Arrival time: 09:30
Weather: Full sun becoming very warm throughout the day
Tackle: Korum 10ft 'All Rounder' 1.1lb TC, Shimano Exage 1000 reel, small bomb leger, 6lb line with a 4lb Drennan short hooklength to a 16 red fine wire hook.
Baits: Maggots, worms, corn & hemp as attractor.
Fish: Roach, perch, gudgeon, bream.

With an overcast day forecast following days of endless sun I decided to try the Six Gate weir pool at Houghton. I had fished it a couple of times last July and caught predominantly dace with a few roach along the way. So I set up a light feeder rod and made the around 20 minute walk from the car. I arrived to find a barrier of nettles and other plants obstructing access to the pool. Another 20 minutes was spent clearing an opening using just small scissors from my tackle bag. Not a great start!

I also had to clear some dead branches from the overhead tree although the tree was providing welcome shade from the sun. To cut a shortish story even shorter, I didn't get a bite! The pool was very shallow and a fallen tree a little way downstream was restricting the flow. Dipping in an adjacent swim didn't yield anything either so I decided to move.

I had checked out another swim on the back channel during my Trout Stream walk a couple of weeks previously, so I made my way there. Another longish walk! It looked much more inviting and showed signs of being regularly fished. And sure enough I started to get knocks on the rod top almost immediately. But it was a while before I hit one, which turned out to be a roach.

Other small roach followed.

A fortuitous perch was hooked when I let the weight and bait drop in front of me while sorting out a line tangle. Fishing the same spot again with worm didn't produce another perch but a gudgeon, the first I had caught for quite a while. Another gudgeon followed.

I was exposed to the sun and soon realised that I wouldn't be able to stay too long. Another perch came along and I caught two or three small what I think were bream, although the fin colouring suggested a hint of roach. It was later suggested by somebody viewing my video that they could have been silver bream. However I lean more towards hybrids.

Surprisingly a boat had gone past as I had arrived at the swim. It was a pleasure boat obviously being operated to give people a tour of the river, although I had understood that the back channel wasn't open for boats. It returned a bit later, and later still a couple came past in a boat that they had obviously hired. Up until then I had considered the back channel as a refuge from the busy summer boat traffic.

By the middle of the day I was starting to overheat and faced quite a long walk back to the car. So I decided to call it a day. The walk to the car was as bad as I had feared, requiring a couple of rests on the way.

So the day certainly didn't pan out as planned but the few hours in the last swim were enjoyable. I think if I try it again I'll take a float rod and trot down, although I suspect that the small fish will still predominate.