Having landed the massive roach last week, l have decided to leave the venue alone in fear that someone may see me and my planned winter campaign next season would see others descending on the lake and reaping the rewards off the back of my hard work. It’s a tactical move but knowing how hardened roach anglers are after fishing Willow l know that this venue has to be kept secret for as long as possible, so knowing that the rudd are showing at my favourite water Frensham Pond, its now all out to see what we can achieve by the end of the season. Last season my tally for the last fortnight was fourteen two’s, the best going a shade over 3lb so if l can get anywhere near this l will be one very happy angler.

Monday’s session was a gruller, not in terms of the fishing but the weather and l can honestly say l was cold. The temperature dropped from a warming ten degrees during the day to a dismal -3 which froze everything in sight and dropped the water temperature overnight from 45.6f to 41.7f, not good. Luckily the pre-baiting has obviously worked as three tench and two rudd were landed, the best rudd 2lb 13oz!

The following night was slightly more comfortable, however a cold southeasterly started to blow making it feel rather raw. The fish were slightly more co-operative with six tench, two rudd to 2lb 1oz and a decent perch falling.
 
Wednesday is my night off, however l still managed to get to the lake and spod some Sonubaits hemp out plus half a pint of maggots.

Thursday dawned and the blue sky and easterly meant that the evening to be spent in the company of the Tight Lines crew was going to be cold. Catching rudd at this time of year is hard enough but with a camera on you l knew that it was going to be a tough call. Darkness descended and the temperature plummeted down to –4 and by 10-30pm the planned programme looked destined to fail, however with the odd fish showing over the baited area hopes were that one might just make a mistake and at 10-50pm a bite came my way and although it wasn’t the desired 2lb rudd it was a rudd, and at 1lb 10oz 8drams meant that the shoot was a success. Alan Stagg and my friend Steve were also fishing, however so harsh were the conditions that neither received any enquiries and at midnight we called it a day with myself feeling very fortunate!

Friday things looked better however the cloud cover that was to keep the temperatures above freezing never materialised until the early hours by which time l was back home. Temperatures once again dropped to below freezing but during the session which lasted till 1am l had four bites which resulted in three, two-pound rudd, 2lb 1oz, 2lb 3oz and 2lb 6oz! A great result but why couldn’t it have happened the previous night.