Garden Paths - Part 1

 A place for an angler to those themself

Well as you will be aware, I have been spending my spare time trying to figure out a stretch of the Thames that is new to me and one that is certainly giving me plenty of food for thought and head scratching, in fact my hair loss is currently going very well and I don't think I will be needing any just for men dye anytime soon. This stretch is just packed with so many good looking swims, each one making you stop and want to wet a line, each spot whispering the promise of  an unknown leviathan, it's certainly an enjoyable predicament to be confronted by.

I decided to head out, with one thing in mind, fish the weirpool overnight and see what I could attempt to suss out. I arrived at my swim at late evening, the sun pleasently warm, complimented by a rather blustery wind. I opted for the boilie only route, both baits well glugged and placed out with a thick mixture of vitalin and birdseed wrapped around the ledger weights.

one was placed out to the right and an inviting slack, just away from the open weir gates, the other being placed to another slow area on my left side. The evening sun set and the full moon appeared and in doing so created an almost surreal atmosphere, one that added to my feeling of optimism.

But the night was a quiet one, with just one fish and my first from this area, a Bream of 5lb 7oz, a quick photo was taken and it was slipped back.

Very nice to catch and it put up a nice account of itself compared to its stillwater cousins, but it would have been nicer on lighter tackle and not what I am using, which is more beefy and primarily aimed at the Barbel and Carp.

As I'm writing this I have come back from another trip, my head thoroughly scratched again, ideas running through my head and another plan of action being considered, I can certainly think of no better place to search these multitude of garden paths, maybe I will eventually find that secret garden, one  that I'm sure exists somewhere along this stretch, maybe I have already found it, because this place has such timeless beauty.

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