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| bar of gold and almost as valuable - 3.7 this one if I remember correctly |
They say that variety is the
spice of life and when it comes to fishing, I for one certainly find that to be
true. There are so many different species to hunt and each come with their own
special challenges and wonderful contrasting places that they live. Don’t you
just luv it!
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| don't arm wrestle with Mr.Yates |
My season usually starts with
crucians and tench and at the time they seem like the ultimate quarry because
they live in such glorious places. Shared with the likes of Mr.Yates and Chris
Wild, smiling is the only option.
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| Chris W with PB golden tench of 5+ |
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| pole fishing for tench and crucians is a joy |
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| 5.15 elastic stretcher |
However, roach are never far
from my mind as despite the glib saying ‘my favourite species is whatever I am
fishing for at the time’, roach and rudd probably win the day.
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| 2.8 Sway roach, also on the pole - you can't beat it |
Who you fish with is more
important anyway, so when Gerry came down from Manchester to try to catch a big
crucian, it was a delight to be able to put him in the swim that delivered. His
previous biggest was less than a pound so for him to bag ten with all bar one
over two pounds meant it was a red letter day.
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| crucian swim to die for |
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| Gerry with 2.9 PB crucian - what a happy lad |
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| distracted by big roach in the upper lake |
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| Chris on the hunt for a carp in the next swim |
Mullet are never far from our
minds when summer arrives and several attacks of mullet madness were shared
with Steve. We caught plenty too but even when they proved tricky, as they do, it was still always a treat
to be out in the wide open spaces.
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| Steve with a 5.15 battler - took fifteen minutes to subdue - awesome |
My childhood was spent in
such places, for I grew up in the Fens and have to return each year for a trip
down memory lane. Tench, bream and rudd are the quarry and the drains at dawn
and dusk simply magical places, especially as I fished them more than fifty years
ago, cycling from Ely on my trusty Raleigh with rod attached.
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| Fenland dusk - magic |
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| aren't rudd beautiful |
I met Chris Hammond perching there one
day and he’s become an ‘email pal’, so I was delighted when he caught a two
pound rudd when I was there with a camera. He introduced me to Newmarket [by Royal
Appt.] sausages too so apart from his friendship, I have lots to thank him for!
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| Chris with a 2+ gem |
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| Fenland sunset |
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| a lake of perfect peace |
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| Chris concentrating on his roach fishing |
A roaching session on a
lovely wild estate lake near Shaftesbury with my computer guru friend, Chris
Wild produced more elastic stretching tench and several big roach to 1.15.
Chris caught several too but I was so busy trying for a two pounder that I
didn’t photograph his … must try harder.
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| struggling with a tenacious tench |
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| small but don't fiesty little males fight hard |
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| very close to two pounds but no coconut |
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| the famous Bridge Pool on the Avon |
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| Trev enjoying a relaxing morning bagging up |
Close friend Trevor Harrop of
Avon Roach Project fame and I share adventures as often as possible and the
Bridge Pool on the Avon usually receives a visit once a year. It’s famous for
dace and sea trout but being roach fanatics, we ignore the usual maggot
throwing antics and ball in heavy bread mash balls. We catch lots of roach too. No big
uns this year but a real fun day, especially the banter from the locals and tourists
who barrack us from the bridge.
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| not big but perfectly formed - the roach! |
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| any roach is a good roach these days |
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| preparing for a day on the water |
I escape film-making as often as
possible in my little boat, trying for roach and mullet on the estuary but
often catching bass and sea trout as well. Hours of fun, bouncing around on the
ocean waves in the sunshine.
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| just lovely out there at dawn |
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| tasty sea trout but they have to go back ... sadly |
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| 5.8 of battling mullet - I thought my roach rod was going to break in half |
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| swimming off to fight another day |
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| 6.14 of gorgeous barbel |
Come September, I felt it was
high time I returned to the rivers and tried to catch a barbel. As you will be
well aware, like so many rivers, the Avon has been low and clear but I got
lucky with the barbel on the three days I tried, probably because close friend
Mr.Bowler gave me lessons! Every time I catch one I wonder why I don’t fish for
them more often. They are so beautiful, even if they don’t fight as hard as
mullet.
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| might be a nuisance fish when barbelling ... but at 5lbs ... I don't think so |
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| a perfect barbel swim but where are they? |
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| 8.15 of golden beauty - not big by modern standards but who cares |
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| golden dawn in the Clay Pool |
Trev and I were out on the
estuary again last week trying for roach and mullet but we had suffered the
first frost of the winter, so despite trying five different swims, we almost
blanked. In one swim we had to move when a diver surfaced by our floats. You couldn’t make it up could you - we had to laugh!
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| tench bubbles?! |
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| he seemed quite surprised we were laughing |
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| you couldn't make it up |
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| hundreds of mullet all around the boat - we couldn't catch them though |
We were surrounded by
hundreds of mullet but they were sun bathing on the surface and wouldn’t take
the bait properly. Trev managed a thin bass and I saved a blank with a blennie!
The day was wonderful in the shirt sleeve sunshine though and proved the saying
that there’s more to fishing than catching fish.
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| thin but silvery bass |
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| Chris with a bronzy Dane chub |
Last but not least was a days
fishing on the Dane with ‘ManU Gerry’ and Mr.Yates. We were joined by a Passion
for Angling fan Tommy, a carp angler who had never fished a river before. Gerry
set him up in a tasty swim after we’d enjoyed the best bacon sarnie in the
world and Tommy promptly caught his first ever river fish, a barbel. Now life
doesn’t get any better than that does it?
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| Tommy with his first ever river fish |
