Salt and Fresh

Rods and lenses

2012-01-26T01:14:00.000Z

Been experimenting with my new lens again. It's a Nikon 35mm f1.8. It's great to have a lens that can go down to f1.8. I love the short depth of field it gives you. Also took the one below the other day, but with the 18 - 55mm kit lens.

As for fishing I'm hoping to get out this weekend. I will, hopefully, be dead-baiting on the one rod, and also, weather permitting, fly-fishing for the pike again. I'd really like to catch another on the fly just to prove to myself that the one the other day wasn't a fluke!

I'm already thinking about the new trout season which is fast approaching. I need a new rod for the Wensum, and am thinking about a Greys Streamflex 4 weight; funds permitting that is. It's funny, but you can never have too many fishing rods in my book. Having said that, I can honestly say that I haven't got loads of rods sitting about that never get used. There's the Edward Barder which I admit doesn't get as much use as it should, and to be honest I'm thinking of selling it at some point. Then there's my Hardy Marksman which is definitely my most used coarse rod; I use it for barbel and chub when I can get to the Hampshire Avon, and carp and tench on my local stillwaters. I've got a twelve foot Daiwa Avon which I now use mainly for dead-baiting. When it comes to fly rods I've got a 4 weight cheap thing which was a waste of money, and almost uncastable; a 6 weight Sharpes of Aberdeen which I use at my local syndicate stockie lake, and a 9 weight e-bay salt-water rod which I've been using for pike. I think I'll probably invest in something else for next season, but it'll do for now. When it comes to the salt I've got two Penn estuary-type rods, and I think that's pretty much it.

Norfolk Dialysis

2012-01-19T11:25:00.001Z

Not fishing orientated, but this is our new business. We're providing dialysis to people with kidney failure coming to Norfolk on holiday. We actually opened last year, but, hopefully, this year is the one where we really take off and can both give up our other jobs and concentrate on this.

On Holme Beach - Caught By The River

2012-01-19T00:10:00.000Z

http://caughtbytheriver.net/2012/01/on-holme-beach/#more-17326

My latest contribution to Caught By The River.

Pike, Ten Mile Bank

2012-01-15T23:06:00.000Z

It may not be massive - just about a double - but I'm feeling rather chuffed with myself this evening. Today was my first ever attempt at fly-fishing for pike; with, I hasten to add, a fly I tied myself. It was an overcast day, and slightly warmer than the last few. When we got to the river at about 14:00, there was very little wind. There was also very little sign of any fish. The first hour was spent trying to get the hang of casting big, heavy flies on a 9 weight rod when I'm used to casting size 16s on a 6 weight. But eventually I felt that I was doing a reasonable impression of a pike fly-angler. Because there was no sign of any fish on the surface I was letting the fly - on an an intermediate line - sink a fair way down. By 16:00 we still hadn't seen a fish, nor a sign of one. I moved ten yards up the bank with the intention of casting along a weedbank that lined the bank, and then packing up as we had an appointment with a roast chicken. After a couple of casts along it I cast out straight in front of me and stood chatting to Matthew while the black and silver fly I'd concocted that morning sank. Before beginning the retrieve proper I gave the line a jerk to free it from under a stray reed stalk when all hell broke loose and the rod was suddenly bent into a fish stripping line from a very slack clutch. I tightened it up slightly and then about six or seven minutes later what had looked like a long, lean fish turned, in the net, into quite a plump one. And a very satisfied me went home for a lovely Sunday dinner and a couple of pints.

Pictures of the fly to follow.

The trout

2012-01-12T17:04:00.000Z

It was across the river, the rise,

they always are
A trout, neb just showing, rose tosomething unseen,
a wild, untouched trout with no name
There! It rose again
A slow displacement of the river’ssurface,
the rings of the rise echoing,
and I can hear the slurp through the low evening light
(And again, three times now)
I guess at mayflies; I’ve seen a few,
brief life burning brightly,supernova’d into a single day,
and now, all DNA transmitted, merely acrumple of leg and wing,
half in the surface,
half out of it
What do they see, the trout?
Pinpricks of light drifting throughtheir window,
or bodies ripe for picking?
Whatever, they see something, that’sfour times
I could be more than content to just sitand watch this rise as the light drops
and the day’s cast is retrieved,
but there’s this rod in my hand and...
Later, the day drained like the lastdregs of a pint at closing time,
I walk back through the water meadows,
the dew gathering up to my thighs,
and the trout, still rising,
and the black mettle of the riversliding past.

More messing about with the camera

2012-01-11T14:30:00.000Z

Walked the dog on the beach again today, and tried out my new lens. I like the effect of ramping the exposure right up on the shot below; it makes it look like a drawing or painting or something. Unfortunately still a sad lack of fishing going on, but hopefully will be out this weekend. Typically though, the mild overcast conditions are forecast to change to cold, clear conditions. I will, however, be trying out some fly-fishing for pike with flies I tied myself.

The Wildfowler

2011-12-16T14:13:00.000Z

In the dark before thedawn the wildfowler waits;

the goose dawn,
the duck dawn,
the red anglian winterdawn.
Far out on the flats thegrey geese are huddled
while underneath the oldman’s arm the cold-barrelled shotgun’s cuddled.

