything back a few weeks and I'm just expecting too much too soon. Looking at other blogs, the odd fish are showing, but not in any numbers yet. I guess we'll have to be patient.
Looking at other things, I'm hatching some plans for a couple of free waters close to home during the closed season. It involves going back to my younger days and getting the bike out of the garage, while travelling light. I know they contain fish, but I have no idea what's in there. I'm hoping to be able to have a few short trial sessions later in the month.
"Unlike those in the know who might cast into a known clear area, I simply cast into a known wet area and hoped for the best." - Classic!
ReplyDeleteThere have been times when I've cast into what I thought was a perfect wet spot only to find my line hanging from a tree in a perfectly dry spot.
Keep the faith Sean. I have it third hand that Ryton is about a month behind where it was this time last year. It can be a cruel place on an off day but exceptional on a half decent one.