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Old school angling pt2.
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petethecrip

Posts: 2831

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#343 16 Jul 2012 at 11.31am

In reply to Post #342
Over The years i have had some very good friends who have gone out of there way to help me to get to the water i was rather crippled and could not push a barrow with my tackle on it i was waiting for operations to straighten my leg and for two new knee joints plus hip joints so without these good friends i would never have been able to fish mike was one such friends and graham and many more although mike does not fish any more we had some great times fishing for the carp,and barbel,together. we would fish for the barbel,at least two or even three times ,a week and we have had some great sessions we mostly fished on the monk moor stretch parking our cars in the park then walking over the field the river it was only about five hundred yards away but i really struggled once i got set up i was ok we caught some wonderful fish from this stretch, it was nothing to catch twenty barbel,in a few hours we always fished from five pm until one in the morning then pack for home.A young lad came with us mikes son jack and young Andy who lived on my village they were both good anglers and could hold their own against most others.i can remember one, night they were both fishing above and had been catching one or two to around eight pounds i still laugh about this episode to this day as i say i was further down the river with mike and we were having a good session when i heard a shout from the youngsters jack came running down the field Pete dad he was shouting god whats up now mike, said,there's a monster, on the bank the other side right opposite our swim he is looking at us over the fence says jack he ducked down and is coming towards you he was seriously frightened so i wound in my rods and went for a look Andy was still in the swim whats up Andy blood.. monster he said where over there by this time i was falling about laughing he is big Pete his got big shinning eyes he must be over six ft height we shot some boiles at him with the catapult and he moved out of sight he looked as if he was going your way carry on fishing and take no notice i said no way said jack what if he crosses the river they would not stop and came down to us i told mike what had happened he started laughing i knew what they had seen it was a donkey sanctuary i tried to explain but the two young lads would have none of it can we go home dad he said i was still laughing so we ended up going home next morning i went back for a look it was indeed the donkeys there was five in all i took some photos to show jack and Andy but it made little difference they were convinced they had seen a monster. well a bit more latter

Another nice fish

My mate graham with a nice fish

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#342 11 Jul 2012 at 12.23pm

In reply to Post #341
I said i would tell you about the barbel fishing on the Severn it is a form of fishing i love there is nothing nicer than hooking a big old fish in the darkness i always fish with two rods at night and i have on occasionally had two on at once and have had to hand the one rod to my mate i think the best i have ever did was 35 fish in one morning which included three doubles one twelve pounds four oz one eleven pounds plus and one a ten pound four oz the rest were between eight and nine pounds that was around six years ago they were all caught on halibut pellet, it was a wonderful mornings fishing the excitement of it all will remain with me forever In the last few years barbel fishing has altered you don't seem to get those large bags of fish like we used to its not so easy any more ,i think maybe otters and other predators have not helped we seem to put in more time trying to catch why well for a start the barbel are not a native of our rivers i can remember watching them spawning on the gravel runs the water would be black with barbel there was never a shortage of young coming through but not any more with the arrival of the goosander and the merganser and the cormorants they have practically wiped out the younger fish we have watched the goosanders fishing i have seen as many as thirty birds all in a row across the river diving and hunting any small fish stand no chance these birds have altered the ecology of our rivers its a big shame but things have started to change and the match anglers are starting to get better bags of fish on the lower Severn But all is not lost if you are prepared to put the time in you will catch the larger specimens i have a friend who i have mentioned before his name is Rodger and he is a bailiff for the Shropshire federation he has done very well and i catches constantly why you may say its because he experiments and uses different methods he still uses pellet on occasions, but i think most of his big fish have fallen to big pieces of luncheon meat fished on a hair using a big hooks, or even cheese paste, he has been very successful using big bunches of maggot straight on the hook with no hair he has caught numerous doubles throughout the winter by altering his bait he also fishes the river bank when the water is in flood bank height using four oz leads to hold bottom i think the biggest fish has been eleven pounds plus a very nice fish he emailed me this week telling me he has caught another two over ten pound all i can say is well done m8 you deserve them. well that's it for now more latter.