In the dark before the dawnthe wildfowler’s crouched;
the plovers’ dawn,
the dunlins’ dawn,
the killing dawn behindhim.
Far out where the shore-linebegins to stutter
the wind cleaves thebeaches and the geese start to mutter.

In the dark before thedawn the wildfowler remembers;
The winters’ dawn,
the frosts’ dawn,
the cold east-coastdawn.
Far out thememory-flecked tide is turning
and there’s an ache inthe old man’s chest that’s burning.

In the waking light ofdawn the grey geese are flying;
The talon’s dawn,
the beak’s dawn,
the hungrydouble-barrelled dawn.
Far out amongst thegeese’s growing din
there swoops thesickle-winged peregrine.

In the waking light ofdawn the wildfowler’s still;
The dark dawn,
the dead dawn,
the lonely wildfowlers’dawn.
Far out on the marsh theflocks are wheeling
and towards where theold man lies in the mud, the black tide comes stealing.

Alice Oswald - Dart

2011-12-16T14:05:00.000Z

Wow is all I can say about this. And why the hell can't I write like this? I sincerely recommend you read this and, even better, get hold of a copy of Alice herself reading it; it truly is awe-inspiring. The detail, the feeling, the originality of a poem written in the voices of people she met along the river, but all 'the river's mutterings'. I have an audio version courtesy of Jeff from Caught By The River which is just beautiful.

Winter

2011-12-14T18:09:00.000Z

Winter's finally here, or so I keep hearing. I have to admit there has been a definite chill in the air over the last week or so. I haven't been fishing for a couple of weeks; so many things seem to contrive to keep me away from the riverbank. And now it's bloody Christmas, and then it'll be New Year, and before you know where you are the end of the season will be upon us. Perhaps I'm wishing it away a bit prematurely, but time just seems to fly past, and I haven't even had a single pike on the bank yet. Managed to get out with the dog and the camera though:

Top is Thornham Harbour, then Gore Point between Holme and Thornham, and finally Blakeney Harbour.

River Wissey

2011-11-27T20:19:00.001Z

First trip to the Wissey today deadbaiting for pike. Didn't get a sniff! It was still a lovely afternoon though. We saw the remains of a couple of decent bream on the bank. And then later saw two otters cruising along. They disappeared as soon as they got wind of us, but still a lovely sight. There weren't really any fish moving until last light - just a bit too bright I think, though there was a bit of colour in the water. I think it's got potential. It looks very 'fishy' all along to be honest. Still surprising we didn't even get a jack or two, but never mind. There's always next time...

Holme beach again

2011-11-17T19:34:00.001Z

Walked the dog on Holme beach this evening which is where I usually take her. Nice sunset. I think sunset photos can actually be a bit boring unless you can get something else in them if you know what I mean. I used the flash on the one above and it's highlighted the post and the foreground quite nicely.

I haven't been fishing for bloody ages now. The lake up the road where I fly fish for stockies has got some sort of algae bloom which killed a load of the fish off, and it's closed for the foreseeable future, and I just haven't managed to get out anywhere else yet.

The photo below is of the birch on our front lawn. Everyone else in the street's been out sweeping leaves away and tidying up. Well I refuse to subscribe to their idea of suburban utopia. It's bad enough living on a homogenised estate where everything's symmetrical, including everybody's lives. And anyway, I like dead leaves. And anyway, I can't be arsed.

Autumn on Sandringham

2011-11-17T09:28:00.001Z

I spotted the sun slanting through the trees of Sandringham the other day, and stopped to take a quick few photos.

Dinosaur jaw, Holme beach

2011-11-15T17:09:00.001Z

We found the dinosaur jaw on Holmebeach

the dog and I.

It must have been there years -obviously - but

we damn near recognised it instantly,though it was

half hidden in sand and mud.

How had so many wandered past

unaware? Probably too busy with

their binoculars and ‘scopes to

see what’s under their noses,

twelve feet long at least,

and still with such fiercenessattached to it

I was afeard to go too close.

It wouldn’t have taken much

to wake it I don’t think,

though it must have been

sleeping these couple of million years.

The dog was jittery as a

loaded gun in the hands of afirst-time bank-robber,

sniffing in, tail tucked, skin andbones taut,

then bouncing back ten feet a time

before sneak-thiefing back in again.

Where it’s eye was was full of barnacles

like a rim of fire,

the barnacles like expectant volcanoes.

And scattered round it red crab legslike lava streams,

torn from the carapaces by needy-eyedgulls,

slivers of flesh picked out,

and the odd empty shell,

as cleaned in an acid bath.

And still, the jaw bone of thatunimaginable beast

lies on Holme beach, like the wreck ofsome old boat

fished out and carcass left for dead,

while the thousands of them wanderpast

like they see dead dinosaur jaws everyday.

Sunset, Burnham Overy Staithe

2011-11-12T00:35:00.001Z

The most amazing sunset I've ever seen. I have to admit it was last year, but it really was spectacular so I thought I'd post some pictures of it.

