In reply to Post #299
How easy it is to travel to your fishing with the car, when i first started it was walk or on your bike i traveled miles on my old bike rods tied to the cross bar bag or basket on your shoulder infact it was the only way when i was a young chap. Most lakes and pools were private as i have stated before you could not get permission it was unheard of most lakes on the big estates were used for shooting you would see big rafts of ducks and on shoot days they would shoot hundreds of pheasants, and ducks, most of the estates shot twice or even three times a week they had some very rich people in the syndicates, i got caught out a few times i had gone down to the lake to fish well poach only for it to be shoot, day i must admit it could be a bit frightening as you did not want to be caught i liked seeing the gents, and ladies, dressed up to the nines the ladies dressed in long skirts and brogue shoes they were really posh and spoke like they had got a plum in there mouth, there were a few keepers there as well you would get them coming from other estates to help out on shoot days the one lake i fished had lots of rhododendron bushes around the edge of the lake hiding my bike i would clime the stone wall from the road side onto the estate i loved to fish this old water it had tench Rudd and carp i think the carp had been put in years before maybe for eating it was a long and wide lake i had the old tank aerial rods i would only take one and float fish using worm, bread, or maggots, that i had collected from the local abattoir i must admit they were wonderful days and in the autumn and winter i caught some beautiful Rudd.

On shoot days i would hide in the under growth until they had finished shooting or even up a tree they certainly shot some birds the ducks, and pheasants, would come crashing down in a ball of feathers if i was near enough i would have them before the keeper arrived with his dogs, to pick them up there was that many shot they would not miss a few you would hear the gun shouting to the keeper telling him where his birds, had fallen but i had already picked them up this was early fifties, five or six years after the war, my parents and neighbors were always grateful if i brought back a few birds, it was a very easy way to poach but you could get to greedy and pick up to many birds then find you had to many to carry home on your bike, in those days i had an old duffel coat i would tie two or three birds together then hang then around my neck hiding them under my coat the others would go in my bag or basket the ones i could not take i would hang up a tree which i would fetch latter . If the shooting did not last very long i would continue to fish i caught some huge Rudd on bread paste i wonder why they are not in the lake today i did catch the occasional carp which really put up a good scrape but they were long and thin not deep belled they were all common carp, the ones i caught were only about five pounds at the most but to me they were big i caught the tench as well a lovely green colour they were small the biggest only about a pound but they certainly scraped well i fished this lake for many years and never got caught, or chased once i was lucky because i heard stories about two poachers being caught on the estate and being sent to prison funny how things have changed people seem to roam where the want today no such thing as trespass now but in those days if you got caught you would be in serous trouble. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #300
The morning was cold as i picked up graham it was 2 am we were going to meet a friend at the Dovey junction his name was George he knew the Dovey river well he knew her moods the quick sand the deep gullies that snaked across the estuary if you stumbled and fell, in one you would struggle to get out we were there to shoot the duck we made our way out through the deep mud the occasional snipe took to its wing it was only just breaking light we were to meet the bailiffs a bit further out i knew the head bailiff quite well as he had shot with us before on a shoot in Shropshire. It could be good shooting on this estuary but little did we know it nearly became our last we made our way out over the mud flats a building stood out like a ghost it was on a small island the owners had long gone, the walls had started to crumble we met the bailiffs on this island they had got a fire started the wood burned and throwing shadows on the ancient walls i wonder who lived out here no one seemed to know i suppose they had long gone only there ghosts haunted this derelict house, we left the bailiffs on the island and proceeded out towards the estuary we stood on a hight piece of ground that never got flooded by the tide, the duck came in there hundreds but so did the tide i think old George had got it wrong the tide rushed towards us it hailed and rained and the wind roared.

