All quiet, but here's hoping

 A very low key sort of day, with Debbie bringing Emily and Harry over to visit Nanny & Grand-dad for the first time in ages. It was great to spend some quality time with our family,  the two kids having gotten negative Covid results after being sent home from school a week ago, showing symptoms of a cold! Still, I have to accept that reopening schools must be a priority and teacher health cannot be compromised by their pupils. Another sign of these crazy times. Garden vis mig was very different from yesterday, with just 17 Song Thrushes noted, the highlights being single Lapwing and Grey Wagtail - what a difference a day makes!

I'd taken a quick trip down to see Camo, this morning, just to grab a couple of packs of blueys, to add to my bait options as I return to the mini pike hunt. On Monday I'm off down to the RMC for my first session of the season, hoping to get three out of five trips next week to the venue. The other two will be at the syndicate where I'm still unsure of the potential of the pike fishing, I've certainly not seen anything to convince me that I'm chasing "big" pike there. With five sessions equating to around twenty five hours, maximum, angling time, I'm hoping at least one double visits the landing net before I have to go back to work. The weather forecast seems to be changing by the hour, so any plans will have to be very flexible, adapting to whatever twists and turns the conditions throw up. I've got some new "back-biter" alarms coming, courtesy of brother Simon, who makes these items in his man cave back in Aston Clinton. It would seem that tomorrow will be the final time I use the Siren R3's, with monkeys on needles, as my bite indication system when using fixed spool reels. Only when using centrepins are they (monkey climbers) a vital part of the bite registration kit using the dead bait techniques I employ. I will make a conscious effort to get some images of the various rigs and tackle items that I use over the coming week. Hopefully I'll achieve a modicum of success and be able to use my blogging to explain some of the thought processes behind my approach to targeting pike in these venues. Obviously this will be fully dependant upon me catching a few, otherwise there is absolutely no point in saying anything about techniques which are not doing the business - any fool can blank without assistance from me!