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In reply to Post #675
Get well soon Pete
thanks m8 dont know what we caught just can not get right must be some sort of virus shivering most of the time. thanks again
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In reply to Post #674
Get well soon Pete  .
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In reply to Post #673
We wont be doing much fishing this week both of us came back from fishing for the barbel last week and we both fell ill graham has been to the docs but is still not very good i feel really under the weather having a job walking around and feel really sick at times must be our age you certainly don't seem to recover as fast as when you were younger man. tried to tie a few rigs but even that is taking some doing i feel really tired and worn out. SO i will have to try and write some more about my fishing from years ago as you all are well aware i did my fair share of poaching fishing and shooting. i used to fish a little lake up in the hill country of Shropshire i was told it was full of carp at the time was fishing with a chap called George Kimberly and we decided we would have a go at fishing it but it was about three miles from the main road a long way to walk i well remember collapsing on the bank the first time i fished it we were completely knackered it was a route march through ferns and bra con some as high as your head. It was a most beautiful lake with a cottage sitting in a wood at the one end it was covered in lilies We started fishing with worm but we could only catch tench not big little tench about a pound they were all stunted it was full of them you could have a fish a cast. we had taken some luncheon meet and using big pieces on our hooks no hair rigs in those days we started to catch a few carp they were all Wilde's torpedo shaped but did they scrap we had them to six pounds plus thinking back we ended the day with about seven they were all muscle beautiful fish. We were determined to fish the lake again but how it was a real long way to walk. so i went and had a word with the farmers trying to find who owned the water. we eventually tracked the farmer down who was not to pleased we had fished it without his permission but we ended up having permission to fish and the use of his tractor and trailer to take our fishing gear down to the lake funny it was the start of a wonderful friendship which has lasted all these years more about the lake a bit latter on
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In reply to Post #672
Its pouring down here rain at last it will do the lakes and rivers the world of good . but the river needs plenty of rain in mid wales for us to benefit. I used to love fishing the streams and brooks in this weather the rain would turn it on, it was like turning a tap on, i would free line a bunch of red worms and would catch some lovely fish from chub to gray ling brown trout i would also catch eels up to round three pounds they would really scrap on light tackle and it has been known for me to catch the odd salmon that had made its way up to spawn and that is not many years ago. One thing i will definitely will be doing this autumn and winter is fish dead baits for the pike on the shrews bury stretch of the severn we have caught some reasonable fish with this method, and float fished dead baits. You don't see the anglers doing it much today why i don't know as it can tremendous fun we have caught some very big specimens doing this. Talking about pike i used to poach a pool that was deep in the woods in south Shropshire SAM the old keeper took me there it was crammed full of roach and pike as soon as you had a roach on you would get a pike strike they were mostley jacks not much over eight pounds but just the right size to eat sam always took a few home to his dear wife to cook. Mum would clean the fish and soak it in salt for a few days to get the muddy taste out what else she put to it i don't know but you would never taste any thing muddy she would stuff it full of herbs from the garden tie it up with string and boil in a big pan on the old fire grate, it was absolutely wonderful we would have peas and potatoes with it and it kept us going for a couple of days as i said before nothing was wasted they were hard days but its part of my life i would not of missed. I really wandered how those fish got into that pool it was deep in the woods and i never saw many water birds on there i asked SAM but with all his knowledge he did not know all he would say they been always there, i will have to have a look if i can walk that far its doutfull at the moment but maybe latter on i would love to see that old pool again it holds many memories for me and my freindship with old sam the keeper well thats all for now a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #671
We were barbel fishing yesterday that's my mate graham and myself. After the rain we have had i was expecting it to be still coloured but it has fined down very quick and is nearly as clear as last week. The only way you could get a bite was fish very small pellets and use light lines i mean around six pounds to eight pounds breaking strain. graham was set up very close to me so we could share the landing net the bank was very steep and owing to him having a long handle on his net we could easily land any fish hooked. We had hardly cast out when graham had a real savage take lifting the handle of the rod and nearly pulling it from the rest he picked the rod up no need to strike as it was hooked it was on but only for a second he felt the fish then nothing on winding in his hook had gone it had broke him or it was weak hook link on recasting he was in again but this was no barbel it was an eel of a couple of pound nice to see the salmon lads have been catching a few when they have been worming they say its the best they have seen for many years. Then it was my turn over the tip went and i was in i knew straight away it was not a big fish but it was most welcome on landing it was only between four and five pounds It was grays turn again and he landed another around the same size as the one i caught. A couple of anglers came and had a chat and were very quick to point out that we were the only ones catching on the Sydney avenue stretch and most had packed up and gone home this surprised me a little bit but that's fishing we never caught any big specimens but had a few more most around the five pounds mark and the eels they could not leave the pellets alone. there was a salmon fishermen above graham spinning the weir he caught a lovely perch it was in magnificent condition and weighed round three pounds plus i would have been proud to have caught it but he did not seem very impressed strange some people. It started to rain quite hard towards evening graham had left his umberella at home so we called it a day but at least we had caught and not blanked like a few others. wel thats it for now untill the next time
