10/07/07 14:15 to 20:15 Went to Everton with Mickey Minnow on my compressed Tuesday.  Weather stared grim but brightened up.  Slow start and then two fish on sweetcorn, one just over and one just under the 4lb mark.   Then it went quiet, although Mickey in the swim at the top of the island pulled out ten fish, mainly tench with the best about 4lb.  Late on I lost something bigger when I tried to turn it as it headed for the island.  Have standardised this season on a 4BB Stillwater blue fished lift style with a SSG two inches or so from the hook, the second tench gave a classic lift bite – I’ll look back on that one fondly when I’m on the nursing home!  Probably fished for longer than I wanted too, but Mickey was going well.  Quick pint in the Royal Oak – first Ringwood for ages!  In retrospect I wonder if the size 8 was too large, especially as sweetcorn was the bait producing most interest, which is odd because by July I usually reckon the tench here have sussed sweetcorn as bait. Everton now has a resident Kingfisher.

 27/07/07 18:45 to 21:00 With the Chief of Staff, the Assistant Chief of Staff and the Chip of the Old Block in Ireland, the pattern for the next week or so would be to get on with painting the house during the day and fishing in the evening.  Fishing in the rain again:  Sammy Stone-Loach at work had insisted come rain or shine he would be at Everton, so when I finished DIY for the day, I headed to Everton despite the rain, but of course he was nowhere to be seen.  I groundbaited the swim at the top of the Island and then headed on to try the new lake for sodden hour during which I had two tench, the best weighing 3lb 8ozs.   Then I moved to the swim I had baited and had a third tench.  After a diversion when I helped the only other angler there land a 11lb carp in his ridiculously small landing net I had a tubby carp, which looked smaller than the  3lb it turned out to weigh.  All four fish came to flake.       

--- (Edited on 11/27/2007 3:55 pm [GMT-0600] by Visitor) ---

--- (Edited on 12/17/2007 5:56 am [GMT-0600] by Visitor) ---