Saturday 16 January 2016

"Beaten by the Bure"

 
This is Pete. With a fish. Not just "any old fish", but the biggest perch we've had so far from the Grand Union Canal. He caught it last week, in a half hour dropshotting sortie from a swim we'd earmarked as having potential to produce a big one. Feast your eyes on the photo, take in the perch's plump rotundity, because it's the only fish you'll see in this blog entry!
 
 
Our trip to Norfolk had been planned for a few weeks. David had met a local expert while on holiday in Norfolk in the Autumn, they'd fished together and caught a couple of pike, and Pete and I arranged to join David on a return trip in January. What we hadn't planned for was a big storm, floods and a drop in temperature two days before we fished. When we arrived, the water was three feet up from its normal level and pushing through at a rapid rate of knots. The river was right on the cusp  of "barely fishable", and we knew it wasn't going to be easy.
 
 
Rods were frequently arched in what looked like a pleasing battle curve, but was in reality just the latest branch or piece of debris deposited by the storm being drawn like a magnet to our treble hooks. There were two or three fishable spots, tiny slack areas where we could anchor a deadbait, and David did manage to provoke one run from a pike but, in keeping with the day, he missed it. At one point a whole tree floated imperiously down the centre of the river, and as well as the frequent discussions about moving swim or changing tactics, a certain "gallows humour" typified the day's banter. Winter fishing is not for the faint hearted.
 
 
From Leicester to Norfolk is a long drive in a car for a day's fishing- it's an even longer drive back if none of you have caught anything. However, hope springs eternal, and in a few days we'll be back on the bank, although perch from a "certain swim" on the canal, not pike from a far flung Norfolk river, will be the target. I suspect we'll be more successful on our own turf, too.
 I'll let you know .....
 
 

Friday 8 January 2016

To cap it all, a vintage reel and a starring role


Anglers far better bred, and more highly financially recompensed than me, who choose to fish for trout describe (so I'm led to believe) some nymph and mayfly as "ephemera" due to the fleeting and brief lives of said (and presumably sad) mayfly. Much modern fishing tackle could also be said to be ephemeral, and most of us anglers have items in our tackle boxes and sheds that bear witness to the fickle fads, fancies and changes that drive a lot of fishing tackle production. While a lot of my tackle remains modern ( a friend once remarked that my gear falls into two categories: "state of the art or out of the ark"), over recent years I have increasingly enjoyed using old vintage tackle and fishing in a more traditional style. All of which is why I was delighted this week to take delivery of a CAP Mitchell 304. I've long been an admirer of the unmistakable round body shape, and detective work suggests that my "new" reel was probably made in 1969, making it just a year younger than me. It's now loaded with line, and set to become my "go to" perch reel on days when I'm not in the mood for using a centre pin.
 
 
My collection of older reels also includes this Intrepid Black Prince, which deals easily with small carp, a Mitchell 300 that has been in my possession for 31 years, and still gets the occasional airing for summer stalking or floater sessions, and the 1960's centre pin pictured below.
 
 
However, despite the 304 being a new prized possession which will be in use before the end of the month, I'm not entirely devoid of pragmatism, and my next trip, a pike fishing sortie to the Broads in seven days time will see me committing traditionalist "heresy" and employing an oh-so reliable Bait-Runner in pursuit of my toothy adversary.
 
 
Regular followers of this blog will know that in November I joined up with my friend and fellow angler and church minister Stewart Bloor to make some films commissioned by the Christian Vision for Men (CVM) organisation. One was to be of me talking about my faith, one of Stewart talking about his, and one a short 60 second promotional film for UK Christian Anglers (www.christiananglers.co.uk) which Stewart and I help run. The video's have turned out really well, and our wit, wisdom and spoken words were several times interrupted by fish, including a 2 pound 5 ounce perch for me. I was even made aware of a comment on Twitter about them (the films, not the fish!) emanating from a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff! The films can be watched by clicking the links below:
 
 
Stewart fishing: https://vimeo.com/150810596
 
UK Christian Anglers promo: https://vimeo.com/150820766
 
I suspect, sadly, that for me and Stewart "fame" will prove to be as ephemeral and passing as life is for the mayfly, and as fads are in angling fashion. Now, to get my pipe and slippers and put some grease in that Mitchell!