This is strange, since I don't mind the bulls in the field next to the section I normally fish. I suppose they're 'my' bulls. Anyway, I bit the bullet, negotiated the gate and hugged the edge of the field as I walked down to the river. The big black one gave me an ugly look and then turned to reveal udders. D'oh!

The pool was as nice close up as it had looked from the bridge. I tackled up with a 15' float road, centre pin, 4lb line and a small Avon float. Baited with cheese paste and off we went. The rod was long enough for me to keep the line off the water and control the float nicely so I could work it around the slack on the far side and then bring it into the edge of the current. I started getting bites straight away but my useless cheese paste kept sliding off. (Note to self: add flour).

Switching to a small cube of luncheon meat produced a fish straight away - a small chub of about half a pound. I fished on for an hour but the bites became very tentative and hard to hit, so I moved downstream to a narrower run with lilies up one end. A few bites, but nothing to speak of. Then I moved to the bridge. This is where I caught my first ever chub on legered corn, but this evening only produced a small roach. Then no other bites.

In the end I packed up at 9.30pm and made for home. If I'd had casters I think I would have cleaned up. Certainly there are as many cabbages here as elsewhere on the river so I think trotting is the way to go until later in the year when some of the growth starts to die away. But a beautiful evening anyway, and already this season is going better than last.