This is a fishing story with a nod to Wallis and Gromit, for instead of heading for the moon, we spent the day in heaven. And we didn’t take cheese, but cake!
Our slice of heaven, here being fished by Chris Yates a while back is a Saxon pond in Dorset’s heartland, one of a pair of ponds that have become sanctuaries for wildlife, saved and nurtured by non other than Peter Rolfe, Godfather of all things crucian.
In his latest book ‘Old Angler Rambling’, [very entertaining it is too], Peter describes the origins of this idyllic wildlife haven, hidden away in the Donheads: “Fish are the reason for this pond’s very existence. Rumour has it that there were ponds here in the time of King Alfred, dug to provide tench, eels and bream for the local dignitaries … and later, a priest re-made them in the time of Queen Victoria so that he could fly-fish for brown trout.”
In more recent times, Peter has laboured long and hard for many years, even aged nearly ninety to ensure the weed growth and fish populations of the two Saxon ponds remain healthy and provide a food rich home for tench, roach and above all, crucians. So as we followed in the footsteps of history, every cast became special, with crucians the gold medal winners.
Peter would often be here when we shared the excitement of fishing these idyllic waters and we enjoyed many memorable days, catching tench, roach and some of the largest crucians in England. He wrote a fascinating book about the lakes rescue and recovery and Chris Yates and I were honoured to be there for the launch party.
Chris and I had a tradition of starting the season at ‘Eelstage’ and while sharing a glass of wine on the evening before dawns first cast, we were privileged to enjoy the silent hunting of a barn owl as it floated within a wing beat of us at dusk.Thanks to Peter and his extraordinary achievements, we enjoyed many of our happiest days catching crucians at his lakes, fish that will swim in our minds forever.
Then there's the tea ceremonies ... let alone the cake. Peter isn't allowed any, so he has to clean any evidence from his hands before returning home to Pam. Photography not allowed!
Fishing at Peter's Donhead lakes a while back, this is Annabelle's first ever fish and what a great way to start a hobby for life. Happy days.
And thanks to Peter's leadership, along with other enthusiasts like Chris Turnbull, crucians became the conservation priority for many fishermen, so angling clubs created fisheries where crucians could breed and thrive.
Our local Wimborne club was just one of many that created a pond just up the road at Edmonsham where the crucians could breed successfully. And they still do, like rabbits!
Friends came to share in the joys of crucian catching and as tench and crucians are good bedfellows, Jim Wreglesworth enjoyed catching both species.
Jim works for the Environment Agency in flood prevention and management, so is used to a good battle with nature, though struggling with tench rather than excess water is a lot more enjoyable. But with the effects of global warming become ever more acute, trying to be King Canute is an increasingly difficult challenge.
Since Peter's early pioneering work, crucians have become a much loved species, their future survival is assured, especially with the support of the Angling Trust among many others.
And with so much more known about them now, Peter has written an update of his crucian bible and made available all that new knowledge for anglers world wide.
Sharing a day in the countryside enhances the experience no end, with or without fish, so our gatherings have become an annual priority and a joy for us three amigos who join Peter to celebrate his birthday. He reaches an impressive 90 this coming weekend and our tradition involves ace angler Jim Wreglesworth, our happy snapper today, Trevor Harrop of Avon Roach Project fame and myself, free now from travelling the world in pursuit of elusive big cats that always seemed reluctant to be filmed!
Peter has created the Saxon ponds to be the very essence of traditional angling principles, no bolt rigs or boilies here, much to our delight, but on this latest visit, Peter allowed me to use a normally forbidden carbon pole and with the fish reluctant to feed after a cold autumn night, the delicacy and intimacy that the pole provides enabled me to extract an elusive young crucian.
Trevor struggled with a lobster pot full of signal crayfish but when tipped off by Jim to fish ‘up in the water’, he caught lots of scale perfect roach on flakes of bread.
I followed Jim’s advice too and landed some cracking roach.But I was reluctant to fish 'up in the water' because a final tench of the season was my ambition and they tend to snuffle on the bottom. Jim speedily proved that belief was true as he struggled to land a feisty three pounder, cause for celebration because it was the first he’d managed to extricate from the lilies all season.
As if to prove there is more to fishing than catching fish, Peter didn’t even try so that he could better enjoy swapping stories with us as we avoided whinging too much about not having enough time to go fishing.
Meanwhile, Trev did a sterling job firing up the Kelly Kettle again so we could continue to tell stories of the ones that didn't get away while munching on Sue’s delicious sponge cake, washed down by Trev’s thirst quenching mugs of tea. We all agreed that friends are more important than fish ... and cake!
And when the cake was finished, the sky started to shed tears, so we reluctantly decided to pack up and leave. And it was a sad goodbye, because the pond is to be emptied of its precious inhabitants before being dredged this coming winter. Recovery will take several years and Peter doesn’t know whether the owners will allow fishing in the future. However, that didn’t stop us vowing to make sure we repeated our annual gathering at some other crucian pond next year.
After all, we only need to join up for another ten times and we’ll all be sitting by a waterside celebrating Peter’s hundredth birthday! What a privilege it’s been to share so many happy hours with one of the greatest gentlemen you could ever wish to meet. Our warmest thanks from us all.
