What a slob I am! Day off - FISHING DAY - But I lie in bed vaguely aware of mist and ice outside, and decide that it really isn't worth it, so get up even later than usual. Then I stagger downstairs and discover that all my concerns about fishing in sub-zero temps are answered on AN, and realise that I MUST BE OUT!

What to do? A trip will have to be very short to fit it in, and I'm still not too confident of catching. So, just as a chess player may have to satisfy himself with achieving minor positional advantages rather than taking pieces, I look for some achievable objectives if the fish don't co-operate. I remember that I have never used mashed bread, and decide to experiment with it - and also with Magic Bread which is supposed to say on the hook really well.

I decide to fish a small private weirpool I am fortunate to be allowed to fish at the moment. It doesn't usually hold any monsters, but there is often a shoal of chub there which are VERY accommodating fish! As long as you don't spook them these chub will eat any bait at any time as far as I can tell! So this is not advanced academy stuff, this is easy-peasy stuff for beginners IF THE CHUB ARE THERE - which is a slight problem as I haven't seen them for a while.

3.15 - 4.15pm

No sign of the chub, but the water is a bit more coloured than usual, so maybe they are there, invisible to me. I chuck in some mashed bread - works fine but sinks too slow for this pool where there is aways a good flow, which may explain why the chub will always eat, always needing to expend energy. If anything it will take the fish OUT of the swim, so I leave most of it in the bucket, making one or two mental notes for next time. Then a good chunk of Magic Bread on a size 6 hook and BANG! The quiver tip has gone round almost before the lead has hit the bottom. Small chub of about a pound. Same thing next cast with a trout of the same size. The one snag with this pool is that you can normally only catch a couple of fish before they spook, but I wonder if it will be different today as there is more colour in the water for some reason. Alas it's not to be. Some very cagey plucks - note to use a softer tip next time - and one lost (better) fish in response to one of these. And that's it.

The Magic Bread was .... MAGIC! Stayed on the hook better than I had even hoped. In particular, I had started with the end of the 'loaf', so was effectively fishing CRUST, which floated like crust from a normal loaf. Now I can normally get flake to stay on the hook, just about, but crust I find hopeless. It was just the thing for this pool, waving about in the flow, and amazingly stayed on the hook even after the lost fish.

Came away pleased. Had experimented with the Magic Bread and the mash. The easy-and-not-very-large fish were a nice bonus, and I had found it not-too-bad fishing at zero degrees in this sheltered spot, which lifted my hopes for the sub-zero days ahead. Maybe next week I'll get out of bed!