Waste of Time?

The rules on the lake dictate that if you wish to fish at this time of year for Pike that you must use a single hook only,yesterday evening was spent digging out the 3lb TC rods and crimping wire traces to size 2 single hooks on which I tied a braid hair for the sea fish deadbaits I had aquired.This is all a bit of an effort when my workplace sell nicely made twin trebles that most people can use,most of the time,I mean,what are the chances of me hooking a Catfish in freezing conditions?Really?..Oh well,effort,as they say,equals reward,right?
It was perhaps not a surprise to find the lake frozen when I arrived,a buzzard circled above like some arbinger of bad news,the weather has been brutal and shows no sign of respite,so after a walk around,and knowing that the river is a raging torrent,I head for a local club lake.

It came as a relief to see that at least part of the lake was fishable,obviously there were no other anglers so I set up in an old favourite and chucked out a Sprat,a Mackerel tail and the feeder rod with worm as hookbait.It was cold and once again I found myself facing that relentless North Easterly,when will it change?After a couple of biteless hours I started to wonder what the hell I was doing,but,as always I thought"effort equals reward"....the bobbin on my right hand rod flew up and the buzzer sounded,I struck.........nothing....the Mackerel tail had bite marks,just about where the second treble would be on a Jardine Snap Tackle(incidentally,the same rules apply on this lake which also contains Catfish).

It started to snow and the heads of the Reedmace swayed in rows like drunken guards on parade.A single Magpie appeared,I thought"Not you again"as the snowfall turned to blizzard.I was getting cold..I have all the kit you need for winter but sometimes the weather still wins,I wasn't just cold,I was wet and cold.My fingers were so numb from the feeder that I was glad that I'd been prepared enough to bring a handwarmer.
I had a twitch on the quiver rod but am minded to think it was probably one of the many hungry Tufted Ducks,I'm no longer suprised to see how deep they can go for food.
The wind chill was immense,and I was out of tea and shivering,"Go home,idiot"I thought.It took me the best part of an hour to slowly pack up with numb fingers and toes.
So,does effort really equal reward?..The answer has to be that most of the time it does..but..not always.The other question has to be;Is fishing in such conditions as we have had recently a waste of time?..I think,maybe it is,but it is my favourite waste of time.