A big barbel

Another big one

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#341 7 Jul 2012 at 3.09pm

In reply to Post #340
Well i have been away for a week on holiday if you can call it that it rained for 100 hours one stop and did it thunder, the lightning, was quite frighting, when i came to come home yesterday all the main roads were flooded if i didn't have my 4-4 i certainly wouldn't have got home, at times the water was up to the top of the front wheels but she chugged through no problem at one point the water was rushing over the top of a bridge not under it and flooding all the houses all the cars were parked up and would not try to get across a chap asked me whether i was going to give it a go, i watched as a lorry managed to get over and it didn't seem that deep so i gave it my all and got across i looked in my mirror and saw they were all following me great but i was glad-to get home a trip that usually takes me two hours took five hours and was quite frightening at times

The water teaming down the mountain side in wales
The bird life has crossed my mind how on earth do they manage in terrible weather like we have had where do they get the insects and such to feed there young i watched a pair of blue tits that were feeding there young in a hole in a dry stone wall it was not far from my caravan we watched as they were in and out feeding the youngsters where they got that food from i could not guess as it was raining quite hard but i did manage to see she was feeding caterpillars ,so she must have been getting them from the farmers garden, he was growing cabbages they came back and forwards all day very frequently from the direction of the big garden always with two or three caterpillars in her or his beak this went on from first light until dark how they keep that up as they are so small, they certainly must use lots of energy . As far as fishing i never got out to give it ago what with the high wind and rain i was talking to one old chap he must have been in his eighties he had fished that part of the coast for years he had given it a go most days and had managed a few mackerel but he said it was very hard and most anglers were struggling to catch the amount of sea weed coming in with the tide you would be pulling loads in no it was not for me some of the chaps on our site own boats they had not been out for some time due to the weather they also run one or two diving clubs from the caravan site my son is a member and owns a diving boat but they have not been able to dive for some time as its been to ruff and to much sediment in the water making it impossible to see . i will write a bit more latter on the barbel fishing on the river Severn my mate Rodger the bailiff has been doing very well catching some big double figure fish. more to come

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#340 1 Jul 2012 at 11.27am

In reply to Post #339
Have you ever stood in a wood or big forest and listened to the wild life i used to love it i would stand for hours listening to the Tawney, owl or the shriek of the barn owl, as he hunts the distant field he glides like a white ghost feeding on small mammals voles or field mice but he will eat bigger prey rats and birds such as thrushes black birds and finches he is a most beautiful bird he is one of he special protected species at one time he was quite common especially when i was a youngster but the use of pesticides really reduced population the farmers are now leaving bits of land growing grass especially by the side of water courses field edges and such encouraging the barn owl to hunt and breed not just the owl but other species like the grey partridge which has certainly gone down hill we have one big covey on our land which are never shot at we are encouraging them to breed at one time there was only four birds there are at least thirty now so they are maniging quite well.

Over the years i have been very keen on the woods and its wild life i have watched a young osprey many time hunting on the big lake we quite often we get one resting as he flies up to wales or speyside but they now also breed in the lake district, i have watched them take roach and such may i dare say they will take carp, as well i have loved nature, fishing is part of the scene its not all fishing its what you see when you are there a friend of mine while fishing for carp had a steady run struck and landed a big terrapin he weighed in at over four pounds in weight we mentioned it to the owner he said they had vanished out of a big pool in his garden approx eight years ago So it did quite well to survive our bad weather in the winter, he asked what we had done with it we told him we had got it in a big net so he had it back he said four in all had disappeared from the pool well it was a boys school maybe they had something to do with them vanishing infact three weeks latter another was caught the weight was five pound plus none have been caught since so i wonder if they are still in the water

The wood are so full of wild life we have the badgers old foxy what can i say about that great gentleman in his beautiful rustic coat i have loved him so much over the years the country side would be a sad place without him he can be a be a bit of a devil at times taking the farmers stock but that mostly happens when the vixen has cubs when she has a number of mouths to feed it is part of nature but they can a do become a nuisance when the lambing starts in hill country they can and do kill young lambs then the farmer wants them dealing with. well thats it for now bit more latter.

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#339 25 Jun 2012 at 5.46pm

In reply to Post #338
The wind ripped through the reed fringed lake we stood and listened but all we could hear were the distance sound of geese who were resting on this old mere, the rain started it stung our faces the only shelter we had was our umbrellas i had cast out the rods baited with bread flake tipped with maggot it was a double swim so myself and graham were fishing together we lay down on the old garden bed chairs the wind howled as we pulled our umbrellas down and covered our selves with a blanket to keep the warmth in. It started to thunder and the lightning streaked across the dark sky it was so bad that at times you could see the geese on the water the far side of the mere i was dry that was the most important thing i lit my pipe and watched the rain hitting the water what a night to be out as i watched the bread bobbin that was pinched on the line for my indicator, up popped a small head and took the indicator from my line it was a small water vole i clipped another piece on my line the same thing happened again with in seconds, he was certainly enjoying his free meal and keeping us entertained at the same time he took it another twice before giving up i watched as he scuttled away into the undergrowth maybe to his nest below ground.

