Well, that was a strange day.

There were eight anglers on Willows when I arrived, enough to keep the fish quiet, so I crossed the causeway to the deserted Alders. For several hours I watched patches of Mr Crabtree-eque frothy tench bubbles rising near my float but could not tease a single bite.  The patches disappeared with sunshine, so before making my planned move to my local Greenham Mill, I thought I'd switch to a light float and small hook/ maggot combo with a view to winkling-out the odd roach or two to break the stalemate. I made the move 54 perch and 6 roach later! Many of the perch were in the 6-8 oz bracket, and two even needed landing, so it was an unexpectedly fun last 90 minutes. 

Down at the mill, I lost far fewer fish than last Saturday due to the direct line contact of the centrepin. The only chunky fish I hooked did shake free, but in an hour 20 bleak, 3 dace, 2 roach and 4 minnows completed a fun sortie.