As it turned out, I had four in the 1st ten minutes of casting out! The action was slow and steady for the rest of the day and I had a grand time despite the conditions.

If you've not fished it, give it a go!

Just about the worst weather I've fished in for ages... But I was desperate to get on the bank! Loads of small carp kept me busy all day ;)

As it turns out, it was 3rd time lucky and I managed to get a couple of decent fish in a short day session - all came good in the end.

So I decided to head down to Follyfoot Fishery to try a bit of cold water carping. As it turned out, it was an incredibly tough session...

I've had such a good run of luck out on the River Avon, starting in the summer fishing for chub and into winter fishing for pike. But as the seasons move and things get grimmer as we move into February I knew things were going to get tough...

I suffered the 1st blank last Tuesday! The conditions were far from perfect: a really hard frost which gave way to bright sunshine and high temperatures. The pike were just not in a biting mood...

Then a 2nd blank this Sunday. It was only a quick session but I knew from the moment I arrived at 7.30am that there was a high possibility of a blank. The river was up a good 2ft and hacking through at quite a pace. Couple that with chocolaty water and you've a recipe for nill fish! I stuck with it till 11ish and then called it a day, making the walk back to the car with freezing fingers and a slightly dejected air...

To raise my spirits, I took a look back through some of the pics and videos from the lasts 6 months which made me feel a whole load better. If you've not seen them, take a look - what a river!