With my van in dock having a new gearbox fitted, there was only one option open for fishing this week, the long walk down to my local pond in bright sunshine, working up a sweat with my loaded fishing trolley in tow. Pausing in the shade of the lane, I got my breath back ready for the last two hundred yards to my swim.

Walking along the bank, I could see that the shallows at the inlet were full of carp getting ready to spawn, not a good sign for my expectations of a net of carp this afternoon. There were no other anglers present and settled into a favourite swim away from the lily beds, although on such a hot afternoon, the lilies were holding most of the fish out of the sun. Lily beds usually result in snags and lost fish for me and prefer to draw my fish out into a safe area.

Damping down half a pint of liquidised bread, I threw four soft balls in a square, eight to nine metres out. There was an immediate response from the small rudd that plague this pond, although some better sized fish were soon searching among the bread crumbs. Setting up my pole to six metres, I intended breaking down to four with a long line of three to hand and a 2 No 4 waggler half a metre deep and a size 16 hook. The pond is very shallow, with thick black silt covering the bottom and by the time I was ready to fish at 12:30, there was already a dark stain beneath the surface, where fish were searching for my feed.

First cast in, the float sailed away and a half decent rudd kited off across the pond.

Trying to avoid too many small rudd, I had started off with a 7 mm bread punch, but this one had taken the bait and swallowed it in seconds.

These rudd were fat and in their prime, needing to net many of them, although most were swung to hand, my keepnet soon filling, taking two a minute. Continuing with the occasional small ball of feed, kept the decent rudd interested, the better ones fighting all the way to the net.

Usually on this pond, the first half hour is dominated by rudd, only to be eventually pushed out by the carp, but I was still catching these beautiful fish after two hours.

At last bubbles began to burst on the surface and I dropped the float in the middle of them, watching as it lifted, then sank slowly away, the elastic zipping out from the pole tip as a small common carp made off with the bread. Stirring up mud, the fish circled away from me, as I followed it with the pole raised, the red elastic stretching down into the water.

The rudd had moved out and the bites changed to dips and hold unders and I bumped a couple of fish, that I assumed were crucian carp just sucking at the bread. Leaving the next bite until it slowly edged under, I struck into solid resistance and the stand and fight, tumbling battle saw the elastic out again as the golden flanks of a large crucian flashed beneath the surface. Taking my time, I brought the pole back to four metres and drew the crucian over the net. Hooked in the very tip of the upper lip, the hook came out in the net. Phew!

Fine bubbles were now over the feed area, a sure sign of crucians, but the bites were slow to develope and I missed a few more, before a switch to a 5 mm pellet produced a more positive bite and a fish.

These small brightly coloured crucians are bait stealers, tending to sit stationary, sucking at the bread, barely moving the float. In the past I have lifted off thinking that the bait is gone to find one hanging on the hook. For this one I timed it right.

With an early evening commitment, I had set my time limit at 3:30 and bang on time the float crept away and another small crucian came to the net.

Packing up is never easy when the better fish are finally coming on the feed, but I had had an absorbing time catching rudd, being an enjoyable interlude in a busy day.

A satisfying net of fish, making the uphill walk back home worth the effort.