Autumnal

Hoped to find a few conkers to marvel yesterday at but found these various autmun delights instead..Sheringham in the morning

And Felbrigg Hall in the afternon. Sun still strong enough to warm your bones. Spot the odd person lately walking along face upturned, eyes shut just soaking it up to keep them going through the darker days.

Sub-urban

Walshamboy started his new job today with a 3 hour induction in the citadel of the golden m which gave me just enough time to put some flake through a few spots on the Yare at Earlham Park on the outskirts of the fine city of  Norwich. Clear, shallow with lots of runs, bends etc. And half the Larkman out for their Sunday dog throwing, amongst the slightly bemused students returning to the UK for another year at UEA before the Freshman invasion next week.

Had a look at the big aquarium swim  that  hosts many a stick retrieving hound and saw a healthy number of roach and small chub dodging Fido and Masher. Perched high on the eroded bank ( years of hounds, not cattle) it was interesting to see the reaction of the fish to the mash going in, and the instant  mobbing of the bait in a fishy free for all. Did hook a chublet of about a pound which fell off before I had worked out how I was going to net it in 3 inches of water from a 6 foot high bank of slippery dog shitty clay but  decided to return at water level next time with the trotting rod and a chubber float.

Even without Polaroids lots of roach in particular to see, with some decent fish in smallish groups.

This pool below the gnarly tree held some nice roach  so fished down from above the tree for cover. Second put in with flake and  two definite pulls on the tip low to the water and a fish was on. Lovely view of it flaring it's dorsal and turning it's big flank against the flow but it was soon in the net and on the grassy bank.

1.02, and fresh as a newly minted coin.


Changed to more chuby tactics in this more secluded spot, several good pulls on prawn under that tree overhang but for some reason reverted to Alresford Sandbank wind down before striking mode so none connected with. Spotted a couple of pods of chub  on the way back to the car and some nice pockets of roach as well.

When I'd got  out of the car earlier Man U were 3-1 up and on my return the game had switched to Man City vs Chelsea so it was a very pleasant surprise to  hear the final score of 5-3! That and Liverpool losing to West Ham yesterday is as they say a right result.

Glimpses

Half thought of ol'stripey today, got to Captains about 3.30 and found that  the eye had broken on the whip intended to snaffle a few rudd for bait so it was stick with plan A especially as there was some activity in the silt off Stage 1. Weather turning and has been a steady fine mizzle for most of today. Put out a decent spray of hemp, corn and lots of mini smarties that had accumulated  in the cake tin from this weeks multitude of birthdays. Why? For colour I suppose..

The pair of swans forced me in closer to avoid hooking them as they upended on the hemp feast, a couple of missed bites then this battered old chap salvaged a home draw spot on the 5pm curfew.

Glimpses. Several piratical sallies into the rudd by lone perch, of somewhat startling size. Plan B hatching....

Wise men...

I had to read this twice today on Walcott Wall....

Normal for Norfolk.

Awayday. Leyton Orient vs. Colchester United. 13.09.14. Brisbane Road E10

The U's start to the season has been woeful. 2 points from 18, Manager already sacked. So it was some trepidation that Team Wak set off down the M11 to London Thaan. East London to be more precise. The Matchroom Stadium is set right in amongst the terraced houses in their yellow London Brick. What's your endz? E10.  Bustling London streetage, red buses, plastic bowls of fruit, more fried chicken (side breast) than you can suck your teet at and a nod to Prague and Balamory.

It's a neat little stadium, with housing in the in-fills and the usual corporate stuff in the main stand., It has a nice park outside and the least attractive part is, you guessed it, the away stand.

We passed up the away pub  redolent with cheap LIDL Lynx and moronic bursts of "Essex, Essex" for an equally depressing generic burger in an equally depressing  generic in town multi-store. Just how much sports wear can you sell/buy in a day? Back through said park. Much  nicer these days mingling with the other team support. Footie in the seventies,eighties and even nineties  was a truly frightening experience.

Just time for a pit stop in the bowels of the stand. No plastic bottle top goon squad at these turnstiles. An over zealous goon at Col U once tried to confiscate my Idris Fiery Jack as he actually  thought it was beer.

Away days are generally a bit  noisier than at home, The occasion, the fact that many will not have driven  given the rail links and most would have been in that bear pit away pub saw to that. In this case the 771 travellers had precisely 7 "singing" Orient supporters who were definitely going "back to school on Monday"as  a feeble competition and pretty much contested the one sided shoutathon for the whole afternoon. Nothing more depressing as a library atmosphere where you can hear all the players, all the time.

I don't think I have ever seen a "homer" ref at any home game I've ever been to but plenty seeming to relish being the 12th man for the away team. Today however saw a string of strange, inconsistent decisions that did nothing  to inspire confidence  from us one eyed lot. Just before kick off ther eager eyed officious ref spotted at least one player (Moncur) having broken a cardinal rule of having strapping that did not match the colour of his socks. (Black, Worn on yellow socks with this season's ridiculous black hoops.) After much hopping about  Moncur was ordered off whilst several other players sheepishly tried to hide their offending strapping by appearing intent on hiding behind a blade of grass. The ref then started the game with Col U down to 10 men... which as you could imagine invoked the wrath of the barrack room  lawyers amongst us.