The North Norfolk coast really does a romance all of its own. It may not be as showy as, say, the jurassic coast of Dorset - which I love by the way - but there really is something special about North Norfolk. In Summer it's lovely: gorgeous beaches, house-high sand dunes, though there's something about the North Norfolk coast in Winter which resonates with me. I wrote about it here: http://caughtbytheriver.net/2011/01/norfolk-soul/

Excuses, excuses - Caught By The River

2011-11-06T13:33:00.000Z

My latest contribution to the Caught By The River website.

http://caughtbytheriver.net/2011/11/excuses-excuses/#more-16262

Caught By The River

2011-10-30T13:52:00.000Z

Just thought I would add these links to the articles I've had on the website Caught By The River. It's run by Jeff Barrett, Robin Turner, and Andrew Walsh the guys who set up and run Heavenly Records.

http://caughtbytheriver.net/?s=danny+adcock

Autumn

2011-10-27T01:33:00.000+01:00

Wherethe partridge sweetly cries,

andthe pheasant quietly lies;
therethe sloe, and blackberry too,
arehid amongst the hedgerow’s Autumn hue.

Thecopse that sits atop the hill,
isquiet now, and very still;
below,the guns are making ready,
andthe dogs are told: ‘Sit! Steady!’

Thenew-ploughed fields, deep and brown,
stretchto the road that leads to the town;
alongthat road I will not travel,
butkeep to where fallen leaves a-crackle.

Wherethe stream drops through the hollows,
adog fox sniffs the air and follows;
therabbits are playing down in the whins,
andhe sits on his tail to watch, and grins.

Andthrough the mist this early morn,
Iheard the geese in the grey predawn;
winter’soutriders drawing near,
bringing,soon, the end of the year.

Beautiful day at Burnham Overy Staithe.

2011-10-27T01:12:00.000+01:00

Beautiful day on the North Norfolk Coast today. I went for a wander round the harbour at Burnham Overy Staithe, and took these photos. And then, unfortunately, I had to go to work. Hopefully Sunday will be the first proper pike session of the season.

Beach combing North Norfolk

2011-10-24T17:55:00.000+01:00

This lump of driftwood is now, after half an hour of dragging it across the sand and saltings on a sledge, a feature in the garden. It joins the other piece we found last winter. This one was a lot less trouble to get!

2011-10-23T20:36:00.000+01:00

Thornham stumps

We’vewalked this coast in winter many times

You,always in a hat against the wind,

redhair escaping in whisps,

thedog skittering ahead through the tide’s edge,

kickingup sand, and bright spots of glittering sea

Once,we found a piece of driftwood

smoothedand mellowed by the years,

anddragged it, through the dunes and the marram,

whilethe gulls fought the gusts

andwaders lilted alarm calls from the tideline,

asif protesting our theft.

Laughing,we slid it through the marsh and the reddening samphire.

Nowwe sit, side by side in the garden,

andsmell the sea and smile.

Photo's and fishing

2011-10-20T17:18:00.000+01:00

Sorry to my many fans for not blogging for an absolute age. Going to start again now, with photo's, fishing, writing, poetry, who knows! Anyway, here's some photo's I've taken over the last few months.

The oyster catcher was at Thornham, and the other one's Holme-Next-The-Sea. Below was on the Sandringham Estate, and then 2 more from Thornham the other morning.

More to come soon...

Winter blues

2010-12-06T17:21:00.000Z

It may be very pretty out there at there at the moment, and the dog may be having great fun snuffling and rolling in it, and chasing the deer through it, but the snow is not very conducive to fishing! I don't mind fishing in the cold but, unfortunately, without a 4x4 accessing most of the lakes, drains and rivers round here is almost impossible. As soon as there's a bit of a thaw I'll be out after pike and perch; either at Wallington Hall, or Cuckoo drain, or Ten Mile Bank.

Thornham Bass

2010-09-02T13:35:00.000+01:00

These are two bass I caught yesterday at Thornham. I've been fishing the channel at Thornham a lot this summer; in fact I've done very little coarse or fly fishing as the fishing here has been so good. The freezer is getting full, and there's still the rest of September, and October to go; both are apparently good months here for bass. It's great fishing here; far better than blanking on the shingle beaches further round at Cley and Salthouse. In fact it's almost like coarse fishing in that you're fishing a feature: the channel that comes into Thornham marshes and the small harbour there. A lot of sea fishing seems to me to be turn up at a featureless bit of beach, and whack out a large lead on a fourteen foot beachcaster and sit and wait. I was fishing here the other evening and a chap who'd never fished it before turned up. I caught a 2lber, and then a 4 1/4lber - my biggest to date - and I was casting at most forty yards, and sometimes as little as ten. I'm not a secret squirrel when it comes to fishing in the sea; it's the sea for goodness sake, and there's plenty of room for everyone as far as I'm concerned. So I had a chat with him, and trying not to appear like a know-it-all, after all, he'd obviously done a lot more sea-fishing than I have, I told him that I'd been catching quite a few nice fish in the channel directly in front of us which is about forty or fifty yards wide. However, there he was, gigantic beachcaster, giving it the full monty; whirling the bait round before launching it as far as he possibly could. It just seems so unnesseccary: I had a light, eleven foot, estuary style rod with 3 ounces of lead, and when I hooked a fish it actually put up a fight.

