The sun was shining in a blue sky as I ate my lunch, the plan for the afternoon, being a visit to the garden centre to buy potting compound and Spring plants for the rain sodden garden, BUT after a walk around, the plan changed. My wife would rather spend the time out in the rare sunhine tidying up the borders. The magic words “Why don’t you go fishing?” left me with a dilema. Where can I go? Locally the river was polluted again and the pond had been scavenged by cormorants. The Blackwater was flooded, so it had to be Farnham’s Kings Pond, that always fishes, doesn’t it?

Leaving home, the clouds were already gathering, driven by a fresh wind coming my way. Once unloaded after the 30 minute drive, I headed for the end swim, which would be protected from the worst of the weather, due to a high, tree lined bank. You’ve guessed it, there was someone else fishing it! “Have you had much?” I asked. “Not a touch, nothing on the pole, or feeder.” Great, just what I need. After telling him how far I’d travelled to probably blank, I set up two pegs down, where the wind was already lashing the surface, only mixing up a couple of handfuls of ground bait, as I did not expect to stay long.

I started just off bottom at 8 metres over the shelf, putting in a couple of egg sized balls of strawberry groundbait, using a 4 x 16 anttenna rig, with a 5 mm punch on a size 16 barbless hook. Within minutes the float sank and I missed the bite, but the bread stayed on. A recast to the same spot and saw the float disappear immediately. I counted to two and struck, this time feeling the rattle of a small roach, which I drew back to my hand.

Casting in again, the wind became stronger and I was having trouble keeping the pole steady, despite burying the pole tip, the float pulling under in the drift. The anttenna sank out of sight and I lifted into another small roach, which I skimmed back to hand. This was already two more than the angler on the end peg, who seemed to be using a similar rig, but feeding pellets. These roach were obviously taking on the drop and I shallowed up by a foot and increased the tail to the hook with instant success. Number three was in the keepnet.

Another angler arrived with his rod already made up, plonking himself down between me and the end peg and proceeded to bombard his swim with 10 mm boilies. With no other anglers along our bank, I was a bit peeved, as I had given the end peg the benefit of a 30 yard gap, but there you are, the days of curtesy among anglers seems to be gone.

The wind continued to gust, causing more missed bites and decided to feed a new line fishable with only the top two joints, stringing out the float shot, to allow the bait a slower fall, casting out through the groundbait each time. It now became easier to mend the bow in the line and bites soon became instant, striking as the float sank. The roach were getting bigger and bolder.

I was now feeding a small ball of groundbait a cast and needed to mix up more groundbait, while keeping an eye on the float. Needless to say that it had gone, when I looked up. I struck blind, feeling the weight of a better fish, this time a small skimmer bream splashing on the suface, but I swung it in anyway, the hook safely inside the lip.

I was now in the Zone, unhook, punch and hook the bread, flick out another small ball of feed, cast over it, wait for the float to go down, strike and swing in another fish. The guy next door was hunkered down out of the wind. He fed boilies a couple of times, then packed up. I don’t think he caught. It started to rain, which was the signal for Mr End Peg to pack up. I hadn’t started fishing until 2:30, intending to fish until 5:30, hoping to finish the afternoon with a carp or two, but the wind was getting colder and decided to stay until 4:30 to make it a two hour session. Mr E.P came over to watch me for five minutes, having never seen the punch in action, “a bit like bleak bashing with bigger fish.” I gave him a quick tutorial. I packed up, not before time, as I could hardly feel my fingers.

My fears of a blank were unfounded and I’d ended up with just over 30 fish, some better roach and a couple of small skimmers, but never needed the landing net once.