On a mild and dry winter day I decided to experiment  on the syndicate. taking the usual trotting gear but also a leger rod and, given the number of pike snatches in recent visits, a deadbaiting rod.

I kept the pike rod out most of the day and didn't get as much as a nudge while I varied between float and leger as I moved through the swims.

On float I had 28 roach including a silver stunner of 1lb from my favourite aquarium swim, equalling my pb. These were augmented by 3 chublets, 3 perch and a dace.

In hindsight, link-legered bread would have been the way to go, with after one 2lb brownie in the first hour, I returned to the tactic in the last hour having bite after bir=te, losing a fish but having more brownies of 2lb 4, 2lb 10, 2lb 8 and a fab chub of 3lb 9. This was a magical last half hour on what was overall a fair-middling day