In The Doldrums

Every season I seem to hit a patch of the doldrums. It's not that I don't have the drive and the passion to get out and fish for pike, it's just that from time to time, life gets in the way.
I've fished a few times since my last entry but haven't had anything spectacular, just one double figure fish and a few jacks in fact.

It's all the old favourites that have held me back. Blithfield came and went with little to report. Snow in late October coupled with a very cold easterly wind appeared to put the fish off rather and all Joe and I had were jacks. Some good fish did come off on the second day of the weekend but typically, since I had to work a night shift, we had to leave early. It was especially annoying that the big fish caught came from the very spot Joe and I had chosen to fish first on the first day but they just weren't feeding then and no-one got any. A day on Chew Valley Reservoir followed hard on the heels of Blithfield but once again the cold snap had done its damage and very few people caught anything of significance. I'm only glad I hadn't booked to go on Brenig this year because that too fished very badly over the same period.

The weather has worked against me several times lately. Apart from the drop in temperatures we've had more than our fair share of rain yet again. the worst thing about the rain is the timing. While I'm at work the weather is dry and the rivers will be running low and clear then each time I have a day off due, it rains the night before and the rivers start to rise. It's very frustrating, especially since I'm hearing of some very big river fish on the grapevine and whilst I can usually get by by choosing the right river, all of them have been up and coloured lately.

Work is another demon that's stopped me from fishing. I had to do some extra shifts to make up for the ones I missed due to going to Blith and Chew and guess what, the weather was perfect so I missed out again. I know I shouldn't complain about work, it is a means to an end after all but I shan't be sorry when I finally get the opportunity to retire.

Last of all was that damned car. Oh how I hate it. Four days off the road last week (yes, the river was low and clear) and while I feel as if we've made some progress at fixing the thing, I feel as if most of my life is being devoted to it.

Four days off now, the car's working but it's rained again. Where am I going to find some pike?