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In reply to Post #670
The desire to catch fish really used to over power me. i would go to work and all i could think about was fishing it was like a drug it consumed every waking hour if i was not fishing i was making tackle or planning our next session mainly after the big bream. i would normally fish a Friday till a Sunday but i have been known to go straight to work from a session i would be absolutely buggered tired out. Because in those days you did not sleep much you had to stay awake and watch your indicators which in the middle late sixties was a piece of bread squeezed on your line between reel and but ring the doe bobbin i made myself a light from a small battery with a red reflector that would just show any movement that the bobbin gave. on a windy night you could have a few problems the bobbin would rise because of the wind or under tow. but we managed and enjoyed our fishing. Before dick gave me some bite alarms the old herons the doe bobbin was the only method i used to use i did try silver paper. but prefer the bobbins we caught loads of big bream using this method big for those years 7- 8 pounds i also used it for the roach with a lot of success we mainly sat up in an old garden chair all night. some times in the day you may catch up with your sleep for a couple of hours we would take a hessian sack with us and a piece of canvas wrap your self in a blanket inside the sack a piece of canvas under neath and over the top of yourself not very comfortable but you managed to get a couple of hours. i don't think many anglers would do that today it was pure dedication. graham and myself had bream fever we could not leave it alone its a wander our wives did not divorce us as we would be out at every opportunity and had become quite well known for our big fish exploits but we did not have the time or opportunity to do what some anglers have done today and made a living out of it. the lack of money was another thing that held us back you needed money to travel fuel food tackle and such it all mounted up the wages in those days was not that much and when you had a wife and family to keep they came first. ill tell you a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #669
Over the years i have heard many people bragging about the poaching they have done shooting the odd hair and the odd pheasant., and i have thought you should have been out with me a few times on a cold windy winters night with only an old rim fire 2-2 rifle and torch fixed to the barrel i have poached some estates and shot the pheasants out of the trees right out side the hall they have had all the lights on and have been having a real old knees up in side. Usually i would wait until the party had finished and the farmer had gone to his bed. some times i would shake like a leaf the pure excitement of it all your heart would pump as you dropped a few of his precious pheasants on his front lawn i would have seven or eight and i would be away putting them in an old sack and away home i would go. Some of those nights were cold and i would really shiver but it was a necessity i suppose i was around eighteen or nineteen then but we needed the game for food and also make a bob or two as i had a young wife and child to keep. I have had locals say was i scarred yes i suppose i was but i loved every minute of it. and as i have said before i was jack the lad and would always leave my calling card and leave a brace tied to the gate for the farmer or keeper it was a way of saying thank you i have had your birds. It was the same with my fishing i would be out and about at night when the old keeper would be away in his bed. i always went out alone you always used common sense i liked the wind in my face i learned the signs of the woods i suppose you could call it wood craft the call of the birds and distinguish the different sounds. The woods are full of different sounds at night and can be quite frightening to people that don't know the ways of the country side. when fishing i would trot a worm or spin a minnow and would mostly catch trout around the pound but they were great eating and i had no trouble getting rid of them what i did not give away i sold i was never short of a bob or two for a pint i loved the pub i learned so much the beer would loose the tongues off even the most hardened keeper and it was surprising what you could pick up i used to say, hear all and say nowt. well that's a bit more about my early life more to come latter
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In reply to Post #667
i suppose i have been really lucky in life i had freedom to roam the country side was my oyster. there was so much to see. I learned most of my fishing on the river Rea, the onny, and the severn,. In the beginning i fished for the pot it was a necessity we did it to survive it was the late forties i would catch the wild brown trout. another fish that was excellent for eating was the perch i would float fish a minnow under the falls at halford and would catch some real nice fish i would take them home and mother would prepare and cook them they were really nice. i think most people those days would eat most fish. one fish that i found easy to catch was the eel i would put night lines in the river onny baited with big bunches of worms you would always catch one or two with the odd trout or gray ling chucked in. i would stand and watch the neighbors strip the skin off the eel cut up into steaks then batter and fry it was lovely eating i caught hundreds using night lines. the rivers were heavily keepers in those days and if you were caught it was a