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| classic estate lake tench |
| Wow, summer has arrived at
last and what a sizzler it’s been … so not surprisingly, instead of writing
blogs I’ve been out fishing! |
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| tench swim to die for |
A tench of just under six
pounds from a small estate lake was most welcome, especially as it was the best
of five, with three others getting the better of my pole tackle … I wish I
went tench fishing more often …
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| Chris netting a big roach |
and having joined me for a long overdue
session, my computer guru Chris Wild enjoyed success with several big roach and
a PB golden tench of over five pounds. I caught more than a dozen big roach too
so we were both smiling.
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| 5+ PB tench for Chris |
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| do crucian swims get any better than this? |
It’s such a lovely place on a
summer’s day, so the crucian lake on the complex was the perfect spot to show
my Man.U. friend Gerry how to use a pole … and on his first go he had ten
lovely crucians to a best of 2/8, some on soft pellet and several on little
worms.
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| 2/8 heading for Gerry's net |
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| Gerry's first go on the pole - didn't he do well! |
I fished the top lake in the morning and had a two pound crucian too, along with several more big roach to a best of 1/11 using half a lob on the pole, so we both left feeling happy with our summer sport.
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| 1/11 of perfect roach |
Isn’t fishing with friends enjoyable, particularly if you all remember that they are only fish that you are trying to catch and that it’s just a bit of fun.
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| Dan and Chris try the double swim |
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| shady character |
Chris Yates and radio
producer Dan also tried the upper lake … along with sharing Sue’s lovely Victoria
sponge, washed down with lots of tea … and wine once their floats had
disappeared into the night sky.
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| Chris on Redmire's famous dam in 1989 |
We sat reminiscing in the VW van that I bought
in 1989 to be our location base during the making of ‘A Passion for
Angling’.
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| the Passion gang with two of Bob's big roach |
The old van is held together
with lots of welding now but the series of six films live on, having been first
shown on BBC 2 in September 1993 … so we’re coming up for our 20th anniversary
and despite that, it’s still selling well from our website to a tireless list
of enthusiasts … so we must have hit the spot! www.passionforangling.info
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| still selling after twenty years |
As ‘Passion’ tried to show,
there’s more to fishing than catching fish.Yes, it’s good to make contact once
in a while but taking in the surrounding wildlife can prove just as rewarding,
especially when you have to seek shade because of the cracking weather we’ve been
enjoying this summer.
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| scarlet tiger moth on lake-side vegetation |
Now the rain has arrived the
rivers will be flushed and refreshed, so maybe it’s time to look for a barbel
or two ... or maybe I should try for some more manic mullet? So many choices, so little time ... but ain't life good when the sun shines.