How we fished years ago ping pong ball for indercators a old type alarm

One of the old lakes we fished years ago

As i watched the indicators i saw grahams rise then hit his butt ring he was on it instantly he played the fish with caution not wanting to loose it on the many snags in this swim i slipped the net under the fish and lifted it out as we looked into the net the fish looked quite big it was a nice bream and on weighting him he went eight pounds exactly not a bad start considering the weather,we carried on regards of the rain and the next fish was mine not huge but just over seven pounds we had fished this old mere many times it was very hard fishing and to the locals it was named heart break pool, it took us some time to get to grips with this water but we did and were now catching consistently the next fish that came was a big Rudd on grahams rod after unhooking him he weighed in at three pounds a very good fish he went into the big keep net with the other two bream we were now getting a fish a cast we would both would have one on at the same time, i think the biggest for the night was nine pounds plus thinking back the year was about 1972 these were good fish for that era when morning broke and we lifted the the keep net we had over one hundred and fifty pounds between us most fish were between seven and nine pounds plus not a bad night, infact next day i rang Dennis Kelly to tell him our news he said angling times were quite keep to do a article on the place but that would have to wait until i secured the lease this is the story of a night many years ago its how we coped and struggled to catch we never had any fancy tackle most we made our selves but we enjoyed our fishing as much then as we do today. well a little bit more latter pete

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#338 20 Jun 2012 at 10.27am

In reply to Post #337
Some of the best times i have had was fishing with my two close mates Bern and Graham we have fished all over the place even crossing the border into wales, we have certainly had a few laughs Bern is also a member of my shooting syndicate although he has not been well over the last few years he still manages to come. we have also done our fair share of rabbiting together using ferrets no nets all rabbits, were shot as they bolted for cover i can honestly call Bern a very good mate and i have been very lucky to have met him i suppose graham and Bern have been my constant companions over the years.

It was Bern that came with me when i watched foxes in fact he is very good with nature we have spent hours together photographing the young cubs, in the winter you would see the three of us going pigeon shooting he was no mean shot and an excellent angler not only carp but other fish as well we fished Acton Burnell together and Bern caught the first thirty to be landed from that water a big old mirror carp, i have spent quite a number of nights together fishing for eels, he certainly caught a few of those i think he had them over six pounds he will correct me if i am wrong as he has been reading my thread and thanked me for including him in my stories, we spent many nights fishing betton at shrewsbury which is now a syndicate this is the mere where we met Bern for the first time he was fishing in the company of his father aubrey, and he brother charlie, they had put in many hours fishing betton his father was a very good angler and taught his two sons well, in those days the mere was full of Bream, not huge but they made good fishing it was not unusual to catch a hundred pounds in a night we had no bed chairs as such only the old garden loungers they were not that comfortable i fell through one or two over the years the material would rip and you would end up on the ground but we managed.

A nice tench from bomere

I took the Lease on at bomere and aubury and bern and charlie joined us in the syndicate, i fact i know Bern had the first big carp out of bomere as i was with him i had spotted the carp feeding a few weeks before and started to bait up for them the first night we fished together in what we called the bailiffs swim he caught a twenty seven pound mirror it was a lovely specimen i did have a photo some where, that really put that water on the map it soon got out and every one wanted to fish the place it was not long before another syndicate had the water a number of the members i already knew one such man was Ellis Brazier and Alex Perrine they became quite well known over the years writing and fishing for angling magazines, they were both excellent anglers in fact i photographed the first thirty Ellis caught from bomere i was asked by the owners if i would become the bailiff and that is what i did it was not a very easy job at times but i had free fishing it cost me nothing and know one but myself Graham and Bern could fish baliffs it was our swim , althought i could fish anywhere on the lake, you could aproach to the lake many ways and i caught my fair share of poachers, most never relized the place was now private it caused a bit of anger from some of the locals as some had fished it for a number of years and now they could not i could understand there feelings but that is how things were in those days. Well off to the docs now a bit more latter

