Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne

1430 - 1745

Overcast, VERY windy with light rain for last hour and a half. AT 10º ->7ºC.

7 Perch; 4 over 1lb of which 2 were over 2lb - best 2lb 10oz (last bite of the season - I nice way to end!)

Many, MANY years ago (probably sometime during the last millennium) I bought a pack of 3-way swivels. I stuffed them in with a wallet of tubing and they have languished at the bottom of one of my tackle boxes ever since. I suppose I must have thought 'they might come in useful one day' - well that day was today! My morning venue is relatively sheltered with tree cover - however arriving on the bank of a much more exposed canal I realised I'd be casting into the teeth of a gale. The trick here is to get the bait as close as possible to the far bank reeds (and keep it there). Casting today was problematic at best with the added jeopardy of giving it to much welly and the whole kit and caboodle flying straight into the reeds. Even if I did pull off a decent cast the wind quickly pulled the float away from the take zone. 

So after 10 mins of cussing and a few near misses into the reeds I was looking for my 3 way swivels and tying up a paternoster rig - bit of a first for me on fresh water - and it worked a treat. The extra weight aided accurate casting AND keeping the bait exactly where the perch would find it. Was always a little nervous of tangles - but a 1lb+ fish first cast gave instant confidence in the set-up.