very serous offence and most ended up in court or if using rod and line it would be confiscated i soon learned i found the best time to be out was arround about 4 in the morning as the baliff would be still in bed or late evening as the baliff and keepers would be at the pub it was a great life. i was only a youngster when as i have mentioned before i met old sam the keeper he taught me many things how to read the tracks of the different animals and the different warning noises the birds would make if someone was in the woods or a predetor was about. He also liked a bit of poaching him self and was not past catching a trout or two and at times took me with him they say a poacher makes a good keeper and i think that statment is right it takes one to catch one. so i had a really happy child hood poaching the streams and estates in my county of shropshire. i would play trunt from school just to fish i lived and breathed fishing it was my life ,which i have met many freinds and a few really old charictors but most are now gone and i am now the oldie who now has all the memories from all those years ago more latter
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In reply to Post #666
I think its a real shame the younger generation know nothing about our heritage the likes of walker, Hilton, Pete Thomas, Fred j . and many more some one asked me the other day who dick walker was i was amazed he had no knowledge of the said anglers. Maybe its because am getting old and living in the past. .But i do no one thing the youngsters of today have got it easy and that's not knocking any one. If you have the money you can by the very best of tackle and be an instant angler over night this does not apply to every youngster as there are some good anglers out there. Come on you oldies there a few out there we had nothing we learned the hard way we learned water craft made our own tackle but it was enjoyable all part of the excitement would this work or would it not altering it till it did. They were hard times but good We watched the lake for weeks before the season started watching for some movement or rolling fish finding patrol routes going out in a boat checking the depth most of this was done at first light you would over a period of time build a picture up it would all be put on paper also another point worth a mention was which way the prevailing wind blew by the time the season started we would have a fair idea where the fish were it was all part of the magic of fishing. maybe there is no place for water craft today as some learn by watching others fish. I personally think it a real shame as in my day you would not have caught without it and it was all part of the fun of fishing . there are some great oldies on here great carp anglers. i will ask a question to you all are we to old for the younger generation do they care how we started or interested i fear they do not a shame really. as you and the likes of walker and co are the real pioners of our great hobby. well a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #665
Well i went barbel fishing yesterday down the avenue in shrews bury what a disaster there was about ten anglers when i got there no one had caught the river was so clear no colour at all its really a waste of time fishing it until we have some rain. To cut a story short i tripped and fell over landing on my belly and catching my head in the gravel it really shook me up i found it difficult to get up and it was a good job my mate graham was with me or i may of been lying there for some time before some one spotted me. when i eventually got home i was in a right state could hardly walk and today has been murder i have been hurting all over it really has stirred my arthritis up and i suspect it will take a few days to get over it. But i will still plod on i just can not leave my fishing alone it will be a sad day when i have to hang my rods up but that's the trouble with old age the mind is willing but the body's not. i can not believe the amount of streamer weed in the river its in places i have never seen it before i don't think i have seen the river so low for many years. The lakes are the same all very short of water i have been talking to a few friends who fish for the carp and they all seem to be struggling. i am an all rounder fish for carp to anything that is catch-able but this year i am really not doing the business and i really hope it improves in the autumn. as i have said we really need the rain. When i was young i would spend all my time on the bank side i would love to trot down for the roach or the dace using Castor or maggot but those big roach don't seem to be there in quantities like they used to be you could catch a dace a chuck they even seem to be in short supply also. where they have gone is any ones guess maybe polution or weather change i really dont know but the river is certainly not what it was when i was younger gone are the days of big bags of dace and roach you still catch them but not in great numbers . well thats it for now more latter
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In reply to Post #663
I was reminiscing about my early days carp fishing with a good friend. i suppose i started carp fishing at at very early age i think i was no more than 10- or 12 years old i would go and watch the anglers on a couple of pools, not far from my house, they never really caught that much but after watching the carp in the weed beds i decided i was going to catch some of those fish. there was a lake about four miles from my home it was strictly private and full of carp. So i poached this lovely old estate lake. My tackle was very limited as i have mentioned before the old tank aerial rods some old wooden reels big old black eel hooks and silk line the nylon line had arrived on the market but living where i did you could not acquire it. i always remember the first carp from that old lake i would strap my rods to the cross bar of my bike small bag on my back and i would be away i would hide my bike in the undergrowth and push my way through the tangle of bushes till i reached the waters edge. i would use bread flake under a peacock quill and i was quite successful but i caught no carp only big Rudd and roach but the Rudd were monsters going two pounds or more. the lake had been neglected