Living on the edge: litorraly

Largest Bureboi had me on a mission yesterday. He needed some stills for a piece he is writing on the (mis)managed retreat of our edgelands here on the East Coast.

This was once a road and that's a long way down.

Who decides whose home is worthy of saving?

Still, there's always time for a nice cup of tea. Or so it seems. At some point unreasonably soon that lighthouse may well be on the beach.

Still on it

We had a massive cloud burst on Saturday and for a while Bureboy Villas was surrounded by

a brand new moat, some of which was entering  the floor void via air bricks and cascading off the roof and in via  the  tops of the glazing units.We have soft red Norfolk brick and no cavity so the water wicks right up then slowly evaporates.  Down the road in the notorious dip a camper van was marooned under the rail bridge causing some degree of traffic chaos. 

Didn't think it wise to ask for  a pass out..

Sunday and I had thought of braving the dam and its constant roar of traffic  but the sun broke through as I entered the gate and its a sunstroke spot until the sun hits the high trees behind so ended up on the island with  thoughts of tench somewhat diminished. I can think of worse places to sit  and will a float to dip however.

The float did dip a few times and three bream graced the island briefly. This first fell to my trusty mini Source.

This sprightly old bugger got a red thingy wrapped round it's dorsal and gave the Grey's 15 footer a real work out. The watching crew were convinced it was a carp.

I did go for a two rod approach for a little while, mostly for comparisons sake. I was surprised  just  how much lighter and stiffer the Drennan felt alongside the longer Greys (15 ft.).  I might just get another Drennan for those close in swims where two floats  can be easily watched. And just to match it up another cheap pin.

I'd been baking and had no drink or pack up to eat and had just caught my last cast fish when the sentries announced I could stay longer.  I'd have moved down to the now shaded dam if my stomach wasn't eating itself.  There's always tomorrow.

Dip and double-dip

Very short session on my island paradise, 3  casts with the obligatory  mini Source under a waggler  and a tench was making it's way somewhere down the lake. The hook pulled and it bow waved on for a while. 21.15 on the dot as I was about to throw in the towel away into the pads to my left. Out into open water, then in close round my feet and back to the pads, hook pull. Looked a  good fish too.

That was yesterday.  Drooped in on the commute water on the way home. Sun had burnt off the sea fret and carp charging about everywhere.

One took the mini Source on the drop and shot off down my blind side. The Drennan 13 Specimen Tench takes it all in it's stride.

Pass out granted and second sortie of the day underway, on the island with unfinished business to attend too. The pellets work their magic and in short order the float just blips under. Runs almost straight into the net then goes berserk. 

I am called to attend to a carp that has embedded itself in the pads. By the time I get the rescue boat there all that is left in the pads is the lead.

By the time that's sorted it's rain stops play. A good hour early says the sentry.

Tigers by their tails.

Been  some good weather over the weekend but the haars (sea frets) are never far away from Bureboy Villas. Managed to get a barbie in, and several family events so worked out well, accompanied by the elixir of life.

Had to fit in a quick chevin spot. Only a few  visible, guess the rest were up the creek without a paddle. On review that might be one of the ancient barbel at the front.

In between the frivolities and reminders of our temporary tenure on this planet tench remained on my mind though anything else that came along would be welcome.  Float rod and mini boilies as is my wont of late. Sunday and a quick sortie on the very local water, adrift on an island  amongst a sea of rhododendron purple. Not that purple given the swirling sea frets. First up a solid bream 

Next cast and I thought I'd hit into a mud pig  such was the bow wave and beeline for the dam if not the horizon.  Clamping down I bought the fish to bear, and a wallowing began. I'd foul hooked it in the tail and  even with no water flow through it's gills as I brought it in backwards it was still pretty cross with events.

Curfew time approaching and a noticeable increase in grunt and that characteristic slapping of the line with the paintbrush tail. Greys to pinks dominating this tench, a decent plump female. Job done  home before the sentries had begun their countdown to lock out.

An even shorter pass out on Monday and this time I was perched on the staging, in amongst a swirling sea fret. Purple peeping out.