Above is the channel before the tide starts to come up it which is about three hours before high tide. As soon as the tide does start to come up the channel the fish come with it. On a calm day you can see the mullet shoals cruising up in only a foot or two of water. Then you start to see the bass; swirls, splashes and bow waves. Then the bites start; usually schoolies at first, and then after an hour or so the bigger fish tend to appear. About an hour either side of high tide it goes a bit quiet, and then once the ebb tide starts to drain from the marshes, the fish start biting again, and if you stay until the channel's back to only a couple of feet deep again you can see the fish come back down it. Below is the channel a couple of hours after high tide. You can see how flat calm it was, and crystal clear too. They often say that sea-fishing is better with a bit of a breeze, but down here I've caught in all different conditions, and flat calm like this have been as good as any.

Sea bass at last

2010-07-20T09:38:00.000+01:00

This is my first 'decent' bass. It came after I bought a new rod - a light 11'6'' estuary/bass rod - specifically so I can fish with bait instead of the lures I have been using unsuccessfully for a year or so. And I have to say it tasted wonderful. There's something about catching and eating your catch which is really exciting. Anyway, that fish was last weekend; Matthew caught a slightly better fish that day. At the weekend just gone I went back to the same spot and caught a 3 and a half and a 2 and a half pounder, and then the next day another 1 and a half pounder. Lovely fishing, and while the bass are about and we're catching I cant seem to think about coarse or fly fishing. I definitely need to get back on the river as the season ends at the end of September, and I am yet to catch a tench this season. Had a reasonable carp of about 12 - 14 lb on opening day, but since then haven't really been coarse fishing, maybe next weekend I'll have a day at Wallington Hall and a day at Thornham after the bass.

No fishing today

2010-07-03T12:57:00.000+01:00

No fishing today, in fact I'm off to work shortly. Went out with the camera the other day and got some nice shots near Burnham Overy Staithe. Hopefully tomorrow, and maybe monday too, will be out fishing. Maybe after some tench somewhere, that would be nice: lillies, a float, a fizzing swim.

The Hampshire Avon

2010-06-27T16:44:00.000+01:00

Well, it was a disappointing week for me on the Hampshire Avon this year. This was the sixth year we've been down there for the start of the season and while, yet again, the beauty of the river and the New Forest are what stand out, it would have been nice to catch just one barbel. Never mind; it was fantastic just being there. The owners of the farm are lovely people, the farm itself is stunning: the hay and water-meadows, the wildlife, and the weather was stunning too. As a slight consolation I did manage to see one barbel on the bank which Matthew caught. As are all the fish we've caught here it was a stunner as you can see; 13.8lb. I'm convinced there's a river record in this stretch; the average size of the fish is quite amazing.

Fly of the week - Greenwell's Glory

2010-06-04T10:47:00.000+01:00

Greenwell's Glory is a fly first tied in 1854 by a Canon Greenwell and a Mr James Wright; they developed it for trout fishing on the Tweed.. They used it as a wet fly. It may not be the best fly for anyone who likes to match the hatch identically, but it's a great representation of anything olivey.

It's bleedin' hot out again today, but I'm thinking about those trout I saw yesterday above the weir. There was a pipe of some sort emptying in and the bigger fish seemed to be congregating about it. These 'pipefish' as I've named them weren't feeding yesterday when I spotted them, but as this evening approaches I know they're going to get bigger and bigger in my mind, and I've a funny feeling that at about four 'o' clock I'm going to get twitchy feet!

The first cast is the best.

2010-06-03T21:16:00.000+01:00

Here he is, skulking on the bottom just after being released, my biggest trout from the Wensum to date. A very respectable twelve incher. He was behind a log, back of a bend, one of his little brothers causing a commotion on the surface just ahead. I put on a hairs ear, and cast it into the fast water coming down from my right. Out he shot, barged his little brother aside, and snaffled the nymph first time.

Further upstream I came across a weir pool. I could see them rising on the right; where the current curved against the bank after tumbling over the sill. I managed to get into a decent casting position and put a parachute Greenwell's Glory onto the current. A split second after the fly landed a fish - which I missed - slashed at the fly, and then before I'd even had a chance to bring it in and re-cast another leapt clear of the water and came down bang on top of the fly. Well, that's honestly what it looked like, but I guess if you played it back in slow-mo probably the fish took the fly on its way out of the water. Whatever, it was a damned nice fish and it screamed across to the left of the pool toward a weed-wrack, giving me plenty of time to realise that this was something altogether different from even the twelve-incher of downstream, before the hook slipped and the pool was dead. I headed shoreward. The other side of the weir the river was shallow and straight, the banks were steep, and the wind was in my face. Surprisingly I saw fish, big fish and plenty of them. However they just weren't feeding, laying lethargic on the bottom and not reacting to anything flywise. My theory is because it's quite open, the sun was bright and they had no cover, they were probably being a little cagy and waiting 'til evening to come on the feed. Unfortunately, today, I couldn't wait 'til evening so they will have to wait, but hopefully only 'til tomorrow!

They say your best chance is with your first cast don't they?

Live at the Witch Trials

2010-06-03T11:23:00.000+01:00

Mark E. Smith hey? Love him or hate him? I love him, love him, love him. Not like that you understand, though he does make Robbie Williams look like the a wart on a toad's ass, and he can sing. But I would recommend you go out and buy Live at the Witch Trials - The Fall's first album - and any of their several thousand other albums this instant.

