Getting hot after a slow start.

 Another day when a big fish cam my way. I'm always lucky when it rains.

 I had another great days fishing at my local ponds last week. At least a dozen maybe fifteen carp between 4 and 9lb. That's a decent bag of fish. The close in tactic ( I spoke about in my last post) worked and I took fish from so close in the margins, I could have touched them at times. I used a tiny pole float with just a single number one shot 18'' from the hook. The fish cautiously cruising in and out the margins taking small pellets including mine, making the tiny float drift away into the depths.
But I caught just as many fish on the method feeder, and feel I'm getting to grips with the technique, that's very new to me. Small adjustments each time out are helping put more fish on the bank, it's such fun to watch the rod tip pull round as I fish realizes it's hooked and heads for the hills.

The wind was cool enough for a sweater, but I'm still convinced sitting into the wind in summer is the best place to be. I could have found a more sheltered spot, but preferred the windward end.

These little lakes are wonderful places for wildlife. Two Little Terns have taken residence on one of the islands,  as well as a pair of Oyster Catchers, their call a constant reminder we're only 50 miles from the coast. Nature finds a place. Clearly the birds feel safe from predators, with humans being safe. The constant rain means the Oyster Catchers have plenty of worms to eat. I can watch them drilling their long red bills into the soft soil and eating well. I'm sure they have young the amount of time they spend digging.

 A bird I see on all my fishing trips. The brightly billed Oyster Catcher.

The Tern's on the other hand have commandeered the tops of the aerators, It's were here the complex owner circulates water in each pond according to it's needs. When it's hot there used for oxygen circulation, in winter to prevent ice form forming. They stand maybe 4' above the water, but the little birds seem to love this standing view. Terns can be really aggressive little blighters when they have young. When I lived on the Norfolk, Suffolk borders they would attack you as you walked the beach if and when the had young. They build a nest (if you can call it that) on the ground in with the stones and are difficult to see, you could stand on them unwittingly.

Little tern in full cry. Above a typical aerator designed to provide circulated oxygen for fish.

Add together a myriad of ducks and geese and you have a wildlife wonderland. In the past I've been critical of these heavy stocked carp lakes. I'm eating my words, and enjoying my time fishing. This week I'm traveling further a-field again, as well as a trip to my local lakes.

See you on the bank.