One of the first carp i caught from bomere

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#337 16 Jun 2012 at 2.05pm

In reply to Post #336
As we walked down The bank the wind ripped through the tree tops making them sway from side to side i really wondered how we would get on fishing this old lake in this sort of weather, we had a look around then fetched the cars unloaded the gear then took the cars back up to the car park, we soon had the bivvies up and made our selves comfortable it started to rain, quite heavy the wind blew you could hear the occasional creek from the trees that towered above us we got the rods out i looked at my watch it said ten pm so we retired to our bivvies and into our bags we got. My friend was in the swim next to me and he was a bit worried about the trees that surrounded the swims, what a night i was just falling asleep when i was awakened by a splintering crash, it sounded quite far away i had a look out side but could see nothing my friend must be asleep so it was back into the bag i was awakened in the early hours my alarm was going mental when i got out of the bivvy, the tip of the rod was pulled into an ark all i did was pick the rod up no need to strike he was on i played him to the side he came in covered in weed the water felt quite warm , I unhooked him and shouted to my friend to do the honours photos done we put him back not huge fish only fifteen pounds, but from this lake it was a feather in my hat as no one had caught for some time it was a very hard water once again it was back to our bags i was awakened by a rumble of thunder it was right over head then a blinding flash of lightning it showed the inside of my bivvy up talk about being frightened my friend mike flew out of his bivvy what was that Pete lighting mate it hit something behind us in the wood did you hear it coming down i must admit i did not Christ should we pack up he said not until day break lets see what its like then we agreed so it was into the bag once again.

One of the carp from the old pool

one of the eels from this old lake

I fell asleep to the sound of the wind and thunder i was awakened by mike with a big plate of eggs and bacon what a night he said have you been out side no i said have a look when i did i was met by a sight of devastation there were branches down and two trees behind us the one tree had been hit by lighting it was streaked black from it burning the wind had now dropped so we decided to stay and fish one more night it was still raining but not so hard there was some unbelievable perch in this old lake my friend was going to try for these using bunches of red worm on lighter rods i put one extra rod out three for carp and one for perch my friend was soon in by evening, he had caught some beautiful specimens most over two pounds next it was the eels, i don't know how many we actually caught but it was into double figures the biggest around five pounds i did manage another carp but it was only small but at least it was a carp from a very hard water we packed up next day we were both were pleased to get home after all the rain and wind but we would be back to fish this old lake some other day. a bit more latter

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#336 11 Jun 2012 at 1.45pm

In reply to Post #335
I managed to get down the river Rea, the other day i can not walk any distance so i took my 4x4 down it was nice to see places i fished all those years ago but alas most are now over grown,, i saw some nice big chub so they are still in the little river i hear the river had been stocked with salmon , Parr very interesting i wonder how many will return to spawn in the upper reaches of this old river, it is nothing new there was a few salmon going up the river when i was a very young lad i caught two myself and i was not even fishing for them i was fishing for the chub which i had caught to over four pounds in weight. Did i put the salmon back no way i was up the road smartish they were not big around eight or nine pounds but in those days we all struggled to survive so the fish were an addition to our diet i can remember my mother cooking them even our next door neighbour had a portion that must of been about 1956 or near as dammit. I was Really pleased to see a pair of king fishers, i wondered if they had got there nest under the old river bridge, there was a hole going into the brick work and you could see them going in an out to catch minnows, to feed there chicks, in fact years before when i was a youngster i fell trying to clime a rope, to reach the nest and broke my arm infact the rope broke and down i went onto the rocks below.

The old river bridge looking down stream

Another shot looking upstream the king fishers had there nest under this old bridge

Not to far from the river just over the fields was a small lake i don't think its there today as it has dried up i used to poach the place it was mainly used as a duck shoot i would catch carp not big around four or five pounds i had to watch no one caught me but i got away with it and fished the place for a few weeks, the best session i had was to catch ten carp they were all in good nick but all around the same size. This one Saturday i left my rods at home i was determined to see how many duck the syndicate would shoot, the syndicate was made up of mostly farmers they were a bit more down to earth than some of the posh people i had seen on other shoots the lake was covered in mallard, in fact hundreds they would stand the guns around the side of the lake out of sight then drive the duck over the waiting guns some of these farmers could shoot and i saw some excellent right and lefts taken if i remember right, from my vantage point up a big oak tree there was over one hundred shot they did not pick them all i had four big fat birds before the keepers could pick them i would stay up that tree until they moved on to the next stand which would be for the pheasants i never went any further with the shoot, there was not much cover for me to hide they would shoot the the kale and beet fields i believe they had some good days shooting in excess of two hundred birds infact not long after i was asked if i would like to beat for this syndicate we got paid at the end of the day i cant remember how much, you also came home with a brace of pheasents and a couple of mallard which was not that bad. well a bit more latter

