Son Rain

                                    Ezra Stalking the margins on a trip to our local farm pond.

A Midsummer Article we just finished. Blimey O'Reilly its raining Hard out there.

It was a classic British summer's day. Torrential rain, blustery winds, the occasional sunny spell, driving rain, more gusts and then some. In contrast to the heatwave of the last two weeks which is now a distant memory, the weather had once again become all too familiar and reassuringly comforting. We were in one of our favourite spots doing what we love best, carp fishing. It was all good.

Ezra decided to float fish lobworms close in the margins, always a good technique for summer carp. I was going to fish on the bottom, a rod length out using the lift method, also another great method for carp, and always a good chance of a Tench. We were doubling our chances of finding fish using two different methods and we were sure our chances were pretty high, so we set to and fished.

Five minutes and Ezra was into a fish, a perch, what to expect using lobworm? we love to marvel at the Perch, it's one of the most beautiful fishes. Another cast another Perch and so on. The boy was fishing his nine year old heart out, grinning at my static float. "There are some big Perch in this pond" Jim the farmer had reportedly seen a three pounder, a big fish, could it be true? All ponds have a mythical fish to stir the imagination of the angler. "and who knows? it could be you're next fish" I said. And we re-cast.

Suddenly my float slid and disappeared under the surface. It didn't feel like a Carp. I can usually recognise a Carp. they are instantly aggressive and usually make a fast run, this fish didn't. It was heavy and felt like a dead weight. A Bream perhaps. I caught a glimpse of it's pearly white underside as it twisted and writhed towards the surface. It was an eel. A slippery sucker suddenly slipping the hook as I steered it towards the net, gone forever.

We had several more perch, packed up our tackle and headed home. Ezra sat on my knee as we both drove the car up the lane to the main road. Memories are made of this. Tight Lines.

Nurston Autumn Bream 2013

A great session this morning at our local spot produced this lovely Bream taken on luncheon meat fishing a 13ft deep swim with sliding float rig on this split cane restoration 12ft float rod and Mitchell 300 reel. Perfect. The weather was kind, overcast and grey without a breeze. Managed to catch sight of an incoming flock of Thirteen geese and Jim the farmer with his dog. Ezra caught the most colourful Rudd I have ever seen. Tight lines. PP & Son

My First Eel.

It goes something like this

"Dad! I think I'm caught on the bottom., No hang on a minute, it's a fish, I think it's a Bream, here it comes"
"Steady! Easy does it, bring it out from them weeds, get it's head up, thats it, what is it?
"It's an eel, my first eel, into the net, awesome."

"The best way to deal with an eel is lay it flat on the ground, cover its eyes and stroke it like a cat. By doing this the fish becomes motionless. Unhook it, get a photograph and slip it back into the water. Job done, well done son"

Tight Lines.

Pinder & Tuckwell Vintage Wool fishing Jacket

Gentlemen. I present for sale this exquisite west of England all wool vintage jacket by tailors and outfitters Pinder and Tuckwell Ltd of Exeter. I'm presuming Pinder makes the Jackets and Tuckwell makes the trousers. One of the longest established menswear stores in the city. The roots of Pinder and Tuckwell (a name associated with personal service and quality) are said to go back to 1824 , when Mr Richard Pinder opened his first clothing emporium at 191 High street. Therefore you can be assured that this top quality tailored jacket will last you for many seasons to come. Perfect for the coming autumn/winter season. Not even the coldest snap will get through this jacket.

VIEW ITEM

                          

Roach Fishing

That's my boy. Ezra cutting his teeth with some roach fishing. Feeding the swim little and often, we tempted a shoal of roach and the odd rudd to our swim. A fish every cast from late afternoon until dusk was the order of the day. Single and double maggot never failed to produce fish. Light tackle and delicate shotting pattern produced fish on the drop as well as on the bottom. The water was very low due to lack of rain but the fish were still present. We lost count of how many fish we caught. We didn't want to finish but the light was fading fast. We decided on our last cast.. Ezra's last cast of the evening produced one of our best fish. The perfect days roach fishing and one we will never forget. Tight lines Comrades.

Hardy's Richard walker "Avon" rod. Norris Shakespeare Deluxe 2200

Allcocks "Lucky Strike" Restoration

A couple of seasons back I started restoring this Allcocks 'Lucky Strike' split cane rod. I purchased it on the bay for cheap. I was lucky. A nice example of a classic rod. A rod I have always wanted to own, an all round float fishing rod to give me hours of enjoyment Roach fishing. There is nothing quite like feeling the tension of split cane when into a nice fish. All the sections are straight and are of their original length. The cork handle is good. The name badge is mostly intact. The cane is not stained or marked in any way. The varnish came off with no problems whatsoever (the best part) I have the yellow silk thread and the eyes ready to go. The problem is the top section ferrel is split and needs replacing. The reason it was put aside. The time has now arrived to find the ferrule. The originals are hard to find if not impossible. with shaking hand I may have to dig deep and purchase new. 

Thurlow Graig "Spinners Delight" vintage angling book.

The great angling fellow Thurlow Graig. fisherman, DIY tackle maker, naturalist, writer and well travelled cowboy writes about making tackle and catching magnificent pike in this angling classic    "Spinners Delight" published in 1951 Anchor press. The book comes from the shelves of fine fishing fellow Jonathan Syms and what a great read it is too! Another cup of tea i think.

Casting at the Sunset

Casting at the sunset on a local carp pool. As dusk fell the clouds seemed to form and disappear without notice. The water and sky were suspended in one of those classic motionless evenings. The boy commented on how the red cloud above resembled a Pike. Our final fish came to the net just minutes after this photograph was taken. A stunning mirror carp, very dark and very beautiful.

Rudd

Scardinius erythrophthalmus returned safely to the water.

Little Aller Common Carp

A perfect common Carp taken in the margins on double sweetcorn. The float dipped and bobbed and slid across the surface only to take a sideways dive into the lily pads. Everything went still, silent, locked in, no movement, just a solid dead weight as though the hook was lodged into a tree stump. Suddenly the fish freed itself from the lillies and made a run for the centre of the pond. luckily the Hardy's Richard Walker Avon was well equipped to coax this beautiful fish to the bank to be netted by Ezra. Its not a monster fish but it put up a spirited fight and is fin and scale perfect.

Jersey Tiger Moth

A lovely Jersey Tiger moth in our attic room hide away. Its range is southern and central europe and Devon in Britain and is partial to a Dandelion and other low growing plants. Its habitat is light woodland and scrubby places including gardens and orchards. It flutters by between the months of July and September and winter is passed as a caterpillar. You can see how it gets the name tiger moth. Marvelous! I need to clean those Velux windows.

Tench fishing with the lift method

Tench fishing is becoming a an obsession of ours lately with plenty of specimen fish turning up at our local carp pond. The Tench is definitely one of our favourite fish to catch with its deep velvet green hue, ruby red eyes and the silky soft touch along with a spirited fight make it a fish to behold.  Our favoured technique is the lift method. A size 12 hook loaded with sweetcorn tied direct to the mainline with a lump of plasticine or a couple of swan shot attached 3 to 6 inches away from the hook. attach a quill bottom end only with a piece of silicon tube and set to depth. (use the good old Billy Lane stop knot in deeper swims) when the fish takes the bait it lifts the weight off the bottom and the quill float lies flat on the water. strike. Fsh on. Lovely!