A week of 2 Halves

I managed an evening session last tuesday on The Embankment near Trent Bridge and against all my instincts had high hopes. I planned to use my new centre pin and fish a feeder after dark. I may be biassed but the pin is beautifull and looks the business, its got such a smooth action as well. the first thing i noticed was weed in the margins and the second was how clear and sluggish the water was.
I kicked off with with some small roach and perch but not for long before the bites dried up on both the stick float and the feeder.
To make matters worse the local kayak club were out in force and with a 50m wide river to choose from they insist in litteraly clipping the rod tip. It drives me mad. No wonder fishermen and kayakers dont get on. I decided the river needed some extra flow and colour and hoped we'd get some rain before my next trip.
Rain was forcastfor wednesday night so I got my gear ready for thursday night and decided on the Trent Lock stretch.I was surprised after a couple of hours of rain the night before that there wasnt much extra flow or colour. I discovered that the maggots from tuesday had conveniently turned into casters so mixed half a pint of casters with hemp and pellet and fed a few bait droppers onto 2 spots near mid river. I fished feeder and 12mm pellet on one spot and worm and feeder on the other.
As with all previous stints at this venue I had to wait till dusk was approaching till things got moving. Most of the action happened on the worm rod taking 4 or 5 bream to 3 or 4lb and a perch around the pound mark. Finally the pellet rod went off and with my headtorch not giving a beam that reached the net it was a little hit and miss guiding the fish in. When I lifted the net it was apparent it was larger than usual and sure enough went 7lb 2oz . Whilst not a huge fish it was a)my personal best bream and b)not bad for a river.
Within minutes the worm rod went off resulting in another slightly smaller bream at 6lb 14oz. The worm rod had no isotobes on the tip and i had to try and silhouette the tip against the distant glow to the south. Several times the first I knew of a bite was the but lifting almost horizontal.
It was a great night and and a decent result, i was glad I had my jacket and made a mental note to bring my bib and brace over trousers next time.
There is still no sign of any chub or barbel and I'm begining to think I'm barking up the wrong stretch but the big bream and possible carp keep me coming back.