Anyway, I'm going fishing now to the tune of Bingo-Master's Break-Out.

Burnham Overy Staithe

2010-05-29T16:03:00.000+01:00

Went to Burnham Overy Staithe yesterday evening in my fruitless search for a bass. It was a lovely evening, and high tide was about 8pm. The tide absolutely rips through the channel between the dunes and Scolt Head Island. With hindsight I think where I was fishing the current is so strong the fish don't probably have time to hunt about for food. I know some people set nets on the beach here, and they do catch bass. Next time I'll get here a bit earlier I think; it was a bit of a spur of the moment session and I only arrived about an hour and a half before high tide. I have to say I didn't see any signs of fish, but I still had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. And on the walk back I heard a bittern booming in the reeds to the left of the path. I've never heard one before, and it took a few seconds for me to realise what it was. It sounded like someone blowing across the top of a bottle, but it had a deep resonance about it, and it made the trip out well worthwhile.

Thornham

2010-05-24T13:27:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, the hottest day of the year I think, we had our first trip out lure fishing for bass at Thornham. The omens were good: forum reports of fish being caught all round the East Anglian coast meant our hopes were high. But after four hours or so of flogging the channel that comes out from the marshes we once again went home fishless. It was very disappointing I have to admit; I know it was only our first trip out this year, but with all the fish being caught we were at least expecting a couple of schoolies. I won't give up though, and am determined to catch a bass on a lure even though I failed to do so last year. I have, however, just paid a visit to the tackle shop in Hunstanton and looked at a couple of bait outfits. Though I'd love to catch one on a lure maybe I should give myself a better chance of just catching a few fish first! I had a look at some nice rods from the Anyfish Anywhere company. What I want is a rod that I can use to cast a bit of weight when I want to, for example after the mackerel at Cley, but also light enough to use as an estuary style rod that I could hold and touch ledger with. The Anyfish Anywhere 'four and bait' rod looks like it could do the trick, but it's about a hundred quid, then I'll need a reel to go with it, line, weights, hooks etc., and before you know where you are you've spent a couple of hundred quid. I'll probably buy it anyway knowing me.

Fly of the week - the Hawthorn

2010-05-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit late with this one I know. When I was last out there were only a few about, compared with the previous weeks when there were thousands. The hawthorne - bibio marci - is the first terrestrial fly to grab the trout's attention. Big and black and leggy, even a light breeze is enough to blow them onto the water in sufficient numbers. Also known as St Mark's fly because they begin hatching on or around St Mark's day the twenty fifth of April.

The Babingley again

2010-05-16T20:32:00.000+01:00

Explored a bit further up the Babingley today. I walked from Castle Rising down to the A149 and crossed the road to follow the footpath upstream. I'm becoming more and more enamoured with this little stream; it really is a hidden gem. I didn't see as many fish as I was expecting I have to admit, but the further upstream I got the more activity I saw. There were a few mayflies about, and some sedges, and fish were rising. In places it's a bit silty, but generally, there's plenty of weed and it just looks so trouty. I've posted a letter to Sandringham estate office, but to be honest I'm expecting to be disappointed. Anyway, weather permitting, on tuesday I'll be back on the Wensum hoping to improve my record of two fish in a session. I'd also like to catch something slightly bigger. The last time I was there something decent swirled right under my fly and I'm sure it was a bigger fish. I'll head back there first, and then probably to another beat that I have fished but haven't caught on yet.

River Babingley

2010-05-06T19:15:00.000+01:00

This is the river Babingley north of King's Lynn, near Castle Rising. I have heard reports that it had dried up, but it is seemingly alive and well, as well as very beautiful and teeming with life. I saw my first mayflies of the year here today; only two, but you have to start somewhere. I saw dace, some very decent dace actually, a big trout that just showed itself before drifting under a weed wrack, so that when I looked again I was not actually sure that I'd seen it at all, and my second water vole in two days. Bloody things are like buses: it must be ten years since I last saw one. Alongside the river here there is a footpath which follows its banks for maybe three to four hundred yards and then crosses the main A149 Norfolk coast road. Going upstream, the footpath follows the river for a short distance before it disappears onto the Sandringham estate. Going downstream, along a well trodden path I wanted to take some photos of St Felix church. It's derelict now, and the tower is completely smothered in ivy.

I got this close before a chap in a four by four buggy - very polite and friendly I must say - appeared and informed me that this was private land. He said I could write to Sandringham Estate office to request permission to take some pictures if I wished.

I'm wondering whether I could get away with fishing this stretch alonng the footpath. Then again, maybe I should write to the estate office, and ask for permission to fish it. They can only say no. I've seen a forum post of two people fishing what they say is the Babingley, and they caught some very nice trout up to about a pound and a half. They weren't fishing here though, so perhaps you can get permission to fish it further upstream. Think I'll give it a try.

Another day on the Wensum

2010-05-05T19:42:00.000+01:00

Another couple of perfect trout from the river Wensum today. I caught them both on hawthorn imitations. But I missed several others, one about five times! It went for the fly every time I put it over its head, but I just couldn't hook it. I don't know why, maybe I'm striking too early; it's very difficult to wait when the fish splash at your fly. Then again maybe they were the ones missing!