Despite a jacuzzi effect I only had two solid bites, one shot off, leaving a big silvery bream scale on the hook and the other was nicely hooked at the other end this time. Upper tail  lobe quite deformed. I think I had pushed my luck with the sentries on my return judging by the crossed arms and set jaw.

Secret squirrel commute sortie in a real pea souper of a haar and another tail hooked bream that had ideas way above it's station. Spawning bumps again, its a topsy turvey spring. Slipped past the sentries this time. You aint seen me right....

Chalk and cheese.

Baking hot day and an extra hour for lunch, legit and everything. What to do? It just so happened my journey  went within a gnats of another brace of waters on the commute club ticket. Separated by a yard and perhaps a field the two little waters couldn't be any different. 

Very very weedy and stuffed with tiny rudd but get past them and promise of more. One for a bit of thought for sure

Just beyond those trees is the other little water. No crystal clear water and luxuriant weed growth for sure.

It did though have shade and a lot of movement in the  marginal scum line, formed mostly of puss willow  catkins.

I substituted a (banned) mini boilie for a pellet wrapped in paste though in truth anything would have done. Tail patterns over the loose fed pellet in minutes, a few  knocks and the float shot away. With little visble signs of snags or weed it was  a pleasure to play the fish on the stanndard tench gear and  to good natured grumbling from the old bois dotted around about  johnny come lately upstarts my first fish from the water was in the net.  Not a lot of depth to it as you'ld  imagine from an overstocked pond but quite pretty.

Spot the koi.

God  do wet nets stink when they've been in a car on a  hot afternoon.

Cooled off on the very local water for a bare 30 mins but no fish succumbed. X didn't mark the spot this time. Look like an old skool Abu catalogue.

A colder andmistier sight on Sunday evening as a sea fret rolled in.

Down the rambling road

This year is the year of the red campion. It's everywhere. Flipping gorgeous it is. And the long frothy verges of white, white cow parsley (kek) and hawthorn.

Following the Wensum valley back home stopped in for a look see at the new water (s). Above the bypass there is a long stretch of quite wild river, fly only in the summer but within a week or three it'll be chock full of weed. Don't think coarse fish get a chance to establish but I did see some dace and the anglers sort of curse, many minnows. Heard some tales from Dolly 9-5 Bailey about establishing a  head of grayling back in the day from the next mill upstream 

I had  a modicum of tackle  in the New Charabanc "just in case"  Stopped to watch some mud pigs getting quite animated about some floaters  as befitted the increasingly hot conditions but the venerable piscator  at the other end didn't add to his tally of two doubles whilst I watched anyway.

Where do you go when the sun is high for tench at least? Even a small group of pads, especially in  some shade is always a good bet I'd say.

Some interest fairly early on over a sprinkling of pellet, but  it wasn't till I slipped two very realistic but strawbery glugged fake red maggot on the #14 to compliment the hair rigged mini Source that the float shot off and I was quite pleased I'd chosen a spot with some open water to the right as the tench I'd hooked had a right go. See what I mean about those fake maggots?

Feeling a little cocky I packed up having  done what I set out to do. Plus I had plans for later..

I hope that's a bank of cloud on the horizon and not an approaching tsunami...

Oddly enough tench shaped plans and a quick stint on a sadly gosling free very local water gave up the goods again on the waggler fished Source. This one fought even better. Think someone had been in the swim previously given the corn it was coughing up.

  

Tinca man

I have really got my tench head on now, before the weed takes over. However bream still lurk around in my plans and on Sunday after the rains again I headed off a but further to the oddly hued lagoon, where the weed is being retarded by clever stuff. 

I have been putting in some pigeon conditioner and mini's down in one corner that has a big , shady willow and is a bit outside of a regular cast from the usual positions. The mix that went in loose by hand had a generous helping of corn but I left the crumb just for plugging the open ended feeders. I had thought about flat bed method feeders but wanted a longer tail and some drop of feed in the water column. Plus it was quite silty under that willow.