and was mainly used for duck shooting in the winter by the gentry it was also heavily keeper so i was always on the alert and ready to run if i was spotted. i watched those carp in the weed beds they looked massive to a young lad like myself and it was only by accident that i realized they liked floating bread. i had been feeding the ducks when there was an almighty splash and the bread had gone. so it was on with a piece of crust pulling coils of my reel i gave it the big heave ho and away into the weed bed it went i missed so many takes the first time i used this method they would suck it in and away to go i would strike but felt nothing. But after a time i did manage to connect the first fish i had from there was around eight pounds i had no landing net and had to wade into the water i got it onto the bank what a fish to me it was huge. my father came and took some photos with one of the old fashion cameras i had so many carp from that lake loads around 4 pounds but the biggest weighted over ten pounds a big fish for those years but being a youngster you don't realize the significance of a fish of that size they were all commons ,and in really good nick i fished that lake for years and never got caught. i, also had a few duck from there i would wait for the gentry to shoot and would mark the birds down pick them before they even got the dogs hunting for them. i would usually take around four and would be away it was a nice change from rabbit and such i would give a couple to the neighbors they would be over the moon as meat was quite expensive and most did not earn the money . well that's a bit more about my life more latter
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In reply to Post #663
I was reminiscing about my early days carp fishing with a good friend. i suppose i started carp fishing at at very early age i think i was no more than 10- or 12 years old i would go and watch the anglers on a couple of pools, not far from my house, they never really caught that much but after watching the carp in the weed beds i decided i was going to catch some of those fish. there was a lake about four miles from my home it was strictly private and full of carp. So i poached this lovely old estate lake. My tackle was very limited as i have mentioned before the old tank aerial rods some old wooden reels big old black eel hooks and silk line the nylon line had arrived on the market but living where i did you could not acquire it. i always remember the first carp from that old lake i would strap my rods to the cross bar of my bike small bag on my back and i would be away i would hide my bike in the undergrowth and push my way through the tangle of bushes till i reached the waters edge. i would use bread flake under a peacock quill and i was quite successful but i caught no carp only big Rudd and roach but the Rudd were monsters going two pounds or more. the lake had been neglected and was mainly used for duck shooting in the winter by the gentry it was also heavily keeper so i was always on the alert and ready to run if i was spotted. i watched those carp in the weed beds they looked massive to a young lad like myself and it was only by accident that i realized they liked floating bread. i had been feeding the ducks when there was an almighty splash and the bread had gone. so it was on with a piece of crust pulling coils of my reel i gave it the big heave ho and away into the weed bed it went i missed so many takes the first time i used this method they would suck it in and away to go i would strike but felt nothing. But after a time i did manage to connect the first fish i had from there was around eight pounds i had no landing net and had to wade into the water i got it onto the bank what a fish to me it was huge. my father came and took some photos with one of the old fashion cameras i had so many carp from that lake loads around 4 pounds but the biggest weighted over ten pounds a big fish for those years but being a youngster you don't realize the significance of a fish of that size they were all commons ,and in really good nick i fished that lake for years and never got caught. i, also had a few duck from there i would wait for the gentry to shoot and would mark the birds down pick them before they even got the dogs hunting for them. i would usually take around four and would be away it was a nice change from rabbit and such i would give a couple to the neighbors they would be over the moon as meat was quite expensive and most did not earn the money . well that's a bit more about my life more latter
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In reply to Post #662
When i poached i was always on the look out for the keeper or water bailiff. When out at night it was always a lonely vigil i did not like company i was responsible for my self and no one else. you soon got used to the night noises the dog fox calling his mate and the vixen answering with a shriek which can freeze the blood of some that are not used to the countryside. the whistle of the otter is another noise but one of the nicest noises i have heard and that was at Ellesmere while fishing was a nightingale it sang all night, Two hedge hogs fighting you could really compare it to some one fatally wounded and dying it can be a bit off putting. I really liked the woods and hedge rows and at certain times of the year you could really learn a lot about the wild life that lived there the different tracks that the animals and birds make in the snow but not really the time to be out poaching as you leave your tracks and the keeper knows you have been about. some things i soon learned was if you found a dead rabbit with a small puncture mark in its neck it indicates that it was done by a stoat, i always listened for warning sounds from other birds or animals the blackbird striking usually tells you that there is about a fox or a feathered foe about. I am sure the keeper had better sight than the average man especially at night as he was used to working in the dark. i don't think it is as bad today as it was when i was young if caught poaching when i was young you really went through the mill it was a very serious offence i was very lucky and never did get caught but i did get chased on a good many occasions but i knew the woods the, lanes, and ditches, and got away with it old sgt landers knew it was me but could never prove it so i have some happy memories from all those years ago i could not do it now because of my health i cant run and game pheasants and such are now two a penny you can buy it from the local super markets. well that's it for now more latter. i have been asked if i am writing a book i suppose i am about the fishing and my early life and how we survived it is being looked at by friends on this forum if it comes to anything the first copy will be donated to this forum thanks for reading my ramblings Pete