We had our waterproof trousers on and our waxed jackets god was it cold the hail stung our faces the water surrounded us i could see by Georges face, we could be in serous trouble the tide was higher than expected it was huge the piece of ground where we stood got smaller by the minute in fact the water was starting to swallow this small piece of ground up with us on it i hung onto my dog blaze the water rushed by taking empty cans and wood with it and then it stopped thank god George shouted now we wait for the tide to recede i watched as the water receded god we could have drowned it was that close we had shot, nothing the tide, was to big to let the dogs, retrieve they would have been washed away and drowned it was that bad we waited for two hours i could not feel my hands as we made our way towards the island the bailiffs were relieved to see us and said they were about to call for help i sat by the roaring fire we had our sandwiches and drank from our flasks it certainly helped to warm us up a bit i was not sorry to see the car i said to graham on our way home never again but we did and never saw a tide like that again poor old george admited that he had got it wrong i have not told this story before it is not related to any fishing story but it was part of my life i was young and fit then i have not walked on those mud flats for many years i now leave it to the youngsters althought i believe george still goes he must now be well into his seventies.
well theres a bit more for you all. ill tell you more latter

In reply to Post #301
I sat in the punt with my old dog SAM the sand martins skimmed the water taking the flies that had hatched it was a marvelous sight i stopped the motor and dropped the anchor i was after the rainbow trout or even the big brownies i was lucky i fished this lake for nothing as i was the bailiff. I flicked my fly towards a rising trout and the rod lurched over i could feel the power of this fish as it bored down in the deep water but i soon had him in the net i had been asked to catch a few for the fishery to sell. It was a wonderful day overcast but warm i was actually fishing for a feature for the magazine called trout fishing the photographer was in the punt to my right i could hear the click of his camera as i played a fish i had a friend fishing from the boat his name was Ron who helped me bailiff the lake he was a good fly fisherman and tied some excellent flies every cast was a fish by dinner time i had caught over thirty trout this was good publicity for the fishery Ron had also caught a good number of fish over dinner we were interviewed then out again i ended the day having caught over eighty fish the biggest around three pounds i was tired and ready for home.

I was back at midnight the lake was cloaked in darkness i stood and listened for any sound i scanned the lake with the night sights but i could see nothing i had Ron with me are we going to walk the bank Pete or we going to use the land rover and drive around not yet Ron lets give it an hour or two we will keep watch from the lodge we can make some tea but we never had time there was an almighty bang and flash from the fence that bordered the fishery some one had tried to get over and tripped the wire that i had run across the top of the fence what a noise it made i had left the pellets in the cartridge and had put a car hub cap under the tube that held the cartridge we reached the fence in minutes by using the land rover but the culprit had long gone he had dropped his tin of worms in his haste to get away, we heard a car start up on the road we both chuckled he wont be back for some time says Ron maybe not said i.

The job could be quite dangerous graham and myself had been recommended to the owner who wanted us to bailiff the lake he was quite keen for us to start as soon as posible graham could only do weekends because of pressure of work i had finished work early in life because of health problems mainly arthritis we were not paid but i had the freedom of the lake and free fishing so i asked RON if he wanted a bailiffs job he jumped at the chance it was a bit safer than just one person. we were really kept quite busy for the first few months one or two were taken to court but what was the point most got away lightly with a small fine. One way that did deter them was to let there tyres down, when the game keeper came down with the police he would break the head lights or slash the tyres that certainly stopped most of the poaching i had one or two near fights well i did nut the one he was asked by the police to hand over the rabbits he had poached from our ground surrounding the lake he stuck his face in mine i thought here it comes i was a bit faster than him he dropped like a log the police were not amused we cant do him now not after you doing that so he was sent on his way i never saw him again although he threatened he would see me again some time i apologized to the police they were alright they had a laugh but serously it could be a very dangerous job but it takes one to catch one well that's what they say and i caught my share other than trout being in the lake it also held some very big carp and some huge eels. I will tell you more latter

In reply to Post #302
I have a bit of time on my hands so i will carry on the bosses son had been fishing the lake behind my back he was now in charge of the fishery he said he had been fishing for the eels and had caught them to six pounds i must admit i wondered how many trout, he had hooked and put back i was not to happy about the situation but i went along with it are you going to have a go Pete, having thought about it i decided to give it a go on the following Friday night i contacted my mate Bern, who really was a eel, fanatic and arranged to meet him at the fishery on Friday evening so in the company of the bosses son, Graham, Bern, and myself, we made our way in the land rover to the top end of the lake. There was a sluice gate where we were going to fish and it had been running dirty water into the lake from the pool above which the environment agency used as a stock pool it was owned by the RSPB in fact there was some decent carp in the pool if you remember i had mentioned it in my earlier stories how i poached it years before.