The fine art of fishing

2010-05-04T10:56:00.000+01:00

Have a look at this website of Robert Olsen - http://www.thefineartoffishing.com/ - I love the grayling. I also love the photograph 'Taking a break.' It feels like how life should be; there's something restful and calming about it.

First fish of the year!

2010-05-02T20:50:00.000+01:00

Have managed to wangle my way onto a small syndicate on the upper river Wensum. It's all wild brown trout, no stockies, and the river is not managed in any way at the moment. Yesterday was my fourth trip so far, and the first time I've seen any fish rising, and also the first time I've managed to catch anything!

It was a lovely day as you can see, and the first thing I noticed when I got out of the car were all the hawthorn flies at the roadside. When I got to the river itself I saw a fish rise, just upstream, almost immediately. It was a splashy, confident rise, and there was another fifty yards further upstream where the trout left the water completely. Until now I have to admit all the fish I've seen have been disappearing at a rate of knots upstream, leaving me looking in bewilderment at the puff of silt they've left behind. I swear these fish have a sixth sense, similar to how you 'feel' someone looking at you and then when you turn round, someone actually is. I'm learning though; now I look upstream and mentally divide the river into twenty yard sections. I'll fish for twenty yards, then I'll get out of the river - you absolutely have to wade or the fish can see you easily because of the nature of the banks - go under the barbed wire and keep below the skyline for twenty yards. Then I get back in and fish the next twenty yards. Because of the small nature of the river if you fish continually upstream any fish you spook automatically spook in turn the fish that are above them. It was almost a case of herding them upstream, the odd fish darting downstream, but the majority joining a bigger and bigger shoal with me behind! Anyway, I think I was fishing quite well. My casting's improved; particularly my roll casting which is essential because of the bank-side vegetation. I rose a fish with almost my first cast on a hawthorn imitation but missed it. Then I hooked and lost one a few casts later. Then a bit further upstream I spotted a fish rising regularly just above some faster water. The fly landed nice and gently and almost instantly the fish grabbed it. A lovely brownie about eight inches long. It was an almost silvery fish pin-pricked with tiny black spots above, and red lower down its flanks. Unfortunately I'd left my bag and camera downstream, so let it go straight away.

Upstream of where I caught the first fish the river has a sharp s-bend, and above this the last time I was here I spotted a good fish of, maybe, a pound and a half. The bigger fish are few and far between but they are here. Typically, today when the fish were rising freely, the biggie was nowhere to be seen. However, on the way back to the car I spotted another fish rising, and managed to catch that one too on a size sixteen c-de-ce muddler. There were a few large dark olives hatching aswell. All in all a thouroughly enjoyable afternoon.

In other news, have booked our traditional week on the Hampshire Avon for June 18th. We nearly decided we couldn't go this year for several reasons, but in the end I just couldn't resist and booked it anyway. Now I need to invest in a new centre-pin. Thinking of either an Adcock Stanton, or a Grey's Bewick.

Piscatoribus Sacrum

2010-04-01T15:59:00.000+01:00

The successor to Pure Piscator - Piscatoribus Sacrum - is now up and running. Hopefully it will start to gather pace soon, if those Work Party members get their fingers out and start writing!

Mullet and bass

2010-03-16T19:11:00.000Z

Went for a quick look at Thornham Harbour yesterday evening. As always it looked very fishy. Although it's only March I'm already looking forward to going after the bass; just hoping I can actually catch one this year! I'm also going to try for the mullet at some point; I've seen them in several places along the coast round here. And just to add another mountain to climb, I'd also like to get into a sea-trout! Last year we saw one jump off of Holme beach, and I also saw three fish together below Wiveton bridge in the Glaven which were definitely sea-trout. The biggest was well over five pound, probably more like six or seven, and the other two weren't that much smaller. Ah well, ever optimistic, that's me.

2010-02-08T18:42:00.000Z

Another few photos. These are from the morning I walked down to Snettisham.

Recent snow: on the marshes, and Sandringham.

In Search of Pinkfeet

2010-02-08T18:01:00.000Z

The other morning I walked down to Snettisham to see the Pinkfooted geese taking off from their overnight roosting sites out on the marshes; truly one of the UK's most awe-inspiring natural events. Something like 40000 geese spend the winter here on the North Norfolk coast; often in the morning when I'm lying in bed I can hear the goose-talk as they flood across the sky bound for the fields a few miles inland. Unfortunately the full moon meant that they had probably been inland all night! My early rising was rewarded with the sight of this little fellow though. He knew perfectly well I was there; you can see him looking directly into the camera, but I guess what with the harsh weather recently he just didn't have time to be bothered by me and carried on hunting for his breakfast alongside the dyke.

It was a stunning morning. Once the sun had dragged itself up and over Sandringham forest, the light was a lovely golden yellow. I'll post some more pics later.

2010-02-03T19:20:00.000Z

These are some of the photos I've taken over the last few months. The top one is sunset at Burnham Overy Staithe, then some Pinkfooted Geese at Sandringham, Tess the Patterdale Terrier, autumn at Sandringham.

Sad lack of fishing!

