Double trouble

Last fish before heading off to the Ionian Sea.  Couple of tench on the waggler and a pond pig to finish off a lightly fished July.

Toodle pip.

Standing up to the stumps

Like the New Zealand keeper I've been standing up to the stumps, well above the knee rolls anyway.Thin water, overgrown banks and roasting temps have seen me don the beach shoes and swimmers in the cool water.

Rare bankside sortie

I even had an hour almost putting out a straight fly line down that far run with a couple of missed pulls. Work in progress.'

The 'River Police' are now actively shutting down rivers with lots of virtue signalling going on, best I get a thermometer to keep below the magic 22C and post evidence with every photo. World has gone mad.

Dedicated to Darth Sidious, Emperor Palpatine

The chub were spawning at the weekend on My River. A wondrous sight and  a good way to guestimate size and quantity of the stock. Very healthy. Amongst those gathered for a feast in the post spawning bonanza were these chunky chublets, my first fish of the new season.

I dropped down to Soay bend and the dace were as obliging.

Monday saw me back on the stretch and wading in the shaded shallows but this was the best as a horde of maggot shredders had taken up residence.

I hauled out like a blubber seal and dropped in at the top of the run in to Soay Bend and fed a sparse trickle of maggots for a reasonable time  then ran the small loafer down and bingo, no maggot shredder this. I was lucky I'd bought the bigger net . An absolute beast of a small river chub. Spawned out with stunning bronze flanks, coral fins and dark blue tail. 4lb 14 oz on the Korums.

Time to check out the Pastons as well, a few trots for  a few roach and gudgeon to round off the sortie.

Tuesday saw a run up to the Yare for another shallow wade on the village stretch. Along with most of Norwich. I retreated to the pub for a think and nice pint of Swallowtail.

Loins girded I tried a few quieter spots on the river and in the pool for a reasonable haul of small rudd, roach, dace and chub and a solitary perch.  A happy few days mostly in the river. Perfect

From the river to the sea

First day of the new season a gentle roving affair, an hour on a low Wensum, lots of fry and minnows, and some small but perfectly formed roach and brownies. No dace. Not even in the Spoons pool.

Up through Docking and Ringstead then swooping down to the wide open horizon over the stunning North Norfolk coast. Poked about a bit before meeting up with the Loafer for a pint.

 On to the nature reserve prospecting for grey ghosts and silver shadows. What a stunning backdrop.

I worked a shallow diver for a while but the clay made me uneasy, as  I am firmly of the age now when I don't fall over but 'have a fall'.

 

 

The Loafer was on the mullet, indeed surrounded by them but couldn't convert his out of the blue chance

Back home in time to take the no longer Little Un to play cricket. Bowling is her thing 

Cracking afternoon Loafer, perhaps I take my little piece of heaven up here in North Norfolk a touch for granted.

Old timers

The embargo on Golden Pond had been lifted despite what the notice on the gate said and I'd had enough of painting BureBoi Villas. On to my Island Paradise, one rod and  a new bag of the Source.

Took a while for the fizzing to start, the much rescued and silt stained Puddle Chucker lifted and glided  to the left hand lilies, tench like. Inexplicably I picked the rod up and started to reel in, not strike. Bugger. Curfew approaching, almost everything put away. Fresh patch of bubbles, standing now to cast and holding the rod. Movement, the float glides to right this time, more breamy. No mistakes with the strike this time. Like the Puddle Chucker this old friend minus it's pelvics and a strange deformity has been round the pond and in my stink net a few times. 

Two tone now with some lovely bronzing on it's hump. I fed it the Source off the push stop for it's troubles  and slid it back into the warm waters of Golden Pond.

One for the Loafer

Eels. The Loafer loathes eels, so this one is for him. By catch on maggots, interestingly the small number I have caught from this water have been bycatch again, on corn. Put up the customary good scrap too. I guess swimming backwards helps. Time to tie up some twig rigs and give them a proper go.

Just a spring clean for the May Queen

Definitely been a bustling in the hedgerows, lovely warm winds.  Anyhoo, first rod in the water by 19:11, and  a tench and two hook pulls by 19:51.Wonder how much split tail has put on as they haven't spawned yet, as this plumpy shows. Lovely high back and neat fins

Intense mayfly event, roach going crazy on them, the current batch of roach are also high backed and plump and most haven't felt a hook in their lives. Bodes well for the future.

20:11 and a missed take. No wonder, the parent anti-tangle bag down the edge had failed.

20:59 and everything packed down except the last rod, laying on the grass, baitrunner clicking off, a lovely feisty male with fins ready for spawning. Tawny beginning it's nightly rounds. Perfect. Home for wine by 21.31 (LIDL Cimrosa Shiraz).

Corny

Haven't been on Golden Pond for a while, and the rhodos are out, but not the flag iris yet. 

Cold enough to wish I'd got gloves  and some pissy rain meant I wasn't on long. Any amount of feed going in attracted the chats which in turn attracted the puke, churning up the shallow swim but the (too long) waggler slid away a few times. Proper bream (a two tone the best of the bunch) and some hybrids. 

        

Closeness (under ten minutes from leaving the house to first cast) has sometimes bred a little contempt  but I have got my Golden Pond Mojo back.

 

Bird app eal

Another quick raid, another plump tench. increasing the season heaviest by 4oz at 6lb 6oz. Two other chances, one shed the hook after running back under my feet and a pig that did the customary 50 yard dash before transferring the hook chub like in some vegetation.

Given the abundance of birdlife round the lake I often set Merlin running and here is a screenshot of some of what was recorded whilst playing and returning the tench.

I've also been trundling round with the tribe: footie, cricket, eats and views.

Just after this a nasty haar blew in.

 

Brace, pigeon pair, a left and right etc

Brace, pigeon pair, a left and right etc. I added a small sprinkling of the new kids on the block to my Spicy Sausage and let them do their thing whilst setting up the Merlin App for a quick species count. Faint shrilling to my right in a snigger inducing thick bush. I wondered fire or gold crest, Merlin told me gold crest.

The bottom was turning over but some of the bubbles were fizzes, the first bite and the new kid, being softer was pinched off the push stop. No such nonsense the next two times, and the 13 footer and pin were pressed into service for this lovely male and female pair. Job done and back at BureBoi Towers just over an hour all in.