The Ice Man Cometh !

The thermometer in the car was registering -6 degrees C , when I left it to brave the elements in the search of a Pike or two on the Arun . The first song on the radio was " 10th Avenue Freezeout" too ! Its always interesting on the tidal as the high tide had frozen leaving its mark on the banks , a frozen point in  time .

Sometimes fishing is about " being there" . Deep down you know that the chances of catching are slim ( maybe even non existent !) but you have to be in it to win it .

I had decided to change the approach for this winters Pike fishing , and rather than my tradition long link leger techniques and drop off indicators I would be going back to the floats and bite alarms . On this trip I had intended to fish one rod on a paternoster and one on the deck , but as with all the " best laid plans " , I had managed to leave the paternoster rig tube at home ! So both herrings went in to soak on the bottom .

I moved down the river every 30 minutes but as was to be expected really no Pike came my way . But yet again the turn of the tide brought out the only signs of fishy activity as a number of roach rolled in the swim . But not enough to tempt the Pike from their enforced torpor .

While waiting for the impossible to actually happen , I was fascinated by the patterns in the ice .

 

 With the turn of the tide the best and probably most likely time for a "take" had gone , so I decided to pack up . Still a privilege to be there . The wildlife seems to tolerate us in their world a little bit more when it gets really cold . Maybe they don't want to waste energy on escaping from us if we are not an obvious threat ? The Grey Wagtails were " ice walking " , and the Kingfishers and Dabchicks came really close ( why is the camera always in your bag when the best opportunities present themselves ? I have had Kingfishers land on my rods a number of times now , and my move to get the camera has spoilt the opportunity with a departing flash of blue the only lasting image )

Lots of Cormorants about too .......

I will be back .....