2010-02-03T18:52:00.000Z

As well as being guilty of not up-dating my blog since september, or whenever it was, I have not now been fishing since november! I don't know why, but the usual winter lure fishing for the pike of the drains and rivers just hasn't materialised. Perhaps all the unsuccessful lure fishing for bass in the summer has left me a little jaded with that particular method, or maybe I just haven't been able to drag my backside down to the river. Whatever; a local lake is now open again, and when my ticket arrives I will be trying for the pike there I think.

The last time I went fishing was a return week in november on the Hampshire Avon. It was a very quiet week; with my sole fish a chub of about 3lb caught on the Edward Barder's first trip out. The rest of the week involved trying to avoid being nudged into the river by the herd of cattle that appeared halfway through the trip. Not a problem during the day, but it's a bit disconcerting when it's pitch black and there's several tonnes of frisky steers behind you, and ten foot of fast-flowing very cold water a couple of feet in front of you! As usual the backdrop was stunning, and there's always next year, well, this year.

A Pleb and a Wild Brown Trout

2009-09-05T13:58:00.000+01:00

A relative novice at fly-fishing - I took it up last year - I had, until this May, caught a mixture of stocked rainbow and brown trout, and one grayling. The grayling was caught from the London Angling Association's stretch of the Avon just below Salisbury. It had taken some sort of gold-headed nymph bumped repeatedly against its snout until, rather resignedly, it decided to put me out of my misery and become my first wild fish caught on the fly.

To read more go to http://www.purepiscator.com/

The beginning of the end

2009-08-14T17:42:00.000+01:00

It may only be mid-August, but already the harvest is well under way. In a few weeks the glowing golds and yellows of the corn and barley will give way to the browns of furrowing fields as the plough begins its yearly regeneration.

River Crouch

2009-08-14T15:07:00.000+01:00

Had a look at the River Crouch in Essex last weekend. I used to fish here about ten years ago at Wallasea, opposite Burnham-on-Crouch. It's an interesting landscape of old hulks and flash yachts. I didn't fish because the tides were wrong, but will be returning with rod and line this coming weekend. I have to say I don't expect to catch anything, but there may be the odd bass about.

Frustration

2009-08-05T22:05:00.000+01:00

Another fishless foray to the North Norfolk coast. This time it was bloody exciting though, but even more frustrating. I was lure fishing at Thornham; high tide was about half seven. I started fishing in the channel that comes out of Thornham harbour about an hour before high tide; casting the lure across the smooth water that highlighted the channel's deep trough like a contrail on the sea's surface. Apart from seeing something jump about fifty yards the other side of the channel - well out of casting range - nothing much was happening. A kayaker went past and thought it would be useful to tell me there were a lot of fish jumping way over the other side of the bay. After the tide had turned I moved further up the channel closer to the harbour. I was standing in water up to about my knees and casting up the channel against the ebbing tide. I kept thinking I could hear splashes; it was a lovely still evening with only a little ripple riffling the surface but every time I turned around there was nothing. I'd just finished a retrieve, and to be honest I was thinking of packing up; it was about an hour after a not particularly high tide when about ten feet in front of me - where seconds before the lure had been - a sea-bass porpoised on the surface like a bloody dolphin.

My heart was in my mouth for the next cast, which was a little shaky I have to admit, but it was a proper sea-bass not a schoolie. It must have been close to five pounds. Another fruitless twenty minutes followed until there was an explosion of spray behind one of the bouys that mark out the channel, and then another off to my right. They were most definitely predatory fish striking. Then all of a sudden I was literally surrounded by fish; not sea-bass though, but mullet. Big mullet were cruising slowly along in the foot deep water like basking sharks off the Cornish coast. I know it's unlikely they'd have taken a lure but it's still frustrating when you can see fish swimming over your line, and you're retrieving a lure within inches of big, big fish. Damn! Why didn't I take my other rod and a loaf of bread!?

Mackerel

2009-08-03T10:45:00.000+01:00

Went to Cley-next-the-Sea yesterday in search of some mackerel, and maybe, hopefully, a bass. Unfortunately there was very little sign of either. I counted thirty rods along the beach and I didn't see a single fish caught. I don't know enough about mackerel, or sea fishing in general, to speculate about why they appear to be so late in coming in close to the shore this year. The baitfish are there: there were terns feeding consistently and enthusiastically all along the beach; often only a few feet from the shore where there were no anglers. The old salts in the car park where scratching their heads and I heard more than one of them say: 'Oh well, perhaps in a couple of three weeks they'll start to show.' Problem is, I've been hearing that every time I've visited a tackle shop or met another angler over the last six weeks.

Barbus Maximus

2009-07-24T19:28:00.000+01:00

After a near two-year wait my Edward Barder Barbus Maximus split cane rod finally arrived the other day. You can check out the website from the link here. Some may say it's an unnessecarily expensive indulgence, and they may be right!

Anyway, hopefully more exploits to follow.

Published in Waterlog

2009-07-24T11:54:00.000+01:00

Just been published for the first time! My short story The Old Man and the Lake has been published in the latest edition of Waterlog magazine.

