Despite pouring Sunday morning rain, 31 turned up for the NAA's annual charity match. That was a good turn out, especially as only 30 bacon rolls had been ordered for the pub meet beforehand, and guess who missed out? What's more, I managed to leave the slice of bread pudding baked and wrapped by the lovely Mrs S at home on the kitchen worktop. 

No food, unless I fancied worms or casters, at least I'd picked up my bottle of water to enjoy in the rain. I drew one of the new platforms below Guyers Bridge to fish there for the first time. While the rain cleared, the canal water remained thick as a pot of terracotta emulsion.  

It was a session of infrequent bites for all. The winning weight, at around 8lb less than half that caught by last year's winner, came from two swims down. I ended up with 2lb 8 including a 1lb 10 perch to come just outside the top ten. It was still great fun though, the platform allowing me to fish the pole with no concerns over tripping pedestrians or cyclists behind. I'll definitely fish there again.

The bants in the pub after were fun even in the raffle didn't come my way. But more importantly the lasagne, though dry and burned, was food from the gods for a late middle-aged glutton who hadn't eaten for 22 hours.