Wednesday 30 March 2016

Getting out

BST and the nights are drawing out. Well till the Solstice anyway. Get the chores done and out on the bike,  on foot or by the water somewhere and back for beer o'clock.

Fancy a couple of hours at this end next couple of nights or so.  Hemp soaking anyway.



Perhaps a pint at the Rising Sun?


Friday 25 March 2016

Blue Friday

Thought I'd start to put some bait in the ressie to get the bream used to having  a little spread laid out for them and as I was there it wouldn't hurt to have a dabble.

Hemmed in by lines  across to the far bank and scowls preventing me loading up the swim and taken back a little by the colour of the water. Aqua marine? A mixture of lime and dye as ordered by the committee.


Solitary buzzard and a multitude of frogs and toads making metaphorical hay and of course the noddie narrow gauge hobby trains.


Not sure if these are avian or mammalian. .


The fishing? One brief lift, bait gone and a proper steady slow butt ringer, missed both on prawn. One fish lost to my carping companions. Will be dark an hour later from Sunday. Not long till ramsons and cuckoos.

Sunday 20 March 2016

Coffee, buzzards and bream.

Weekend's often include  trips for carrot cake. Solo on Saturday so coffee  only. With, as I un charitably annonuced the posh knobs. Islington weekenders probably. Good coffee, it should be at £7 a small bag.  Today I'm a  on a carrot cake hunt and along with the surprisingly good rhubarb  and custard cake it 's a functional National Trust cofffe, not nearly so good but the same generic £2 as yesterday's  top brew.

As well as coffee yesterday it was  a trip up to collect Science Boy from his lab in Loughborough and a good opportunity for a raptor spot.  Singly or in usually groups of three buzzards were by far the commonest birds of prey seen, with kestrel a very poor  second. And yes, as the A47 up climbs up over the ridge and furrow remnants past Peterborough the reliable red kite spot around Wittering.


Imagine the labour taken to keep the fires burning in these stacks, in just one part of this wing.


Buds breaking against the heat sink wall.


Unexpected pass  out and given the time allowed it was the short hop to  Captain's and a trio of bream and a skimmer..Corn preferred to prawn  today but couldn't get any feed in due to the ever present swans.





Monday 14 March 2016

A last hurrah

Welney Washes over flow meant Lord Light of Thorrington was uncharacteristically late  for our RV with John  Two Terriers. Following a thorugh debunking of Schteeve MacLaren and Newcastle FC we headed off to the drain. East North Easterly,, bright and clear water  meant the fish would be under cover. Down to serious business  first and some splendid bacon and freshly made bap size rolls were quickly devoured.



Searching under the cover of the downstream boat, first bite missed but 4 casts later and the Lord Light manufacured bbobber indicated interest in the worm and a very plump of  perch of about 10oz was banked. Camera miss- setting  turned a vibrant fish into a silty old thing.

Conditions continued to be difficult, though John TT had found some prodctive cover.
Lunch time cuppa disturbed by a determined  but ultimately missed take on sardine to me.

Lord Light   slotted in above a housebhouseboat and patiently worked up some bites, mostly rudd and small perch. Lost better perch then had this beauty on maggot.

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Backed up by this smaller fish to worm.

John TT rounded things off with the biggest of the day, a very rickety stage restricting safe access to compose better shots.









Saturday 12 March 2016

Hello Keith

Lord Light, Essex's finest Scribbler reckons I only catch one pike and keep turning it round so one notices. Well, I say,  there's is 6 miles or so of river from the top of our stretch,  and the free stretch down to the start of Broadland tidal river at the Horstead Mill/Lock impasse. OK, there was Lumpy, 12 pound with a large orange tumour.  One eye, 18 lb and you can work it out. The short fat 17. But that was a couple years ago, on the top section. Things  must have moved on mustn't they?

Short session on the top stretch (wait for it) after a work party on the ressie. Following two one sided battles  with some sort of  cross river sub surface snag I had more  or less resigned  myself to a trip to the tackle shop to stock up for Mondays Fen adventure.

Away with the half herring and a spirited fight later I am  posing with another back end plump pike of 11 pounds plus. Little did I know that this was Keith. Keith  was Lord Light's suggested name for "my" pike. It was not till I was farting about later with Snaspseed that I noticed a misshapen pelvic fin that looked familiar.

Checked back a couple of weeks and yes, Keith was Keith and had last been caught about a 1/4 mile downstream.  Which of course made Lord Light chortle at length.

Keith is quite a nice looking fish don't you think?


Had one more chance but forgot it was a donkey choker mackerel tail and didn't set the hooks  properly.






Friday 11 March 2016

By a hairs breadth

Lord Light was sunning himself again in a secluded bay in deepest Suffolk as I headed off to a Wensum  that had spread itself across it's valley. Planners and developers take note,  a flood plain floods. End of.