Have you noticed  especially in the lower tiers that a dropkick or a goal kick sees all 20 outfield players head in a sheep like Exodus to the near wing channel... Why not let the far side back/wing quietly head to the opposite wing and as Gary Neville would say "Bingo time down the ....wing, bingo time" .

Did I say 10 men prophetically? A lunge near the touchline on one time Col U striker Mooney by "The Beast" Okuanghae drew an instant red card and  the predictable, blood boiling lick spittle rage you would expect from  the discerning 771 despite the fact that we could all plainly hear the impact form the stands...and the usual dispute pitch side

Now, this was not the red mist challenge but was one of Magnus "The Beast"'s trademark hoofs  a bit earlier.  Man is a "lege". Or as the (old ) Barside sing, "Magnus is our leader, he is solid as a rock. He plays in front of Walker, and has a massive.......etc."

The 10 men U's came flying out of the 2nd half traps, no doubt urged on by the new Manager whose name escaped me in the underwhelming promotion from the coaching ranks by our wide boy skinflint Chairman Cowling. I do know he's not called Joe Dunne.. Col U were now  shooting into the Laurie Cunningham Stand which was at "our" end. One tired old cliche is that it is harder to  play against 10 men. Whatever the reason for that might be Col U seemed to have more space to pass and move (what, pass and move, no,, surely not) and after an inept touchline fumble from the defender the ball was crossed to Sanchez Watt to put the U's incredibly 1-0 up, Away. What is Watts song? " What. You what, You what, You what .."of course.

Standard celebrate at corner flag, trudge back slowly to centre past dejected keeper and stoney faced home end...

Another through ball beating the trap and Freddie Sears, West Ham not wanted anymorer  slides the ball under the keeper and it surely is now time for.."Shoe's off if you love Col U"

Another tired and worn cliche is "2 nil is the most dangerous score in football" and Orient  pushed on to get back in the game and only a gravity defying (right side leap and somehow leftward  flung huge white glove to left to close of what was a gaping open goal by Sam Walker. When he came to Col U from Chelsae on loan we sang he was Chelsea's number 49. He now is " Seven feet tall, Seven feet tall. The boy Sam Walker is 7 feet tall." With gloves and feet that big probably would give Magnus a close call in the shower.....

The officials last throw at a spoiler  (The 4th official has indicated a minimum of 5 minutes.." led to the usual howls of disbelief but in seemingly no time at all it was the final whistle and the obligatory thank the travelling fans time.

In amongst this flash mob is a somewhat ashen faced yoot being comforted by his mates after it seems being asked to "leave the game" early by the local plod and will have some explaining to do to Mater and Pater when he eventually gets back home to Essex. My boy Tom Tom remarked that the fans had "mosh pitted the Po Po".. Did seem quite good natured joshing though.

5 points out of 21. Could have been worse.Orient were odds on to go up to the Champo for most of last year and the 2nd half saw us play gutsy, good football. Pass and  move, they don't mean us? They surely do!

Drop shot

The hemp had been burning a metaphorical hole in  my bucket since yesterday. A good handful of Saino's basic prawns out to defrost and a last cup of tea. Now the oily, chilli kicked water was getting browner by the minute. Jobs jobbed it was down to the pond by 4.

The usual struggle with the padlock and gates. Yes, gates. We put in a serious otter and scrote fence and a series of gates round the Pond  a couple of years back. Hours of hard work and  good few thousand less than having it done commercially but apart from a couple of scrotes letting their mates "guest" all good so far. A fence good enough to prevent climbing back out in most places so not somewhere to forget your torch for the fumble with the combination after hours...no signal to ring out either!

I had put the rake through a couple of spots yesterday. The plan was to freshen up with a couple of pulls through to give the fish something to look through, top up with the chili hemp, do a  tour to see what was what then in with the gear. Standard Captains float set up, Kevin Ashurst 12' match rod, a functioning and trouble free Cardinal 154 and 6lb straight through to a lovely, curved Drenan Sedge #8. A small waggler and the lift shot that I thought was 2 swan to  get through the rudd.

Speaking of 2 swan..quite well behaved today

First put in and the big grey common briefly spritzed through the weed and did several slow languid turns round the baited area before smegging off. Most casts seemed to miss most of the remaining weed over the very silty bottom. A small cluster of bream bubbles (slow, large, not fizzing) and rather than lifting the red tip slid under and away. On long enough to indicate not a mudpig, then the hook pulled. Enjoyed the kingfisher sound and sight display including a mid pond hover. As the sun slid behind the treeline behind me the rudd had obviously become emboldened by the lack of bream activity, first of all giving some classic lift bites then taking the prawn on the drop. Previously I had used 2 x2swans to get through them but as before not today.

Perseverance paid of as I was down to my last two prawn hook baits, the classic "bream" bubbles, a proper lift and then this.....

A bit on the hollow side and also stange polyps or possibly lice round the head and deformed gill cover (never seen such obvious gill rakers on a tench before) and with much smaller fins down the right side. A lovely yellow gold on the underside.