One down the side with a standard carp set up and the two 12 foot 1.5tc feeder rods  only about 3 rods out with a mini Source on one and  two grains of real corn on the other. Both rods began to show signs of life quite quickly and after  I somehow missed a churner on the corn a confident lift in the Source rod met with some feisty head banging resistance and  a few boils the deepish margin before a paint brush tail hit the surface. My first tench from the water with a lovely pink hue. The water snail was an added extra.

I never remember that tench have tiny, tiny barbules and just look at that line of sensory receptors. And that barbless is not coming out any time soon. Well,  not till I flick it with the forceps. And they don't get caught in  the mesh. You can see why mini's work for tench, just the right size.

Next rod to go was the corn one and I didn't fluff it second time round. A powerful surge under the willow then some really determined resistance made me wonder if it was a carp with no real determination to head out into the open and this thought strengthened when a rayed dorsal broke the surface but in fact it was a powerhouse of a bream with the feeder link caught round that dorsal meaning it was like trying to hold back a train, even with the actual hook in the mouth. Not a very big train but most unusual. As it slid in the net I could see the scales all lifted up and a rash of spawning tubercles. They y do feel really rough and horrible to the touch like this.

At 6.04 not one of the 8-9's that have been coming out but what I came for anyway.

Another staccato take on the corn and  this tiny Slim Jim jack was the culprit.

One poor skimmer got it self lassoed, I slipped it back and Slim Jim's considerably bigger significant other almost snatched it out of my hand. I should take some spare pants next time..

The carp set up, with a heavier lead (all I could find in my bag),a braid hook link and a big sharp #6 was getting some interest and interestingly coming back clean and almost straight after  a cast tight to the bank the interest turned into a straight up and stay up. The rod was a heavier 3lb tc and with heavier line the fish was soon in the margins where it began to have  a bit more of a go but another tench had slipped up for a Source mini, this time with a bright pink pop up for a visual tag. A veritable football. 

Another take, this time a real baitrunner meltdown had me wondering briefly if was actually a mud pig but the rod's power turned the fish and another tench, this time a male was on the mat.

Happy, happy days. And the hawthorn is out. Where are those swifts?

Nature red in tooth and claw

Got to the very local water after the rains and tea to here some very plaintive calls and the goslings (reduced to two) all on their own. In an occasional  burst of signal  it  became clear why on the Group chat: one of the adults at least had met a gruesome end on the nearby road.

I'd just taken this, well into the session when an adult Canada Goose honked in to the pond. They were off, frantically paddling over to meet it. It didn't chase them off so it must have been one of the parent birds and indeed it did proceed to shoo me off as I was packing away when I could no longer see the float so perhaps the poor little buggers  might have  a chance after all.

Despite the rain it was fairly dry underfoot but the flag irises bore tell tale drops.

  

I'd opted for the island as I thought  I might  have less interruptions from the carp and soon had a bed of pellet and Source minis out. 

No overt bubbling but plenty of movement in the adjacent pads and it wasn't  long before the float moved off, but I fluffed it by winding before lifting the rod. Something I do now and then. I slipped the anti reverse on and lighted the rear drag a few notches.  Next  bite  was hit, and  on briefly. I was just investigating wether the hooks that had come with some mini krill boilies were barbed  when the float dipped and the fish was heading into the pads. Back out in the open area it gave a right royal performance before  stopping, bream-like and letting me glide it into the net. One of the bigger tench, that on another water might of had much more padding and poundage. A bit war wounded but still  a lovely female that went 4.14. Spat out a few of the Source minis too. Not the most cheerful  tench I've caught...

The rod is perfect for this sort of fishing, and 5lb line is just about right too. Tench certainly can pull but it soaks it all up.

The next bite was also hit and the fish went further in the pads but the rod won out and even some almost pike-like head thrashing didn't dislodge the hook, and in the onion bag it went. A chunkier but smaller fish this one and possibly a bit more cheerful looking? A paint brush tail if ever there was one. I can't see myself ever tiring of tench, of what ever size and however caught

I had one more fish on after the goose reunion, that stayed out the the pads and put up a near mud pig performance before loosing the hook right at the net and in the gathering gloom decided to leave them  to it.

 I didn't watch Eurovision.