I’ve cracked it !!!!!!!!!!
Went on FB late last night bemoaning my plight - I blame a pooey day in work and many beers with dinner - and got told to stop messing about with stillwaters & fully booked clubs but instead get onto the River Medway free section from Allington Lock to Maidstone town centre.
Highly recommended with easy parking was a stretch in Ringlestone so we’ve given it a go.
With only a 5m elasticated whip, landing net, seatbox, tin of hemp and a pint of casters it was a 2 minute walk from car to a tarmac towpath & neat flat pegs. 12’ of water @ 4m out.
In went a baited hook over a couple of handfuls of hemp - instant bite !
That‘s how it kept going for the next 40 mins we fished - bite every cast producing roach, gudgeon, perch and little skimmers. Had to fish hard to the floor with the olivette about 6” from the hook to get through the bleak but that was fine.
Next swim had a dad with his 8yr old bagging up exactly the same but getting slightly larger fish on 6-7m of pole having groundbaited too plus he’d had a few bonus large skimmers and a proper bream.
We are now river anglers

time to watch a lot more YouTube and buy more kit
Karl