Bumping down the track and the Square Lake was one with the river.  The smaller of the trout likes was studded with tails and dorsals,  the delivery driver must must have just emptied a consignment  of raggy tailed stockies looking for their pellets.

The lake was the fullest I've seen it.  Behind the fence the river was certainly not fishable.

Tarka has seen  to a thinning out but I have watched barbel just there well into mid doubles, and photographed a 14. A 20 swam there.  Imagine that.

Sardines out and struggle to get enough shot out my ill prepared bag  to cock a peacock waggler.  Canada geese  driving me mad. Consider  a  move till two oiks send their canine charges into my next choice swim.

Lord Light had done a lovely plump pike out of his bay. I decide to head back via a stage on Captain's  where I knew my maggots woukd be appreciated. Packing away and the far rod knocked twice and the  bait runner fizzed, briefly. A fish is on but barely. It has had a right go at the sardine and must go all of a lb, if that.

 
On to the first stage on Captains and once I had found the depth it was a bite a  heck for my alloted hour. Biggest  this handful of a skimmer and a range of  small roach rudd and hybrids .

Just on curfew a rudd splashed once too many times and was taken by an airborne pike rIght at the foot of the stage. Manage to keep its head down and in the net, playing to the gallery of the  home time commuter traffic. Very plump  unlike the fish yesterday.  15lb on the nose. Pack everything away then hold and grin  again to the commuter gallery.

Thursday 10 March 2016

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

My instructions  were clear, paint that room then bugger off  fishing while I get my haircut.  Be rude not too. Lord Light of Thorington was drinking tea and reading the paper over in Suffolk and the river had risen again with yesterday's  rain so it was a short drive to Captain's.

Exchanged  pleasantries with the chap fishing where I really wanted to be so settled in two swims down, intending to fish to a weeded area that usually produces a run or two. At the back of the swim I was surprised to find something pink and nobbly. ..


Oh dear,oh dear, oh dear. Lord Light of Thorrington thought it would go down well with the Beach Gentlemen of St. Osyth,  My erstwhile companion merely raised an eyebrow as he got back to his book.

Out with some very shabby smelt. Book reader was making ready to leave for home so I decided to recast before jumping into his swim. Picked up the rod, (that Conoflex again) drawing back a shade before beginning to wind. The expected weed kicked back. A dour fight in the shallow water and a long fish was in the net. Book reader was a little unsure of pike and I glibly assured him that a mat, some decent forceps and being confident was all that was required . All going well till the pics when a quick turn and two fingers  lost a fair amount of flesh....


Pike fine but Book Reader probably won't be swapping a chod rig for a wire trace for a while.


And yes, another single chance taken day. Sparham tomorrow  I think. Tench and bream starting to draw my attention.



Tuesday 8 March 2016

Just the one Mrs. Wembley

Yesterday  morning saw a white blanket that sent me scurrying  down the A140 to the open expanses  of public water supply and a depth of water that took an age for the bump of the lead touching down. Today,  the snow had gone, mostly in the river. Brown but not  unruly.


Buzzards, a yafffle yaffling and it's tree hammering cousin beating out a rhythm. Two jays squabling. Stop start  spring will of course out in the end but it is having a job at the moment.


For what ever reason the 20 or 30th leapfrog cast over to a long and  seemingly similar reed fringed margin and the float bobs twice then moves steadily across the flow.   The old glass Conoflex 12 footer pressed into service for the second time in two days is tested in the flow  but once again it proves up to the task. Leeches carpet the net from a short but solid fish with a noticeable belly. Stocking up for spawning.


A very solid thump round on the Waymasters to a wet net deducted 13.14.  That's it. No more interest.  Second one take session in a row,. Like Leicester  a hard fought 3 points at the death are enough to hold that 5 point lead and edge closer to the most unlikely  Premiership turnover sesaon ever.

Monday 7 March 2016

North by North West

Bure, Wensum and Yare all up and dirty. Woke up to a very cold, windy white world.  Slip , slip sliding till well past Norwich.  Low morning sun, salt spray windscreen  slow moving tractor. First to snowdrop bay.  Water up , little room. More bays.  Too shallow?

Do a circuit and pay the toll. Over the wall,  and into that wind A different world this side. North wind doth blow. Brolly up,   storm rods. Kettle on. Wak's stove, no pressure,  no brew.  Trudge to car and back for standby burner. Tea. Hot.

Kingfisher then a pair of hawks. Not kestrels so what were they?


Right hand rod bends and out of clip, long range but kick and pulls back hard. On the top, Wak wields the net.

We guess 16 and that's what it goes. It's a proper camera Wak, use the viewfinder.

Secret squirrel for this one.




Get stiffed for a ticket then time for home.  Too late to leer at the yummie mummies in the new model farm cafe. Next time perhaps