Opening Day Roach Fest.

 For the start of the season I opted to continue my Bream campaign on one of my ticket waters that opened on the 16th, a very early start (4.30am) to be precise with the view too building a swim and getting stuck into some slabs with the target being a 13lb specimen, upon arrival I was shocked to find both lakes rammed full of Carp anglers, this of course was not expected as it was a Tuesday morning and I expected most to be at work but it seemed everyone had booked time off just like me, a major spanner in the works and I wasn't prepared to squeeze in between anglers pumping out bait.

 I was fairly annoyed by what had happened, it wasn't a good start I wanted to start on Frensham Great Pond but a ticketing system was in place, I want a choice of swims....the Bream fishing was full of Carp anglers so I had to turn to plan C and that was to go back home grab my trotting tackle with the Roach in mind. Fishing at around 3ft with a small piece of flake seemed to get the fish going straight away, the first fish was around 10oz and after a few casts the fish kept coming, in a little under 2 hours I bagged an impressive 52 Roach to 1.1 and a solo Chub with the addition of a dozen Gudgeon to exactly 2oz, the keepnet was so heaving that I curtailed the session so I could empty the net which weighed around 26-27lb a great summer haul but I didn't come across any of the larger fish.

 A short walk down and another swim was broken in, awkward to fish but once I was semi-comfortable I began trotting with my first Roach 1.2 which was followed by another dozen to 1lb, after the 12th I stopped and ended my session with the view in returning better prepared for the swim, but all in all it was a very good day of trotting after what was a disappointing morning.

Best of the day.

Just a smidgen of my haul being released.

 Total of 71 Roach to around 37lb, 12 Gudgeon to 2oz, 1 Goldfish of 1.8, 1 Chub of 12oz. Not bad for a first day.