Reggie

Just a quick evening dabble on the Leam this week. I didn't do any preparation apart from buying some maggots on the off chance that I might squeeze in a session.

I headed for the deeper end again but purposely wandered out into the fields to try some different swims. First job was to make some running repairs to my Bolo rod which I'd managed to snap the tip off between Somerset and my current peg. I don't know how it happened but it served me right for not securing the ring protector.

Six inches of rod removed and I was up and running. It was slow going and only a couple of gudgeon saved me from a blank in swim one.

In no mood to flog a dead horse I moved downstream and tried a couple of other pegs that were equally lifeless. Fish were moving over on the peg with a very deep hole so I dropped in few balls of bait and left it 20 minutes before returning.

I caught from the off - mostly the normal stamp of perch around 6oz. I then encountered a really odd bite - a lift bite but in real slow motion. I hoped for a bream but the culprit wasn't overly welcome!

It's my first and hopefully last from the Leam but I dare say that's wishful thinking.

I finally broke my bream duck but only with a very small sample. I'd like to get a proper slab from this venue - could be tricky I think but I'll keep trying.

A pleasant few hours with the river to myself again.

A few posts ago I mentioned that I'd drop in some reviews of tackle I'd purchased recently for roving. This time it's the landing net handle which is the Hardy Marksman Compact version.

http://www.tackleup.com/hardy-marksman-coarse-rods/hardy-marksman-compact-landing-net-handle.html

It's a lot dearer than any net handle I'd ever bought before but I quite liked the idea of an ultra compact handle (packs down to 30 inches) that still had enough length (extends to 8ft) to cope with most swims I encounter. It's done the job well enough so far - perfectly strong enough for my 26 inch net. I'm not a tackle tart by any means but it is finished off quite well too. A nice touch is the metal end cap - much better than the plastic ones that I've broken on pretty much every handle I've ever owned. I picked up mine for £45.