January

I'll summarise the month with a 4-3-2-1 countdown:

4 sessions - all pretty short. A case of grabbing what I could when the opportunity arose.

3 blanks - two chasing chub, one after predators. Let's move on swiftly.

2 venues - both on the Anker.

1 bite - but a personal best!

After years of figuring that I'd eventually drop lucky with a Warwickshire Avon five pound chub, my pb was refusing to budge above 4lb 5oz. I'd pushed it close with an Anker fish earlier in the season and much bigger fish (in the 6-7lb range) are in residence.

I didn't strike gold with a 6, or even silver with a 5. I had to settle for a close third with a clean well fed fish of 4lb 12oz. I'd like to say it was down to a perfectly executed plan, but it would be stretching the truth a little.

I'd fed my three preferred swims with liquidised bread, but I then fancied a quick look at one of the deeper downstream pegs before putting a bait into them. I offloaded my gear at the end peg, but when I tried to settle in, I wasn't happy. It was a lethal mudfest at the business end. I didn't want to risk a ducking.

I moved to a different peg further upstream that I hadn't fed. I cast two big pieces of flake across the river, more in hope than anything. I was amazed to get a quick tap on the right hand rod and more surprised when the tip pulled steadily around. That was the only bite of the session - and from a peg I could easily have overlooked. The baited pegs were barren.

The season's end draws ever closer. Soberingly, I'm probably down to just a handful of opportunities left. Let's hope the weather doesn't curtail it further. While I have plenty to do at home in preparation of a new arrival, I'd rather not be confined to enforced decorating duties.

Finally, it was nice to bump into Lee from This Angling Life (ex blogger  / now Facebook). during one of the sessions. I never knew we were members of the same club! Looks like he had a nice perch of 2lb 11oz (amongst other fish)  while I was slumbering. Nice one Lee!