I had scouted the waters the previous day and decided on the Mill Stream as it looked 'chubby' and I much prefer smaller streams. I had identified five fishable spots the previous day. I started at the farthest, the tail end of a weir pool. The weir was opposite and the swim was a large eddy caused by the fast current as it struck the bank and turned back on itself. Unfortunately the flow was so strong that it just took my line and bait into the rushes. I didn't stay long although I understand that barbel have been taken from this weir pool.

I next stopped just below where the main weir pool flowed into the mill stream. It was a good looking spot (photo) and I soon had a take from a chub of around ¾ lb. Following this I was getting less positive nibbles and my next fish was an eel. It got tangled up in the edge vegetation and the hook came away send ing my tackle up into the tree overhead. I lost the hook and weights. Not being too keen on eels I decided to go to the next swim. Unfortunately it was occupied, which was quite frankly a bit unexpected.

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There was another spot that had looked possible the previous day but on further consideration I decided that I wouldn't be able to get the landing net to the fish. So that was four of my five 'possibles' used up. The last option was up by the road bridge but I decided instead to go back to my previous swim.

Fortunately although I was getting twitchy bites I didn't get any further eel trouble. In fact, when I connected they were small chub and, quite remarkably, dace. I never would have expected to catch small dace using cubes of luncheon meat, especially as I was relying on a combination of road top indication and feeling the line, with the rod hand held.

I carried on like this through the morning and decided it might be worth trying a float next time. This could offer good sport and hopefully by trotting I could avoid the eels.

I had decided to pack up around 14.00 so for the last hour or so moved up to the bridge swim. It's overlooked by apartments and a family were lunching on the balcony almost opposite me. I'm not used to an audience.

The swim is very turbulent as the stream narrows to pass under the road bridge. I tried a few casts placing the bait where the faster water interacted with slower back eddies. On the third such cast I had a positive take and the fish felt better than the earlier ones. The chub fought hard being aided by the fast flow. I didn't weigh it but it was quite a lean fish of probably around 2lb to 2½lb (photo). This resulted in a discussion with the chap in the family who said he had never seen a fish caught so quickly from that spot.

I fished for a while longer but after landing a reasonably sized eel that had completely swallowed the hook I decided to call it a day.

My conclusion was that the Mill Stream has great possibilities and I shall return.