Sunday 31 December 2017

Old Year's

Today in Norfolk is always Old Year's, never New Year's Eve. That aside I had a pre-lunch out of the back of the car pike sortie over at Gentrification Lock. The rain abated  but the wind didn't. Just thinking about starting the last twitch back on the long rod and the float simply wasn't there anymore. What had made it disappear didn't give much of an account of itself on the way in and was quickly slipped back. With that the couple who had been sitting in the car behind me watching for a wordless hour slid back through the quagmire, presumably off home, and presumably still silently. The charabanc made it through but now looks like an off road vehicle that had been put through it's paces on Dartmoor.


I've got Tuesday off with a plan for roach and chub if the river is fining down but just at the moment rain of biblical proportions is forecast for then so it's in the lap of the gods..

Saturday 23 December 2017

Goodbye darkness my old friend

Ring out Solstice bells. Slowly, barely imperceptibly at first the days are starting to draw out. I had two and a bit hours today and intended to spend some of It at least on my new low level seat. Light and comfy, not sure about the arm rests but time will tell. Beats sitting on the unhooking mat for sure.

I  thought I'd dropped low enough to avoid my new found friend but not to be. On the bank again but thankfully lightly hooked so quick head and mat shots and back again. 


Not the only pike in the river as just before she/he took the bluey for a trundle another fish had swiped at the upstream bait on the way in.  However  a bit baffled by the lack of other chances.Next day out will probably not  be until the New Year and I fancy some wag and mag roach if the frosts keep away.  Might sneak in a west  end recce if  the gods smile on me though

Tuesday 19 December 2017

The road to nowhere.

Headed towards the rising sun this morning for a change  A massive white elephant is being carved  across part of Norfolk, a road that really does go to nowhere as it leaves the east bound A47 just the other side of the Yare but falls about 2 miles short of  a rendevous with the Westbound A47 over the Wensum.

Which is a lot of ole squit to say its a lash up. Looks good  in the early morning light though.






Sunday 17 December 2017

Early bird catches the chem trails....

Early morning flight paths etched across the North Sea. Some say the planes seed the sky with chemicals to keep us proles down and that's why what the rest of us call con (densation) trails linger and spread across the sky. Nurse, nurse, where's my tin foil hat?



Saturday 16 December 2017

Living in the Ice Age

The Very Local Water  was near and time was tight so I decided to test the new bib n braces on the first staging again on the blueys. I mostly succeeded in attracting and growing ice floes as the temperature fell. Unsurprisingly speculative casts at rolling bream with bluey halves proved fruitless. I do think though that trickling in some feed could have some breamy benefits. 

First target of 2018: a Very Local Water bream every month of the year on the waggler.
Second target of 2018: a chub on lamprey section.






Tuesday 12 December 2017

Fen tastic

Over in Zanderland today with Essex Scribbler and the Two Terriers (and their two terriers). It was a bit bleak. The ice on the roof of my car stayed put all day, and for 150 miles. Warm company always makes things easier. I will approach the Very Hot Chilli and Tomato 2017 with extreme caution.


3 Holes.















Sunday 10 December 2017

Further last knockings.

Out and about in the Bureboy Charabanc this morning and it was cold, wet and horrible. The early frost had been washed away and the nearest we got to snow was some  lethargic half arsed sleet. Some very bedraggled pikers in a boat on Rollesby, you can't hide from the rain unless you have  a cuddy and that is not advisable on  a wide open broad. Bank high at the constricting Potter Heigham bridge over the Thurne and even on higher on the Ant at Wayford. Not one of those perched  on their platforms in Richardsons looked as if they were really enjoying it. A lot of work for a few bits. Wonder who took the coin?


I'd  said I would have  ago if it held off and by 3 was in the car park of the vaguely blue lagoon with the intention of fishing as near to the car as I could.  Shielded by the trees it was ok and on a quick walk round it even looked good for a last knockings roach. 


However I'd only put two pike rods in so  a bluey was halved and allowed to continue it's slow decomposition. A few hard bits as the light leads touched down.  You can see by the noddy train (again) that I'd not strayed far from the river. No chance of a repeat capture of my new friend, still  awaitng a name from the Essex Scribbler at least today. 