We decided to fish with big bunches of lob worms on one rod and fish dead bait on the other which Bern had caught from the brook earlier today i had a feeling what was going to happen and i was right my first run produced a rainbow trout, around four pounds i watched as BERNS indicator flew up and he was in in fact it was the first eel of the night it weighted a tad over three pounds but it was a start it was returned the next fell to the bosses son going five pounds a lovely fish we lost a big fish which we suspected was a carp, we had seen some huge fish when fly fishing in fact i hooked one and lost it it looked a good thirty as it got tangled around the anchor rope and just lay there but it absolutely flew when we untangled the line from around the rope i am afraid it broke the leader but that's another story. I was not to happy nearly every run produced a trout god if we had been poachers we would have emptied the place enough was enough i called a Halt to the fishing one or two of the trout had died due to us hooking them the bosses son said it will be alright but i would have none of it we pack up your father would not be to happy seeing us catch his trout like this the time was 2 am after a cuppa in the lodge it was time for home they could sell the trout we had caught at the fishery tomorrow.

I was bailiff on the fishery for around six years and i caught some very nice fish the biggest a Rainbow weighing 18 pounds a friend who i fished with called john, even caught some huge perch, with feathered lures which he used for trout fishing the biggest going over five pounds the smallest four he had five perch in the session what beautiful fish it is no longer a trout fishery but owned by a private club i had some wonderfull years on the water and had some happy times but that was long ago . well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #303
i was fishing the small lake and had just cast out when i hear a shout i knew that voice it was bell the keeper i dumped my rod in the undergrowth and ran i was fit and strong in those days and could hold my own against most but what was bell doing here he was away from his own patch i knew this keeper well i had many a game with him over the years. This was gerry's domain unless he was helping out he had three others with him all under keepers i ran the ride and dived over the top of the high ferns and crawled further in they were about four ft height and made good cover my heart pumped as i lay there listening for any sound i heard them running they passed by where i was hidden, they were making for the public foot path hoping i would go that way to get home not me i stayed until i could hear them no more then literally crawled to the other side of the wood i heard a dog bark but it was up at the house they must be helping gerry out the shoot stretched for miles and they mostly worked together on shoot days i was interested what were they doing i realized i had been careless they must have been feeding the ducks and had spotted me casting out.

I crawled out the far side it was only a matter of wading through some shallow water then over the fence into the field but no i wanted to see what they were up to so i made my way towards the big pen in the woods just behind gerry's house and there they were. I hid not making a noise and watched as they brought big crates of birds down to release in the pen they were bringing them from the rearing pens but not all some had arrived on a tractor and trailer i knew the farm hand who was driving it they must of paid for these poults unless they had come from old bells some he had spare. The pen was so large it held around seven thousand birds they would be every where come the shooting season i rubbed my hands together relishing the thought more for me i made a few bob poaching i worked as a butcher boy my wages were only two pounds a week so any extra helped out not only that it helped a good many living on our village as it was the late fifties things were picking up but times were still very hard and most villagers welcomed the odd bird to there diet.

I made my way back towards the small lake i would collect my rod and bag and make my way home the lake was full of Rudd, and Bream. The ground around the lake was very boggy but i knew where to step and where not to i had some brilliant days fishing on this water this lake also produced hundreds of ducks for the guns in the shooting season the keepers would drive them off the water to the waiting guns i have watched from cover many times and had even had one or two ducks away i loved this water but the keepers house was just up the bank from the lake so you had to keep your wits about you but it was worth the effort i have watched him feed his ducks many times before i carried on fishing . one thing that put me off i never felt comfortable fishing into the dark on this water i was never at ease but for now i must leave there were to many keepers and i did not want to be caught so i made my way out onto the field and made my way home but i would be back some other time well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #304
Well we are going on our first trip of the year on Friday i am hoping we catch but it will be nice just being out. How my fishing is going to go this year i don't know as some may know i have suffered with my health of late. I have experienced a lot of pain from my back having had MRI scans and Bone scans i saw the specialist on Saturday and he informed my wife and myself that he could do nothing for me his actual words were your knackered my spine has no disks at all they have been ravaged by arthritis eaten away so i am rather disabled and can only fish if i can get my car to the water side the pain i have experienced over the years mainly sciatica, was caused by my arthritis well its no good moaning i will get on with my life and fish as much as possible but i am afraid night fishing has gone out of the window i still have some happy memories about years gone by and will try and share them with you all although i do feel a bit i have ended up like this as fishing, and country sports, especially nature has been my life i would like to thank you all for reading my threads and i will carry on writing i have so much to tell thank you all Pete

