Dominoes and Monkeys

Where to begin?

It's over a month since I last checked in and let's just say that things haven't quite gone to plan. How bad you ask? Let's try a picture clue to sum up my bankside activity...

Hopefully not too cryptic! That's right - 6 (six) consecutive blanks.

Having only ever suffered a maximum of three blanks on the spin before, I really didn't see this lot coming. Granted, conditions haven't been great, the sessions mostly short and I've perhaps been too blinkered in my approach. Still, I expected a little more than zilch.

All were predator sessions in gin clear water. Three were actually completely barren - zero bites. The rest had some bites, but frequently all too tentative. A nudge here, an enquiry there, the odd strike into thin air. Occasionally connecting, but then disconnecting, as hooks are spat back in anger.

The sixth domino was played out on Monday past. A bonus session borne out of the recent snowfall. I'm lucky enough to work in education, where establishments close when the white stuff falls to any reasonable degree.

This was fate I thought. Finally a chance to get a long-standing monkey off my back - a snow pike. Opportunities for snow fishing don't present themselves all that often around these parts, so I needed to choose well. A tried and trusted venue would surely deliver?

You know the outcome of course. Not a sniff. 4+ hours of zero action. Nothing moving anywhere. Dejected, I quit early afternoon and headed home to do a refresh job on the bathroom. Exciting times! Extra dominoes were being contemplated.

Tuesday dawned and confusion reigned. Employer optimism of opening was quashed, but I was summoned to another campus that had beaten the weather. A useless exercise though, as I had no access to the essential tools of my job. A day of pointless time filling and coffee drinking didn't thrill me. I needed out.

After a brief and sensible chat, a mutual agreement was struck up with my boss. Rather than me lingering around and moaning all day,  I'd bugger off quietly and use up some time owed to me. Much better for all concerned. Snow pike take two was now in operation.

Back to the river, but a different stretch. A more public venue and one I've never predator fished before. I just needed a change to rekindle some fresh optimism. It's a venue I've fished occasionally over the years, albeit not for quite a while.

A chilly day at -2C on arrival (although better than the -6C earlier that morning). It didn't rise much either - just tripping around freezing point when I packed in.

I knew a likely area with a mix of depths and features. I'd spend a few hours hopping swims, covering as much variety as possible.

Swim one nearly yielded success just as I was planning a move. A bob of the float on the smelt rig, then a few more indications, before a clear pull away. A strike, slight resistance and then a hook pull followed. Bugger!

I sat it out a while longer than I'd intended, but nothing else showed. Time to find some deeper water that I knew was a few pegs downstream.

Sardine deployed to the left, I then guessed a little conservatively with the smelt rig. The float was around 10 inches out and fully submerged. I reeled in to adjust it and the float fought back!

I must have dropped the smelt bang on the money. I set the hooks and played out the fight. Brisk and thankfully uneventful, I had broken the run of blanks. A snow pike at last and although a long way short of my target, a season's best at 9lb 12oz. Quite a long, lean and clean fish.

Not the perfect trophy shot I'd have wanted, but the snow was very iced up and pretty solid. I wasn't going to risk damaging the fish through self indulgence.

Nothing else for the reminder of session. Just feathered company that's clearly well practised in the art of scrounging from anglers.

Prospects for the weekend are interesting, with some milder air threatening to push in. The cold snow melt (with added grit) currently in the rivers might be the defining factor. Coloured water will be a rare luxury though.

I'd resigned myself to a weekend off, but with the rivers now dropping, I'm tempted to make a last minute change of mind. The gear is ready just in case, as are the dominoes...

Edit - Sunday morning. 6am, phone says it's 1C. River still a little higher than I'd like for the temperature. Significant rain due late morning. England still floundering in the cricket. Not much to get up for.

A lie in and then finishing off the Christmas preparations was the more sensible option. Plenty of time for fishing over an extended festive break for me this year (around family commitments of course!).