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#335 7 Jun 2012 at 10.34am

In reply to Post #334
Is it going to stop raining the birds will really struggle to feed there young in this weather the robins in my garden have reared one lot of chicks now they are starting again i watched from my car as three magpies fought over a female in my garden yesterday i had the drivers door open and they nearly ended up in the car talk about scrape i was a bit cheesed of as i had not got my camera in the car, a pair of gold finches have nested in the pine tree beautiful little birds i have also spotted a pair of gold crest wrens i am sure my foxes have returned although i have not seen them the grass has been rolled flat from play a good sign they are around when this weather abates a bit i will put a night camera out and see what it picks up.

My fishing partner graham does not like fishing in this sort of weather i don't mind at all as i have caught lots of fish, in the rain and wind mind you he is seventy six and as you get older it certainly effects your bodies you have pains all over so we now have to choose our days god thinking back we fished in all weather when we were young i am, afraid now the mind is willing but the bodies not. When i poached the pheasants, and fished the trout, streams i would go in all weather nothing nicer than trundling a red worm, down a stream on a wet and windy night i liked a bit of colour in the water i would catch one after the other usually the keepers and bailiffs would not be out on a night like that they would be in there warm bed, but there has been times when they have been out and waiting. On arriving at the river i would stop and listen if i could smell tobacco i would not chance fishing that part of the stream old Mr Bell the keeper, was a crafty old bugger and was really a very good keeper, and he never missed much he chased me on a number of occasions he always called, the police Sgt from my village who would turn up with two other constables, he chased me this one day i had been fishing at Bomere there must have been at lest ten of them i thought i would be caught they tried to head me off with there land rover i only had one option open to me i dived into a ditch, good job it was dry i then covered my self up and i could not believe what happened next they stopped by the old railway bridge right where i was hiding i listened to them discussing me i heard Sgt landers say he would check my home latter in the day and to top it all two big springer , actually stood on top of me while i was lying in then ditch i was dying to laugh but i dare not. Eventually i heard bell say to old Gerry we will have to get back to the shoot or sir will not be happy and away they all went i gave them a good half hour before i got out of the ditch i made for home before we had a visit form old Sgt landers, they were good days i loved to be out at night doing a bit of poaching i loved the chase it was me against the keepers and police i would get a big rush of adrenaline i suppose i was lucky i never ever got caught it was away of life and a necessity so our family and neighbours could live. well a little more latter

Me truly a few years back out looking for foxes

The old stream where bell was keeper it was looked after in those days not any more

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

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#334 4 Jun 2012 at 12.26pm

In reply to Post #333
When i was sixteen i got my first gun licence, i had only got a webley four ten i walked miles with that gun under my arm i am afraid i did more poaching even in the day time, any thing was fair game partridge, pheasants, rabbits, you name it i shot it most of the land was used for shooting and was strictly private but it made no difference i would be away with a lad called John ledington we would literally walk miles the other mate was a man called dick blent god he could shoot but he was not that fussy how he shot , he would see a covey of partridge, and if he had the chance he would shoot them on the ground i saw him do this one day and he had sixteen from a big covey not very sporting but things were different in those days we shot for food as things were still very hard, i was talking to dick one day he said i know a good pool we can fish Pete so i made arrangement to meet up and have a go it was lovely place not big only about two acres it was just on the border of a big wood i was float fishing and used worm my first bite produced a three pound trout then another Dick did not know it was a trout, pool, we had managed to catch another five when there was a shout get off my property this is a private lake, bloody hell we ran into the joining wood i really did not think we stood a chance he had keepers with him and the police have you ever tried running with a bag and a rod its impossible through a big wood, i broke the rod down and stuffed it into this big hole which looked like badger set and hid my bag up a big old fir tree, i could hear the police blowing there whistle in the distance. We came out of the wood onto the field there was a farm, we both made for the big hay stack both of us climbed up and hid under the hay i did not know this area to well but dick had been here before we could hear shouting and the whistle blowing i was itching like mad caused from running through nettles and the thick under growth. We stayed there lying very still we could hear them getting closer eventually they stood below were we were hidden talking to the farmer have you seen anyone john nobody was his reply they must have made for the railway line said the keeper.