I have fished most of the big lakes in Shropshire some legal and some not one place i did enjoy was fishing the meres at Ellesmere white mere crowsmere and colmere i have a lot of happy memories about these big meres and the first time we saw them. It was quite a daunting task how would we fish the waters and find the big bream that inhabited the meres. I well remember the first time i stood at the side of colmere to me it was a huge water this was in the late sixties where do we start, we the three counties specimen group had acquired the lease for the wooded side of the mere it really was hard work cutting swims and such but i think most of our time was taken up by just watching the water for signs of fish we would be on the water for first light long before we even fished the mere we watched the water for weeks gradually drawing up a picture of where the big bream had been seen where they rolled and patrolled, some kind soul even lent us an old echo, sounder it worked and we a fair idea about the depth of all swims, it was a great help then came the prebaiting that went on for weeks before we even fished graham and my self had a contact at the bakery and collected all the bread crumbs by the sack load with a few loaves it certainly helped out and mixed with sausage rusk it made a very good mix we would ball it up then throw it out into our swim we started baiting up with a little bit often we traveled to ellesmere three times a week to bait up we shared the cost of fuel two nights before we fished we really mass baited the swim and mixed in half a gallon of maggots with the ground bait, i remeber the first night we fished as though it was yesterday we used night lights in a jam jar to show our bobbins up i could not believe it when i had this run playing the fish to the side then into the waiting landing net it was huge well it was for those days and then weighting it went 9 pounds twelve oz my first realy big Bream i was estatic it turned out i was the only one to catch that night out of twelve members to say i was happy was an under stament the fish fell for bread flake tipped with a maggot it made all our effots worth while i will tell you more latter

In reply to Post #305
Well we had our first days fishing yesterday but best of all i was out and in my beloved hill country it was a wonderful day the sun shone but i must admit there was chilly breeze. It was nice to see the farmer who was really pleased to see me i thought yer was dead he said i ain't seen E for some time well it must be at least four years says i hows the lambing going i asked very good no signs of that disease that has effected some countries and parts of great Britain we really had a good natter Pete the lake is not fishing that well i netted it and sold some of the carp its made room for those left to grow on i think you and graham may struggle and we did until i saw a couple of fish show in the one corner it was a good chuck but i put the bait right on top of where he showed i sat there talking to graham when away it went i was attached to a very lively fish there was a gentleman down with his caravan who was fishing until next week graham was about to net the fish when one of his rods shot of so i was struggling to net my fish, owing to my back so the gent with thee caravan came to my assistance it was a most beautiful mirror of around twelve or thirteen pounds really fat and in sparkling health i never weighed it but put it straight back the gentleman said the fish left in the lake had put on terrific weight over the last few months.

Graham managed to net his fish it was about the same weight and a lovely looking fish if we catch next time ill take a few photos they really do fight better than some of the bigger fish i have caught. Out i cast once again within in minutes the same rod was away again this time it was a common a nice looking fish not huge but who cares i had caught graham lost another three i told him to alter the length of his hair which he did. The fish were caught on A baits plum zing which Jason kindly sent me last year i had a few left i never saw anyone else catch on the lake so i was quite happy they were caught on a running ledger and slack line chatting to the gentleman with the caravan he said the fishing had become quite hard so ill put the ones we caught down to the bait . The gentleman said the biggest fish he had seen caught was just over 28 pounds seeing is to believe we shall see i shall visit again next week as it does become quite busy at week ends well it used to i wonder if it does now after taking a lot of the carp out.

