2.30-5pm WT 10degC, 3 deg up on last week.

Not a lot to report, but I thought I should say something to show I am still alive, and also because I was fishing similar places to Rusty and Steve in Rusty's blog re 31st Oct.

Today was meant to be a roach day, but the sky was far bluer than the weatherman predicted, and for some reason I thought dace would be a better bet than roach. I headed off to the little weirpool at the start of the Aldermaston, where on a previous occasion I had one or two reasonable dace - and had made a mental note that I should return with waders. It was bite a chuck (on maggot) with small dace and gudgeon, but the flow was less than my previous visit and I soon concluded that it wasn't the place for better dace today. I then walked down to the main river at Brimpton where, contrariwise, the flow was quite strong - and I decided too strong for my trotting skills. So I walked back to the sidestream at Colthrop. One or two more gudgeon, and a couple of perch of about half a pound.

A short trip as usual, and no fish worth blogging about really, but with the cloudless blue sky I guess this was no surprise. For me, someone I met was more important than the fishing. As I got out of the car I had a word with an angler who was setting up to fish the canal. He was going to try spinning for perch - which is not that unusual, except he walked with a crutch. Made me think - first, what a great guy not to let his handicap stop his fishing - though I am sure it must have limited how far he could go. Second, thankfulness for life and limb and all the great blessings I (and most of us) have!