Hampshire Avon Pilgrimage

2009-07-14T20:01:00.000+01:00

Our yearly pilgrimage to the Hampshire Avon is over for another year. I can't express how much I look forward to it, or how much I enjoy it; and this year, to make it even better, we caught some big fish.

We've been coming to the Avon for five years now; originally inspired by generations of angling literature: Walker, Venables, Yates. Then really fired up by that most evocative of angling programs A Passion for Angling by Hugh Miles and featuring Chris Yates and Bob James. Any of you who've seen it can guess how much Pete's capture of that 8lb barbel inspired us to try it ourselves. So after a bit of research we found a farm on the middle Avon near Fordingbridge that have converted some outbuildings to cottages and, more importantly, have a mile of that famous chalk stream available for fishing. Now the farm owners greet us like long lost relatives, and are always almost as excited as us when we report our catches.

The previous two years have been disastrous on both the weather and the fishing fronts. Last year the farm owner, who has lived there for all of his fifty or so years, said he had never seen the river that high in June. This year the weather forecast was for high pressure, and mainly fine conditions for most of the week. We had good omens when on our first walk along the riverbank we saw several lovely gravel runs; not too open though, and with plenty of my favourite weed ranunculus waving in the current 'like pre-Raphaelite tresses' as Roger Deakin describes it in his fantastic book Waterlog (God, I wish I had thought of that line). The omens got even better when a group of about six barbel ghosted up the swim obviously feeding as confidently and almost as enthusiastically as seagulls on some discarded chips. We spoke to the two other chaps who were staying on the farm, and who had both been coming for nearly as long as us, and I don't know what they had been doing, but they'd been fishing that swim for days and not seen fin nor scale of a barbel. I find it hard to believe that as the fish were obviously feeding on the groundbait they'd put in, they hadn't even seen them, and we'd been there literally five minutes and we'd seen a fantastic group of barbel, and at least three of them were double figure fish. Both of them are lovely blokes, and I'd dearly love them to catch a barbel, but it's amazing what some people can't see when it's right in front of them.

Anyway, as they'd obviously been feeding and fishing that particular swim for a while, and neither myself or Matthew - my mate who accompanies me every year - thought it would be fair if we just jumped in as soon as their backs were turned, we explored further downriver where we'd seen and caught fish in previous years. Luckily we found some other swims that looked exactly like a barbel swim should though we didn't spot anymore barbel.

It took us a couple of days to find anymore barbel, but I did eventually find another group of four fish about a quarter of a mile downstream. The fish being returned by Matthew is one he caught from the swim where we first spotted barbel; the other two chaps had moved on after another couple of fish-less days, and Matthew caught this stunning fish, which we guestimated at twelve to fourteen pounds, after losing one the previous day.

I had an even better few days at my swim further downstream; catching probably the ugliest barbel in the Avon, followed the next day by possibly the most beautiful barbel in the Avon. The first one (pictured right) was a ragged old warrior of about twelve pounds - though it doesn't look it in this photograph. The second fish was again well over double figures, knocking on the door of Matt's fourteen, but not quite as big. It is - I think you'll agree though - an absolutely beautiful fish. If ever the term 'scale perfect' could be applied to a fish this has got to be it. The first fish had been in the group of four I'd originally spotted in the swim, but though I'd seen them moving through several times once I started fishing, they didn't seem to be really getting their heads down. When you see them feeding confidently, they'll often move up the swim gradually, before moving out towards the middle of the river, and then dropping back to the foot of the swim, and then start creeping up it again grubbing about amongst the gravel and sending clouds of sediment from under their gill covers. After a while though they disappeared completely, and on a whim I flipped my lump of meat straight out in front of me towards mid-river instead of about six feet out and just below me where I had been feeding my groundbait.

Well after about thirty seconds the rod was almost wrenched from my hands and the ugly one took off downstream at a rate of knots. My theory is that perhaps I'd given myself away, but because the fish knew there was still food there they had moved out to where they felt a bit safer. It's something I'm now always going to consider because exactly the same thing happened with the third barbel I caught on our last evening.

The second was more conventional. I'd been feeding hemp and six mil. pellets along with a few grains of corn which is what I was using as a hook bait. The fish had been moving up the swim feeding confidently and the bite had again been that rod-wrenching pull-round that is so characteristic of barbel.

So ended another brilliant week of big barbel, a wonderful setting with the New Forest as a back drop, and nature in all its glory

Elusive North Norfolk bass

2009-07-14T19:01:00.000+01:00

Spent a couple of hours lure fishing for bass at Thornham, North Norfolk. Winds from the south-west and light; bright sunshine; sea crystal clear and almost like the Med! Unfortunately no sign of any fish! My new Snowbee flats boots were excellent though; much better than wearing old trainers which when waterlogged and full of sand are amazingly uncomfortable, but also better than bare feet as there's no chance of cutting your feet open on the numerous razorshells that are lying about.

Reading the local sea fishing forums it seems nobody is catching anything at the moment, no mackerel and hence no bass. It was quiet I have to admit; at least if you see a few terns going in it gives you a bit of hope, but when you scan the horizon for miles - which you can do in the big skies of North Norfolk - and don't see a single tern, it kind of deflates your hopes a little. Hopefully the southwesterly flow will continue, and the fish will start to appear over the next couple of weeks.