But most of all yesterday was being out and about watching the wild life that you see in hill country i wish to god i could clime those hills again i said to graham remember the times we used to walk those same hills with old charlie Patterson looking for foxes that had took the farmers lambs, that wood on the side of the hill remember we shot a big old dog fox, in there that is a long time a go said graham it was indeed nearly 36 years ago where had our lives gone i still wonder they have flown by but i have enjoyed every moment and have made many friends along the way and i do hope i have a few years left graham is now 76 years old and i am approaching seventy i suppose we are still lucky to be able to fish, and do what we do he has been a good mate we have fished together since the mid sixties so that cant be bad our other mate Bernard wants to come along it would be nice to see us all together again not young like were once but three old gentlemen together . well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #1000
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In reply to Post #307
We were going fishing today but the garages are running out of petrol locally. We did manage to get to the lake but looking at the water graham felt conditions were not right the weather was very hot not even a breeze we would have fried there are no trees around the lake to give us any cover. So we both returned home after having a word with the anglers already fishing nothing much had come out since Friday. the country side around the lake is most beautiful it is approx six miles from my house the hills tower above the water its really heaven i shall certainly take some photos when i go next time i have walked those hills so many times the local farmers used to have lots of problems this time of year with foxes taking there newly born lambs as you all know i really respect this old fellow with his rustic coat but unfortunately there comes a time when enough is enough and when he starts taking lambs he has to be eliminated, that's where myself and graham charlie came in we would walk those hills maybe for miles untill we found his earth i have on occasions found up to four or five dead lambs at the earth's entrance i did not like to kill the cubs but most were now nearly full grown they certainly would not be in the earth but would be lying out in amongst the gorse bushes. we would leave it until the weekend getting a few farmers together and surrounding the gorse then it would be driven out by walking guns it was over within the hour it would leave me quite sad but it had to be done these hill foxes were a lot bigger than lowland foxes they lived on the very best lambs rabbits hairs the biggest i saw was twenty eight pounds it was huge but bigger ones have have been shot.

we have a pair of red kites they have moved into hill country about six miles from my home, i would have thought they have a nest somewhere very near perhaps in one of the conifer plantations or on the fringes of the marsh land that abound in the hill country i have been quite excited to see them as they were badly persecuted in Britain in the 20th century and nearly driven to extinction by the old game keepers it is now quite common in parts of wales but it looks if they are spreading over the border into Shropshire. Well back to fishing i have never really liked being out in this weather unless there has been a bit of cloud cover and a breeze on the water i can honestly say when its been hot and calm i have caught very little i am afraid i can not fish nights any longer and all my fishing is in daylight hours i shall now leave it until Thurs or Friday when its going to be a bit cooler funny really when i was young it did not matter what the weather was like i still went. I spent a lot of my younger days catching all species and not particular one species like carp all fish were fair game i would be over the moon to catch big rudd or perch or even chub i suppose i have been an all rounder and self taught but like others i have made mistakes and learned from them its been a wonderfull life i was born a shropshire lad some say i have been jack the lad by god i wish i was now nothing would give me more pleasure than crawling on my stomack throught thick under growth to watch the vixen and her cubs or even the badger and her young to take freinds and people with me to watch the fox cubs play. Or even hold a door mouse in my hand as he slumbers his life away then pop him back into his nest so he can sleep the long winter, untill spring awakes the little chap once more. nature is so wonderfull its been my life now i take my car and just sit and watch and think of how it was not so many years ago now i am cripled behond repair but i have my stories to tell you all , as long as i can get my car beside the waters edge i will carry on fishing the best i can. well a bit more latter.

