Thwarted Thrice, But The Day Was Nice.....And Spawny!

My two previous attempts to fish the new lake had been non-starters on account of flooding and marauding bovines. Today, as I cycled with minimal gear alongside the Ouzel and Grand Union, half of me had almost accepted that they would be spawning, but on I went.
 The only rod I carried was a 1.75lb Shimano Twin Power, I have two, they have been customised by my old friend Mick Willis, handles shortened and corked. I use them for barbelling and surface fishing for carp.
 The sun started to peep out as I arrived and I was soon through the padlocked gate.
 I was in no hurry to fish and went for a mooch about.
 As I sit here now, typing, my legs are still glowing from nettle stings having worn shorts and I am also sporting a puncture wound to my left eyelid from a dog rose thorn which has turned into a nice shiner. Parts of this lake are wild and a full cicumnavigation is a perilous journey.
 There were four other anglers on the lake, that's a lot for this place. The fish weren't where I thought they'd be so I primarily settled for quiet area away from everyone else and tackled up.

This was the view ahead as I fired out a few PVA bags of riser pellets and mixers and sat back.

Some carp soon moved in from the right, two small commons waddled straight through my feed as if it wasn't there. Then one of the ghosties did the same.Hmm!

 They were clearly pairing up,my suspicions were confirmed by that glorious whooshing sound of spawning fish from the other side of the lake. I have to admit that I persevered with the feed for much longer than I should've, they were in full thro for at least two hours before I pondered that I might as well pack up.

In these parts there is saying that goes along the lines of, "Cast not a clout, until may is out". Well may is out, I might well have 'cast a clout' but I definitely didn't cast a bait.
 It occured to me that I might not really seek to catch fish, being just happy with solitude and beautiful surroundings...I like it here.

Of course I didn't go home, oh no, I had to go around to have a look at what was going on. I will let you know of my discoveries in my next post, but here's a little taster.......