Cold and frosty!

I managed to sneak off for a day at Willows again last week right in the middle of a cold snap. I arrived about 7.30 and found only a single set of tyre marks in the frost and luckily they led to the far side of the lake to my intended spot. It was nearly 8.30 before I had both rods out and the kettle on. I was fishing pva sticks of tuna in oil and hallibut pellets bound together with pellet groung bait, a few brocken boilies finished off the bags. The sticks as usual were threaded onto the hook length then conected to the main line with quick release clips. The difference this time was that I was fishing one rod on flourocarbon hook links with size 12 hooks on a d ring rig and the other on a standard braid link with my usual light braid longish hair.
Pete was due to join me later in the morning after rattling off a quick plumbing job (that'll be £500 please missus!) so I settled down to make a brew and contemplate which would arrive first a fish or Pete. I lit the stove and 10 seconds later it went out. Picking it up I gave it a shake, plenty of gas, and lit it again. 10 seconds later it went out! It was so cold that the gas wasnt vapourising in the canister, PANIC!!! No tea! I was now willing to see Pete come around the corner with the remedy!
About an hour into the session the right hand rod with the new fangled flourocarbon link give an almighty twitch and I was surprised to see no movement on the swingers as I was fishing a running lead, slack line and a light indicator. Shortly after a second twitch managed to yank the rod tip around and I sudenly realised the line was frozen into the rings! Unfortunatly no run followed.
My confidence was dropping rapidly on acount of the temperature when thankfully the left hand rod on the semi fixed lead rattled off. I knew this might be my only fish of theday and played it carefully into the net. Opening the net on the mat revealed a mirror of about 8 or 9lb which was quickly returned.
Recast and settled in the sun my wait for tea finally ended when Pete arrived. He didnt have a liquid fuel burner which would run in the cold but in his bag I knew he'd have his brazing torch to heat the gas cylinder to run the stove!! It doesnt look very safe but it works a treat and I certainly wasnt complaining. On arrival he looked witheringly at my pod and comented, as I have, that it could do with being 18 inches longer. The last laugh was mine though as i watched him trying to get a bank stick into the frozen earth. Oh how I laughed as an hour later what looked like a series of twitches turning into a run actually turned out to be the rear bank stick falling over!!
We both had a few twitches and short lifts which only Pete managed to conect with a couple of bream with one going a good 4lb. We sat chatting and drinking tea untill at dusk we both started getting odd twitches. Like a coiled spring I was ready for the off, that is untill Pete pointed out that the lines were trapped in ice and the ice was moving. By 2 hours after dark we called it a day, the ice was now right accross the lake.
So what did I learn from the session?
1. Tipex as distance marker on the line doesnt really work, it rubs off onto other parts of the line giving false marks. Casting to a marker float and using a marker knot is my next plan, if I think the knot has moved I'll recaster the marker and check my knot.
2.Geese are as sneaky and sly as swans.
3.Camping gas stoves dont work in the cold, which I already knew but tried burying my head in the sand.
Next year I'm going to try the farm lake at willows where the stamp of fish is slightly better but first I'll have a cast around with the marker rod.

Cheers everyone and Happy Christmas