At last, out on the river again. Sandy and I had spent the week travelling around (without tackle) seeing family and taking Hugh Falkus' ephemera back up to the Lake District after being allowed to scan it all for Angling Heritage.
However Reg, the hero, came to my rescue and took me out for a few hours fishing on the Warwickshire Avon to a new water that he had just become a member of, and even loaned me his trotting gear.
It was a picturesque spot with a nice flow in eight foot of water allowing me to use an Avon style float carrying 6 AAA shot onto my usual size 12 hooks so I didn't catch too little a fish. I was quickly into a dace which must have nearly been 3" long - so much for the hook size. As the day progressed I caught more dace, a bleak, gudgeon, minnow and a barbel of around 10oz which was great to see.
I switched to worm and caught a few perch before hitting into a bigger chub in the 3-4 lb range and a smaller chublet. This made 7 species in all.
What a great day out, this must be my favourite form of fishing.