As the weather is so mild and undeterred by my Friday night blank I returned to the Loddon on Sunday afternoon.

Expecting it to busy I was pleasantly surprised to find I was the only angler enduring the constant drizzle that was falling. Being able to move around I fished six swims into darkness over a period of six hours.

One swim produced a fast bite that was missed, leaving an empty hair, the culprit a chub I thought as the next cast a few small taps were noticed. Unfortunately the chub got the better of me and I moved downstream into the deep water, an area I don’t normally visit but knowing the really big fish live around here and without any other anglers around I thought it worth dropping in.

The first swim produced nothing so visiting my last swim I decided that at 9pm I would call it a day. Ten minutes before packing up the tip flew round and first thoughts were that a barbel was on but the fight was short lived and a fat belied chub lay in the net.

First thoughts were that it could be a six, my first from the stretch but she fell 1oz short. As I said last winter after taking a high five from the same area, if I can catch the biggest chub then theirs no reason why I can’t catch the biggest barbel. I just need to sit in the areas she comes out of.

Tuesday I visited the roach lake and with conditions looking good and no one else on the lake I was expecting good results, however the roach had other ideas and proved extremely difficult. Each swim had no consistency and after taking a couple of good roach from a swim it died, it was as if ten maggots overfeed them. The day was ended with thirteen net roach the best 1lbs 14oz along with a carp plus smaller roach.

Thursday and Friday, Richard, my friend who was to accompany myself on the Thames had booked off so now was the time to make our first outings in the boat. Unfortunately the Thames is still pushing hard and although the colour had started to go out of it, two days were spent, one in the weir at Teddington the other around Thames Ditton without a perch. Only one bite came, which saw Richard, get bitten off from a good pike. Whilst we were afloat Richards phone kept ringing from other fishermen who owned boats and were ready for the off, trying to find when it switched on, it was as if we were the monkeys testing things out. The outings were to say an adventure but the small boat and tiny electric outboard did the business. It wont be long before the rods start bending.