Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Bright but with some cloud & drizzle. Much colder than of late.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano match rod, Rapidex II 2400 centrepin, preloaded waggler, 6lb line with 3.8lb Supplex leader and 14 eyed hook.
Baits: Sweetcorn & bread flake
Fish: Blank

Following heavy rain I knew that the rivers would be up so decided to make another trip to the local drain. I had wlaked it the previous day and it certainly appeared more appealing than a river heavy with rain. However, unlike on my previous visit there were no quick bites. In fact there were no bites full stop. I then I learned something even more disappointing.

The drain was less coloured than when I had walked it the previous day and the level wasn't appreciably higher than when I last fished it. So things were looking promising. I had used maggots on my earlier visit and when I didn't get any bites on sweetcorn I at first thought that it might be a bait issue. However, changing to bread flake didn't make any difference.

I fished for probably just over an hour when a chap came up and asked me how I was doing. "No good" was the obvious response. He then dropped the bombshell, telling me that I shouldn't be fishing there, and that fishing was not permitted anywhere along the drain. Apparently signage had be posted in the past but had been vandalised and removed.

Disappointed doesn't begin to describe my feelings. He said I could continue on this occasion but as I hadn't had a bite I decided to call it a day. Apparently poaching with dead lines had been a problem but the principal reason for the fishing ban was safety. The pumping station just to my right had apparently pumped enormous amounts of water into the section where I was fishing following recent heavy rain. Because such pumping could occur without warning this was regarded as a safety hazard for anybody fishing. But there had also been instances of the banks being cut out to form fishing pitches, which caused problems for maintenance vehicles when negotiating the narrow path during vegetation clearance work.

He also informed me that the volume of water that had been pumped would almost certainly have washed any fish some distance further along the drain. So it seems I was fishing in a spot where there probably weren't any fish.

The most disappointing thing, however, was that my hopes of fishing the drain as a local venue that could be walked to, and explored more in the summer for the rudd, had been dashed. All in all a very disappointing day!