An Autumn Tench.

[Catfish.017]

With the weather remaining warm and the forecast rain proving elusive I thought I would try for a Tench at Daw End. I set off after lunch allowing plenty of time to explore the canal in the opposite direction to that I had fished previously. This looked just as 'fishy' as the other area with lots of reeds and lilys. I had hoped the recent rain might have sorted the floating gunge but it was as thick as ever. I walked about half a mile passing a shoal of good Bream en route. They just hung stationary in midwater perfectly visible in the clear water.
I settled in a nice looking swim with cover in close and fished my customary bread flake with mash for feed. A yellow topped Harcork float and an overdue outing for the J Pales Avon Deluxe a really nice all round rod. As often happens when I make a change to my tackle, things seem to go wrong. I had obviously dropped on a shoal of smallish Roach but I struggled to hit the bites and then couldn't keep them on the hook when I did. I hooked a nice Bream, saw it turning in midwater then that came adrift!
The swim slowly died so I upped sticks and back tracked trying various spots with no luck. Around 6.pm I arrived at my usual spot and settled in for the remainder of the evening. The floating algae was a real pain here forcing me to cast to different spots as it constantly shifted with the light breeze. After an hour I caught a brilliantly coloured little Perch on two red worms . Ten minutes later I had my bit of luck when a piece of flake was taken confidently and a good Tench dived for the far bank then chugged around gathering more and more weed before coming to the net. Three pounds and as fat as butter. Happy now.
Right on dusk the float slid away again and what felt at first like another Tench gave up quickly and turned into a Bream of around three pounds. I packed up and walked slowly back to the car expecting to see a few fish rising but all was quiet.

[Polecat501]

Just goes to show the value of moving when things aren’t working. Sometimes, just moving those legs a few extra yards (contrary to popular belief in some quarters, legs are not only for emergencies), resets the Luck Clock and everything suddenly works out.

[Wanderer]

Sounds like you had a nice session Catfish.
We don't catch fish if we don't go fishing.
Good luck with the rest of your autumn fishing.

[Catfish.017]

Just goes to show the value of moving when things aren’t working. Sometimes, just moving those legs a few extra yards (contrary to popular belief in some quarters, legs are not only for emergencies), resets the Luck Clock and everything suddenly works out.

My pal Peter back in Wales is a very stoic angler. He's a Kentish lad actually and a very much better angler than me. Unflappable, he will sit all day in his chosen swim and most times it eventually works out for him. Conversely I'm often like a flibbertygibbet, hopping from place to place, sometimes even changing venues now I'm living where there's a wealth of fishing to be explored. It's all about temperament I guess.