A bad day on the bank is better than a good day at work!

I am lucky enough to have a week off as I am starting a new job soon and what better way to spend it than on the bank, a day session today then a 72 hour stint next week.

I arrived at the lake at around 8am this morning only to find the world and his wife were already there, luckily the swim next to my favourite was free so that was good enough for me.

I've recently been lucky enough to be signed up for the Berkley Gulp! Carp Army so I am using the Squid & Liver boilies today with the Spod blend particle mix in PVA bags over a large bed of boilies. The beauty of all the particles in the Gulp! Carp range is they are 100% PVA friendly which I am sure you will agree is a great touch and gives a real edge over other anglers especially if, like my chosen club spodding is banned. The Spod Blend mix consists of everything you could possibly want in a spod mix including Tiger Nuts, Maize, Hemp and loads of other seeds.

As the morning past I was having lots of touches on both rods which were 2 rod lengths apart tight to a big set of pads but, unfortunately no takes. It wasn't until around lunchtime when I had my first real bite but still not a take!

I hadn't noticed any fish activity at all for a few hours and what with the drop in temperature and the amount of angling pressure on the lake my hopes of landing one were fading.

I decided to recast again slightly shorter of the pads on both rods as the line bites were telling me the fish were closer in than I was fishing so I hoped this would bring my rigs to thier attention.After a short while, my right hand alarm let out a few beebs and then stopped as if it was teasing me. This pattern went on for the next 10 mins, every 30 seconds just a few beebs and then nothing. With the day running away this was becoming increasingly frustrating and I was beginning to wish I was staying for the weekend as I knew it was just a matter of time but hey ho, thats fishing and a bad day on the bank is better than a good day at work, thats for sure.

So after my first, albeit short session on the new bait, no fish but some encouraging signs. It was more a case of wrong place, wrong time. Hopefully I will have more luck next week when the bait really gets put to the test.

Until next time...Keep calm and go fishing.

Tight lines!