In reply to Post #308
We ll all be back on our bikes and you ll be poaching for the table again if Cameron & Co get their way Pete ... maybe you should start up an academy that d be poetic justice

In reply to Post #308
I stood beside the wood the stars shone brightly up above it was mid November it was a windy night the clouds danced across the sky casting silver shadows on the fields i crossed the wire fence and entered the wood i stood under the old chestnut tree and listened an owl screeched somewhere deep within the woodland i was here for one thing the pheasants, i heard no noise only the occasional bark from old bells dogs whose house stood at the end of the wood i i made my way towards the coverts deep in the woodland my heart missed a beat as a vixen screamed she was not to far away she was calling her mate perhaps they had already mated the cubs would be born in february or march i stood once more and listened all was quite old bell would be well asleep, in his warm bed it was well past mid night i took the gun out of the sack and strapped on the torch with black tape i was by myself tonight the way i liked it i was only responsible for myself i shone the light up into the trees i took aim and down came the big cock, pheasant he hit the ground in a ball of feathers he fluttered and lay still then another hit the ground i picked them up putting them in my bag i moved further into the wood towards the big pen the trees were full of these plumb birds i shone the torch into the trees and took careful aim and squeezed the trigger down he came another cock for my bag then a hen i had shot five birds already i must not get to greedy i moved on through the wood out onto the field i would try the other wood that ran beside the river.

As i walked forward i was looking for signs of trip wires and such i kept to the shadows of the over hanging trees no one would see me as walked along the side of the big wood i climbed the fence disturbing a big Hare, from his slumbers it made me jump i watched as he ran across the adjacent field and disappeared into the darkness he would of made some one a good meal but i was after the pheasants, tonight i sat down and drank from my bottle it was cold tea but it quenched my thirst i sat with my back to the oak tree i am sure i could smell tobacco burning or was it my imagination smoke from a pipe, will carry well on a wind but no i was safe tucked up in this wood i listened to the river as it wound its way over the stones and into the deep pools that held the brown trout but i must be on my way deeper into the wood i trod this was where the biggest pen was i stood beneath the canopy of trees up with my gun and down he came i shot ten in all they could get a bit heavy but i would stop and rest i found my bike i had hidden under the old river bridge i made my way home across the fields it was well past 3 am when i arrived home i hung the birds in the shed i would make a shilling or two from tonight's birds they would feed our family and some of the neighbors the rest i would sell but for now it was sleep this is a tale from years ago i was only sixteen years old and poached for food as the times were very hard it kept us in meat and supplemented our diet this was long ago it was a way of life one i have loved and learned so much not just about poaching but about our wild life and nature. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #310
The book all carp i would like to thank our own ken townley for his kindness editing my stories and a big thank you for Jason rider who included me in his book and i would like to thank the carp forum for letting me write my stories on the forum thank you all very much, the leather version of the book is wonderful i shall realy treasure it. Thanks Jason for the other things you sent ill put them to good use once again thanks Pete

In reply to Post #311
Well we went up in hill country to fish once again but it was absolutely freezing there was a very cold breeze on the lake how the weather changes by late afternoon there were bivvies where ever you looked to be frank i only saw a couple come out and they were very small it was a runs water until they netted it i never saw one fish showing but i did take a few photos of the hills towering above the water i will put them up latter mind you the weather has been strange for the time of year the amount of spoding i saw going on i said to graham are they trying to fill the lake in to be honest i could see no call for it but every ones different well we both blanked it was so cold i was glad to get home.

Here is a tale from years ago that might give you all a laugh i know i have a laughed to myself everytime i think of it it was around 1957 i was poaching the big lake at bomere it was fiercely keepered no one would go any where near the locals were to frightened to even walk along the public foot path, there were signs on a few trees saying trespassers will be shot on sight it was keeperd by old Gerry and his under keepers then you had keeper Bell he would be there helping out especially on shoot days the local police sgt landers would also be there as he was a friend of the keepers. On this particular day i had been spinning for the pike i had already caught a couple around five pounds i was using one of those old kidney spoon spinners the ones with the red wool at the hook end coupled with a Mitchell reel and a 10 ft spinning rod i had just cast out when i heard a shout looking over the lake i saw the blue land rover belonging to Sgt landers he must of seen me so it was all go rod reeled in and i was away what i did not realize at the time there was a shoot going on and he was not shouting at me. But i was away up the field i went over the bridge that spanned the ditch then over the style which crossed the railway line, i could hear all this shouting but i never looked back i ended up in a wood that was called the Berries it was quite steep and wild very over grown and full of pheasants it was bordering my village but i had no time to go any further so i dived into cover and literally crawled under some brambles it was like being in a tunnel and that where i stayed i had dumped my rod in the under growth by the railway so i lay there very quite it was then i realized it was a shoot and they may not be after me, i got a bit worried when i heard the sound of shooting i knew they would dog all the under growth out i was right . I never moved a muscle untill i felt somthing wet on my face i was being licked to death by a big springer spaniel well what do you do i tried to get him go away but he would not and he even tried to give me one, bugger off i said i could hear the keeper calling him then they were all around the patch where i lay i thought i have had it now, he continued to lick me all over and was still trying to give me one i heard the sound of a whistle and an angry shout i knew that voice it was old Bell where are you Alfie he shouted and to my relief the dog went the shooting stopped my heart had missed a beat or two i lay there for some time after and could not help laughing to myself it was around 1957 i had just left school it was a bit near for my liking an hour latter i picked my rod up from its hiding place and made my way home i do hope this gives you all a laught it is a true account althought its all in my memory its like it happened yesterday. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #312
the lake in hill country










