Spawny get

Have had some hemp festering  nicely in the fridge since last weekend.(Bi-carbonate of soda really does make the seeds blacker. What a fizz if you add the bi-carb to boiling water. Must try to make some honeycomb butterscotch soon.)  Open a bag of frozen prawns, grab a handful and off to Captains which is about 3 minutes in the car.

A mild but very squally afternoon. A bit exposed on the jetty but I fancied a bream or two and  after a few drags with a rake (pond weed up and running) soon had  a prawn out over the curried hemp fished lift style. An odd bubble and the odd dip of the float indicated some breamy presence but no strikeable indications.

After a very heavy shower I was treated to a considerable  cauldron of carp activity over the hemp before a lull and a classic lift bite and this somewhat war worn bream very rough to the touch and resplendent with spawning tubercles.

I dropped another larger bream on the way in shortly after and decided to head home  satisfied with my first fish since the traditional end of season.

Charlies next time, heavier line but still fishing over hemp to try for a mud pig. They certainly like the hemp, I think something  buoyant popped up a bit of the deck but still lift style would grab their attention.

Both the canada and greylag geese have lost all their brood and gone, at least two were seen to meet a toothy end off the road bank.

Ancient and modern

Dispatched for a quick spin before lino duties along the Bure valley via Burgh and Oxnead. Smello vision surely must be coming to a blog near you soon, the monochrome yellow and background tang of rape will soon be joined by the never  forgotten but still shocking, overpowering fragrance  of broad or feed beans.

Bumped down the track for a quick peek over Plantation Bridge at Oxnead..

These two signs at Brampton , feet apart and poles apart too.

I read that the Bramtuna reference and design is after a Roman broach find. I prefer the more traditional offering below

Out and about yesterday spied an emerging blueness of a field of linseed flowers  on the way down into Morston and over to the creek that will be a glorious sight in the next week or so if duty, sun  and camera all combine..
Meanwhile a pan of hemp spiced with chili soaking so hopefully a couple of hours out tomorrow evening.

There might be mullet

On way home from last job of day in a whole day har that went well inland had a quick look at Morston Quay. Brightest bit of the day that buoy

It really was that grey all day. Like the mullet that must ghost in with the tide.

Didn't stop to capture but the weirdest reflected yellow glow between the rape and the mist all around North Norfolk's lovely lanes.

Easter outing

The pace of spring is quickening, even if the wind off the sea is rather cold and the sun variable. Dispatched off out with littlest ones whilst Easter Sunday lamb was being herb crusted and merangue merangued. Headed off around Gresham, Baconsthorpe and back via Itteringham and Ingworth.

Rapeseed dominates the early cropping around here.

Ramsons (wild garlic)are just beginning to break through on the shaded  verges and in the copses

Blue is not just from the bells

A stunning entrance to Wolterton Hall which is somewhat out of the way

I rather like this battered wind vane with it's imperious totem, definitely bearing an adipose fin

A beautiful millpool on the Upper Bure below Itteringham

This used to be on a 37 and a half pence day ticket, along with several other stretches of the Bure including Oxnead which is now on my Captain's syndicate book. Simply gorgeous, one of Norfolk's 9 chalk streams I am told.

And just before the Jolly Farmer at Swanton Abbot, one of those part tended verges that seem to extend some county gardens across the road.

Some self deprecating English humour near Baconsthorpe to round off the day

Resurrection blues

Last week my faithful Nikon 40 took a brief but very possibly terminal plunge into Captain's Pond. I hoped quite hard that a week in the airing cupboard might help me evade some awkward questions and an unforeeen and unwelcome dent in my finances.The SD card was ok, but I had to get quite a bit of water out of the lens housing and for the brief time the  camera was turned when I got it out of the water to taking out the battery it did not look, smell  or sound good with a short causing the flash open and try to fire.

I slipped in the battery yesterday and  was a bit surprised and a lot relieved to see a request to reset time, and all the normal menu functions were on the LCD screen. The auto focus on the AF-S DX lens (served by an internal motor in the lens housing) was not playing ball but with lots of disengaging and engaging the lens to the body it grudgingly coaxed itself into life.

No attempt to think about depth of field (should have gone say to f18 on a tripod to get the whole lot in focus in the shade /light  conditions but just very, very pleased that the metering, sensor, lens and everything else worked.

Only thing is I am now tempted by a couple of body/longer lens options I saw when fearing the worse..

Looks interesting

Might have a try of some of these next time I'm in Cromer...

Not sure what this is, a butter churn perhaps?

Love to get  a similar shot on a frosty day for full effect, still not bad from the car window.

Location

This is where you want your bait buh..