True to recent form as the church clock struck four (3 minutes late as usual) the last rod, a net, a mat and forceps were the only things not back in the car when the ticking of the baitrunner indicated the bluey tail had not only been resurrected but had decided to move off towards the reed fringe. Unfortunately after a few thumps the half bluey was flying back towards me. Saved getting the unhooking gear wet I suppose.

Last knockings, last cast....

Very cold but no snow. However, a thick hardening of the surface of the field and path and  frost holding sway in dips and hollows. It also highlighted several entry/exit slides.


The sheltered very local water had a 85% lid  but the barely blue lagoon was ice free.The river was back on it's bones, clear and with medium flow. No day for chub  so pike it would be. That weather was going somewhere.


Started further down the stretch but the blueys weren't provoking much interest and mine was began to wane. Kingfisher, buzzard, magpie, yaffle  and dabchicks enough to make me persist. A brief double dip of the upstream float came to nought so no value added action for the noddy train passengers. Double bubble on the locos though.


Wind in for  a wonder and prospecting for future trips. Need to give the free stretch a go.


I urged myself to make one last move. The downstream bait dropped into a slightly deeper hole and the float remained subsurface. In no time the tip began to nod and a decent fish tried to get into the tree roots and then across to the far bank. A couple of teetering on the lip of the net cord moments then into the onion bag and a difficult haul up the step bank onto the mat. Hooks out in a trice and  a look along the flanks and a  familiar wound pattern and it was the fish from last trip, a bit plumper in the belly so it might of had a feed. Couple of mat shots  and I was on my way back to the car, wet net and mat stiffening in the frost.  Think I'll definitely drop down the stretch into the free section to give this one a rest. Name please Wak.


 Shame about Chelsea.....not. Col U managed not to let  a 3-1 lead slip  for a change.






Friday 8 December 2017

Tall (New) Order

Off to The Waterfont last night to catch Peter Hook and the Light pound through nearly 2 hours of New Order stuff then a cracking Joy division set. Very surprised to find a long queue snaking up the road. It s a smallish venue and it was packed to the rafters. New Orders longevity  meant the demographic stretched a bit but by god there were  a lot of tall buggers there. Some mean old feckers too. Like long stay carpers or pikers but tidier. The crowd thinned for the Joiy Division sessior but wer  more enthusuastic.


Adam Ant made a din here with his double drummer attack and Hooky had bought a fellow bassist along to create  a deeper attack. The New Order stuff was as good as you'd expect but made better with that more direct approach. I don't readily recognise their stuff by name but things like State of the Nation, Procession never ceased to amaze me when played on day time radio back then and were  corkers last night.




"How does it feel, when you treat me like an eel? Tie me to the back of a bike and ride down a steep big hill. Release me in a fast flowing stream, and say I swam off alright.." Typical Alresford malarkey there.


The keyboard players always remind me of someone who is in the band cos their dad has got a van.


3 pints and the last train home. Not a bad night.



Sunday 3 December 2017

Shallow Hal

I only had a scant hour so popped onto the very local water. Very clear, and very shallow. So shallow if I had popped up a whole bluey it would be breaking the surface. Nothing doing in three spots.  Never mind.










Saturday 2 December 2017

Slacking off

The recent snow and rain has put some water through the mills, and some speed on the current. I figured the debris would be catching on the line at every knot and swivel meaning frequent casts so left the stink paste and bread at home and stuck everything on the pike shaped horse.


Everything down the near bank today, given the boily flow and shit coming down decided against wafters and nailed the half herrings to the deck under a float tips well up. Think the herrings  were Essex Scribbler's boat fresh individually wrapped ones from last year. All tail ends too.


Lost a fish in the first spot to the downstream bait after it had been on a little while, fairly decent too. Next swim down and I realised I'd set the bait runners a bit tighter than usual to combat the flow when the downstreamer did a big barbel 3 foot twitch and the alarm went into single tone melt down. This one definitely bigger and going flank on against the main push. Eventually got it over the spreader, just one treble in so quickly unhooked and on the Fly Weights. A nice solid 14.06. A bit scuffed at the rears, Tarka had fancied it for a snack and discard at some point recently. Read this week that the Wild Otter Trust have realised that there has been no proper thought about what river catchments could be best placed to handle otter dispersal. Too late. Found two well used slides within a 100 yards of each other.



Nice to have a gallery sometimes. The noddy train timed it just right.


Not long to to the equinox. A brief but glorious sun downer. Not cold enough  to need gloves but only just.