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In reply to Post #661
I Was talking to a friend the other day about our child hood and i said to him the most evocative memory of my child hood in Shropshire was the freedom to wander fishing, swimming in the brook, searching for wild flowers, birds nesting, my life was spent in the fresh air and it was without care, and without fear, but you were kept an eye and any misbehavior could result in a visit from the local bobby who would soon give you a clip behind the ear or a kick up the bum and would also tell your father and you may get another from him but i came from a very loving family and that rarely happened. i spent all my spare time when i was younger fishing, or birds nesting, i had a marvelous collection of eggs. you would go out in the morning and your parents would not see you again till the evening they trusted you and knew you would come to no harm. I soon learned the ways of the country side i used to love the harvest time as they cut the corn the rabbits ran out us young lads used to chase them we all had sticks, and would give the rabbit a good clout every one you killed you would put a notch on your stick. If you were lucky you would be given a couple at the end of the day. the farmer would keep the rest and sell them at market which would help his income as it was very hard in those days. Not me as i have said before i would hide a few in the hedge or ditch and collect them latter that evening it kept us in meat and our neighbors for most of the week. I would be off down the brook i would tie a spoon to a long stick and get the moorhens eggs and take them home to mother nothing was wasted It was a time of poverty low wages but most people in the war years and after kept a pig pig killing day was a great day not for the pig thought he would have his throat cut, you would be up early that day and would help to heat the water as soon as the pig was killed his liver was taken out i had to take it on a tray to the neighbors. we would have big blocks of salt which was used to cure the bacon hams they would then hang on hooks in the house to cure The hams would go black over a time mainly caused by the fire in the grate. i soon learned the art of poaching and had become quite a good shot with the catapult it was easy to shoot a couple of rabbits or a couple of pheasants, The estates and woods were full of pheasants reared for the gentry to shoot i would go and watch on a shoot day and stay out of sight i have had many of laughs watching the keeper looking for a pheasant that had been shot he would never find it as i had already got it i suppose it was stealing i had loads like that but they never really missed them as they shot hundreds in those days. But it helped us to live and our neighbors. well that's a bit more about my child hood and how we lived more latter
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In reply to Post #660
when i was a youngster and when i had a young family i poached the streams and woods to live. one particular estate had a large lake and the owner stocked it full with trout i used to watch the gentry fly fish the place and they never knew was there. i was determined to have some of those trout away and gave it quite a lot of thought how i was going to do it as it was quite heavily keeper ed. we needed the fish for food i would not take to many just enough for the family. I would leave home in the early hours one or two in the morning taking a rod and reel loaded with six pounds line i would use a size eight hook with two or three little red worms at arriving on the lake i would cast out cut the line and peg it down then cover it with earth marking every spot by bending a twig or leaving a marker only i would know. i would be back the following night and really caught some good fish trout up to round three pounds and i was never discovered but i became to greedy and the owners must of realized his stock was disappearing. On this one night i set out and on arriving at the lake started to pull my lines in when there was a shout somewhere behind me it was the keeper well not one but two or three it was a very black night the police were present as they blew there whisle. i was away i can tell you up through the woods i went i could hear the sound of dogs behind me i really thought i was going to be caught. I ran down into this valley and found a small stream it was only about a foot deep still in the woods i ran through this water for what seemed forever and i could still hear them shouting far behind me in the woods. well the stream eventually ran into this brook i was in the book further down was an old road bridge i managed to get under the bridge and there i stayed for quite some time and waited and waited and i must admit i was shivering more than a bit. I eventually got onto the road and got my bearings i was about four miles from my home i cut across the fields and eventually made it home i was exhausted but i got a real thrill out of the chase it was all in the local paper how poachers had cleared the trout from this local estate this made me chuckle as it was only me. when mother died last year i found that piece in the paper about the poaching she had kept it all those years i never did fish that lake again not for many years but have had many laughs over it since especially when fishing it for the carp it now has in it. well that's a bit more about my younger days and its all true we poached to survive it was a necessity this was another story i had forgotten about there is a few more yet that will come to mind i am sure but it was my life and this is how myself and my family lived well a bit more latter
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Stickies