Indecision, reggiecide and just desserts

Went to bed last night with Plan A and Plan B buzzing round my newly shaven head.  A day on the Wensum piking and the last 2-3 hours into dark after a chevin or three or back on the syndicate stretch from the Beck down to the big 90 degree Bungalow bend?

The car navigated itself in the fog onto the high road through Buxton rather than down past the Mill so it was off to Swanton Morley then. The first inkling of trouble was to be found amongst the many rules, regulations and dire warnings plastered around the gate and on the gleaming new notice board. Winter day tickets 7am to 5pm No chubbing into dark then..

Pleased to see the river barren of anglers in the persistant fog and spoiled for choice plumped for the middle section of the fishery. A bush, bend, slack, crease every 20 yards with attendant well worn swims. Fish don't eat trees but they do tend to hand around them.

I should have been warned by the psychedelic red and blue claw on the bank but by then the bailiff had pocketed my £8. As soon as he had done the first tell tell bob on the polyball indicted just what was down there on the riverbed. These god forsaken prehistoric bait stripping creatures. Reggie and Ronny crayfish. Of the signal variety. A surprising amount of flesh in the scampi sized tail but I had not bought my glamping catering  charabanc so I could not justify dispatching anymore these crittters simply for being there.

I know I should have rigged up some paternosters but I was stewing on my other bait choice, meat. If they could strip a sardine in minutes what would they do to luncheon meat? I retired to the adjacent pit and pondered over a tuscan bean soup. Tough it out or onto Lamas? I gave it three swims on the meat just to see if the crays would have that as quick as deadbaits. They didn't but neither did the chub so upsticks and I was on the long Norfolk Reed stretch below the Beck by 1.15 in glorious sun. I'd just put out both baits and started on leftovers from a  chicken, bacon and leek pie I'd made yesterday when the upstream and across rod showed crayfish free bobbing action and the pressure was off with this belter.

I decided to put all the eggs in the far bank basket along the reed fringes and in fairly quick order a cast was obviously on the snout of a fish as the tip was nodding as soon as I set the baitrunner. This one gave a great account of itself.

A much smaller  fish again on the nose almost and I decide to end the afternoon down by the Church rather than fish into dark and just on 5 had the biggest of the day. This one had to find the bait as it was out for at least 10 minutes..A lovely end to the season and home in time for tea with the Bureboy tribe.

Getting in reel trouble

Passing reference to self inflicted pike loses in last blog:  a couple of years ago my old and unserviced Cardinal 155's demonstrated what shelf life meant. The push button mechanism on the spools went spectacularly twice when playing in pike, resulting in frantic hand lining. The thrifty but possibly shortsighted replacements were from that fine purveyor of hand crafted artisinal fishing equipment LIDL. One had been somewhat temperamental, the drive  often refusing to totally engage  meaning several fish lost as not enough torque to set the hook and a couple pointed when I didn't react quickly enough to flick of the anti reverse necessary due to the unbalanced bail rotor arm when in free spool on the rests.  Monday saw the errant reel consigned to the dust bin and those vouchers burning a hole in my wallet were needing to be spent, and instead of a shed load of terminal tackle I was the owner of a Aero Baitrunner, reduced as  it was the last one in the shop and you only buy reels in twos or threes..

Today dawned bright and cold, glass firmly in high pressure territory so it was be piking not chubbing. The river was low and even clearer than Monday but with a minimal breeze. I'd bought a pack of blueys to complement the sardines, not sure what species they actually are but quite oily and surprisingly durable.

The rod with the new reel was first to go, not a stern test for the drag setting but again came after a small twitch on the bait. Small, but pretty as a picture. Not easy doing a selfie on a DSLR..

I repositioned the other rod bearing the remaining LIDL vintage reel and on the gentle lob out  heard something  land on the bank. I went to turn the handle to engage the bail and it wasn't there.. the retaining fitting that enables  left or right handed useage had come loose. fortunately the reel handle itself had not fallen in the water and it was possible to fish on though gingerley..in fact the other two fish taken both fell to that rod. Both came above and below a bush feature on a long straight and unfortunately both more the marks of otter damage. As before, both fish came after twitching the bait

 11.05

I'd caught  this one on Monday as well and hadn't weighed it then. Today it went 9.04

I have retrieved the previously jettisoned reel from a suitably sun warmed and festering bin to salvage the retaining pin  so will have something to use on Friday for the last day. I won't return to this stretch this season due to the recapture. Back to Kings Beck or perhaps brave the throngs on Swanton Morley for pike in the day and chub into dark?

Cheesey

Cold , blustery day on the Bure. Started off chubbing, lost a good fish (hook pulled out) and  had this rather out of focus fish ( background pin-sharp) of 4 lb exactly.

Ran out of cheese paste and then missed umpteen pike for a variety of self-inflicted reasons before grassing this plump fish. Twitching the baits occasionally certainly provoked interest.