the wood were we shot the big dog fox 36 years ago

In reply to Post #312
Terrible weather we were covered in snow this morning now heavy rain and the wind is bitter i really hope that our feathered friend will be alright i have a robin with youngsters in my garden i do hope they survive i went to look at a lake the other day it was one i fished when i was a youngster it was strictly private then and i could not believe when i was told it was still private i fished this lake when i was twelve years old it was full of big Rudd and a few nice tench no way could i get permission so like many lakes i poached it. I would cycle to the lake and hide my bike then over the hedge i would clime, the lake was quite big but was surrounded with trees and reeds so i could hide myself away from prying eyes it was keepered and the head keeper was Mr Rodgers he took a dislike to me. He gave me a smack this one day when i was beating for SAM my keeper friend, he warned this keeper, never do that again or you will be answerable to me, i was told that old SAM was a very hard man and he could hold his own against most but to me he was a lovely old chap who taught me many thing to do with the country side .

Well i could not stand old Rodgers he was responsible for the trout on his stretch of the onny and all the lakes on the estate i would slip down and fish for the trout early morning or late at night i could not stand the man i would take home up to twenty trout it was easy fishing i would spin using a minnow set up in a flight the fins on the flight griped either side of the minnows head they were deadly none of the trout were waisted we shared them out with our neighbors who were always grateful. I loved the one lake on the estate it stood in front of the big hall and the big lawn stretched down to the lake the hall side was clear of trees and brambles i thought to my self what a way to live they were immensely rich as i fished i would watch as the ladies of the house playing tennis on the lawn but the estate revolved around shooting there were pheasants every where you looked and the lakes would be covered in rafts of mallard the under keepers would come down to the lake and feed the ducks twice a day. I would float fish i used bread paste with honey mixed in which my mother, made for me god i caught some really big Rudd, on this paste, our neighbour lent me some old spring balance scales i don't know how accurate they were but some of the Rudd i weighted went three pounds but alas my neighbor wanted them back so that was that the tench i caught were mostly around three pounds but they were huge to me none of my mates would come with me they were to frightened as they might get caught.

It was not just the fish, i would certainly have a few of the ducks, there were literally hundreds i had my air rifle that dad, had bought me . my friend SAM, had altered the spring he had used it to shoot the rooks, so i knew it was quite powerful i would lie down and look between the reeds throw out some bread they would swim towards me and the bread and start to feed it was only a matter of taking aim and squeezing the trigger you would here the thud as the pellet hit its target it killed the mallard instantly i did not want get to greedy but being young i shot fourteen birds the first time i went i put them in the bag but i could not carry them they were to heavy how could i ride my bike like that i tied my gun to the cross bar it was rolled up in sacking, i then hid half the birds and took the others home, it was a lesson learned as i had a good five miles to cycle back to fetch the others i would not shoot as many next time i got a bit wet getting the ducks when i shot them so a neighbour gave me some old sewer rods if i screwed the end that looked like a cork screw i could poke the rods through the reeds and pull the dead duck in i used to leave the rods at the pool i would hide them in the hedge row i never ever got caught. My parents were always grateful for the ducks as it was a change to our diet we lived in a terrace called newington i think i fed most who lived there the war had finished about five years before but times were still very hard and wages were not that much. Well a bit more latter