Nothing doing

Took some of The Essex Scribbler's poly floats out on to Captains this afternoon. Spent 2  and  a half hours sheltering from the rain and not seeing the floats going away. Never mind. Here is a boring rods shot, it was all I had to look at as well.......

Postie calls..

Glorious North Norfolk morning, late autumn colour. Thought I'd stop at  a gastro barn for a coffee. It was actually very good coffee.  Table right much rumours and murmurs of (political) war* past and yet to come. I'll dine out on that spot for a while. Wont slip into the ghastly "celeb" nonsense, rather a statesman of stature. Cheese and leek pastie to go, which was also very good.
*(You simply must check out Live at the Counter Eurovision by Misty in Roots by the way)

Home then, to"postie's been"or rather left a slip that package to be picked up. Which it had been.
Never mind Lure of the Float, or The Sweetcorn Kid with their artisan offerings. Just look what
The Essex Scribbler has just made and sent me..the real deal.

Drop-offs and polyball floats. Just right for the river. Determined they will get a run out this weekend.

Shad I stay..

Dank, dark afternoon, constant drizzle but mild. Had decided I really must try some lure fishing as it is something that I rarely have done. Had bought a couple of slightly bigger shads though you'd hardly say I had an overabundant stock of lures(there's a couple more in the old Woollies bits tidy).Fox Rage, 5.5 inches, 10grm head. That's all I can remember from the packet.

Dropped in below Hautbois Bridge, on a free stretch of the Bure. River looks just about perfect at the moment. Soon remembered why I don't lure fish much. Constant casting, standing to fish and much removal of weed. Having that said that when weedless the shads look the biz on the drop with a great tail flutter. Third likely area and the rod tip bent round, just where I had expected it, under an overhang of reeds. Head shaking and twisting in the clear water but the 6/0 didn't stay in. Looked jackish. It didn't fancy another go at the shad.. Need to give the method a bit more time, more often I suppose but I wont be rushing out to spool up with braid just yet. 

Thinking that shads work best when bounced along the bottom, The puffs of silt look really good and some weed hung up won't look so out of place.  Discover Norfolk'n'Good saying just the same thing. Not sure that I would have had less interest in a couple of sardine or smelt twitched back up the margin, or back from the far shelf under a float but I would have felt wetter, hunkered down.

Weather report from Sonny Climes (Menorca ex pat joke)

Didn't get the full red sky in the morning effect by the time I'd got the camera out of the front door but what a  wake up call this morning...

Now, if those  Poplars on the skyline were bordering a meandering river and viewed over  a mature gravel pit.  Rod about to deliver a gorgeous, iridescent  straight off the quayside silver darling to break the mirrored reflection of that big Norfolk sky, skeins of geese honking out over the growing mudflats....off to work then.

A game of 2 halfs

Rather than schlep down to watch Col U ultimately crash out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking to the Blades after getting back to 2-2 I accompanied youngest original to Carrer Rudd on Saturday for what some were predicting would be Houghton's last stand. Fortunately we were not  forced to watch Ja Ja Binks dreadful ponytail flapping in the wind and indeed Big Sam had no striker to call on at all, turning out a 4-6-0 formation sort of led by Nolan and (Joe)  Cole. Which for the first half saw Naarich pinned down by relentless service down the left wing, and  West Ham's uncanny ability of being able to pass a ball to another player wearing the same colour. It was a pitiful display to be honest and I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like in the Ethiad last week against current world class internationals, not has beens but still better than you's.

I assume Houghton said something at half time or West Ham decided to sit down with Big Sam (he didn't seem to want to get out of his lovely green comfy chair after the break) as the boys in yellow actually discovered what to do with the lovely yellow winter ball.

How often have you come away from a game knowing that a 3-1 victory really did not reflect the game?   For Houghton a momentary relief I suspect and I would not want to be the wasp the bulldog that is Sam Alardyce was chewing. Or his shell shocked team in the bus heading back down the M11

Witnessed:

Elmander being penalised just for running round like a headless chicken ( not getting near about six players with six semi-tackles in a row is not a foul ).

Howson's great dipping shot against the crossbar that led to Snodgrass's free kick. By the way Snodgrass. That beard. A disgrace. Trim it or get it off.

Pathetic Norwich mascots: never fear, Eadie the Eagle, you are still the one

Hordes of men stuffing down 4 pies for £2 in brown paper bags, whilst still standing inside Morrisons as if food was about to  become extinct

26+K people  managing about 4 chants between them in 2 hours

A moonlit River Wensum on the ebb tide looking in perfect nick and crying out for a pint of fresh casters

Not seeing: the actual foul for the penalty as an even larger person than me stood up at the wrong moment.

Being seen: appearing live on Sky and later on MOTD with the previously mentioned youngest original seemingly quite pleased  by Snodder's free kick, if not his out of control face fungus. I thought he was in Fleet Foxes for a moment.

Nostalgia for days yet to come

Even with the big St. Jude wind it is still so mild. Even though we were being warned the week before that we have this to look forward to this winter....

Before the storm

A touch of autumn colour, before the levee breaks.

Prryhic victory

Small window of opportunity: too short for the river and anyway, haven't replaced my mice nest polyballs yet. So off to Captains then. Damp but very mild. Some openish water in the Big Gap so started there.

Swim, like most of Captains is very shallow, but good value for a fish, or sometimes two. Two halves of a small mackeral, one to left and one over the small clump of lilies  mid swim. A lot of activity in central strip of weed, sizeable fish. Line tightened to drop-off on right rod and into a fast moving, heavy fish. I had not flicked off the anti-reverse and got pointed before I could, or think to slip into baitrunner mode. Think that if I had let the rod absorb the power might have avoided it. Leaving hooks in a fish is never pleasant and this was a good fish. You expect that normally a carp or tench could cope with a single left in, but a two treble trace is very different. I did once land a pike with a large goldstrike that had worked it's way out of the gullet and out around the pectoral fin. I only use the anti-reverse when I am casting to stop the bail flipping over and cracking off but these cheapo reels are not totally balanced and when not using baitrunner sometimes it is  difficult to stop the bail spinning round under it's weight with out locking it first  when slipping line in to the drop-off clip. Get floats and  use baitrunner....

Leftie was away next and again a fast moving powerful fish but able to backwind, and use the rod to absorb the lunges. Did get a knuckle rapper as the fish motored off in the margins. In the net first job to check if a second trace in fish but sadly  no.  A sturdy fish around the 12lb mark.

Looks a little leaner off the mat.

Hope the lost fish turns up soon and the captor can get hooks out.

Gratuitous and conspicuous consumption

Not a bad drop of local stuff. I always prefer draught and this is available in good old Narrrich from a hand pull but I was out of town so needs must ..plus you get a pint not a miserley 500ml or worse 330ml for the same money

Footwear is very important

Public notice, especially for the attention of Essex Scribbler.

I have never, ever , ever owned a pair of these :

As Peter Murphy once sung: "Shellys Shoes, shoes no man would want to wear". I second that for Derri boots... and socks with Crocs