After saying good by to the farmer they moved away to look else where we were very startled to hear the farmer say you can come down now god he knew we were hiding in his hay stack we crawled out and came face to face with this farmer who had a big grin across his face i seen e getting up there, i wont tell on e he said in broad Shropshire's i don't like that owd keeper he thinks he owns every thing, whats e been getting up to he said poaching his pool it be full of them trout he said yes we have hidden some in our bag and left them in the wood i would leave them where they be until it quietens down a bit after talking for some time he says to me your beryls lad, yes i said how do you know that i knew your grandad very well he said and your mother we were big friends years ago i suppose we were only five or six miles from home but i was not to familiar with the surrounding land we said our good byes come and see me again youngan i will sir, and remind me to your mum he shouted, i will we picked our trout and rods up and eventualy got home it was not the last time i fished that pool i caught some terrific perch from there over the years plus a few of the trout. more latter

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

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#333 1 Jun 2012 at 1.39pm

In reply to Post #332
The wind was bitter as i made my way to the big wood i knew the keeper would be asleep at this unearthly hour i was out after a few pheasants, i , hid my bike under the river bridge and made my way to the big wood as i came to the fence that surrounded the wood i stopped listened a vixen screamed deep within the wood what a blood curdling scream she made it was answered by a sharp bark she would be in season and the dog was not to far away there would be cubs again some time in february. The keepers cottage stood at the end of this big wood he certainly would not be pleased to have a fox, in his coverts i made my way forward to the main feed ride all was quite i shone the torch up into the trees picked out a big cock pheasent, and squeezed the trigger down he came in a ball of feathers i repeat it until i had ten birds i would move on to the far wood i came out of the wood onto the field the moon, had come out the clouds raced across the sky making dancing shadows on the fields not a good night to be out but needs must. I kept to the side of the big field making sure i would not be seen i came to the fence and over i got i made my way to the big birch and sat with my back to this old tree i had done this many times before i knew these woods well i froze as three deer, passed me by they never even saw me sitting there i ate my sandwiches and drank from the bottle it was cold tea, i could hear no noise i caught the scent of pipe smoke, it drifted on the wind who was about at this time it was one in the morning i wondered if old Bell was about he was a willy old bugger and never missed much why was he not in bed, i got up and walked further into the wood i shot two more birds and put them in my bag the next thing i heard was bang bang and pellets rained down on me from above come on out of there your surrounded he shouted it was old Bell and the police, i made my way to the river bank it was not to deep into the water i got and hid under the branches and undergrowth ,on the far bank i had scrambled out of the water and there i lay i covered my self up the best way i could i could hear the keepers talking on the far side the one voice i knew really well it was old Sgt landers, do you know who it was frank no bob but he has had a few birds i wondered if it was that little bugger from bayston hill again i had a job not to laugh i hope they don't find my bike it was on my mind i stayed where i was for another hour the keepers moved on down stream they would find nowt going that way.

The river i crossed to get away

PART OF BELLS WOODS
I eventually made my way through the grounds of the condover hall it was a blind school i crossed the waterfall and made my way to the bridge where i had hid my bike i arrived Rather out of breath i could not use the main road to get home so it was the fields i made my way to Joneses farm and climbed the fence onto the railway line walked the side of the track over the fence into the field known as the foxes it was on the border of my village i passed the pub and made my way up the big field known as the stocking it would take me to the back garden of my house i was sweating but relieved to reach to reach home i counted the birds twelve well worth the effort i hung them in the shed we had a visitor next morning it was the police where was i last night in bed said i, he exepted what i said i turned to go into the house with a big grin on my face this was not the first or the last time he called here but he never proved a thing well thats another tale from my life long ago. more latter

looking across the plough to Bells wood

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

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#332 28 May 2012 at 4.14pm

In reply to Post #331
My life has been one big merry go round fishing, shooting, poaching, i have done it all and i have no regrets i have poached the hedge rows for the hubble rabbit, i have used the long nets and have poached the lakes, and rivers, there are not many of us left to tell the tale, most have now all gone even the keepers from my poaching days are now all dead none left to tell there tale. As i walk the woods and stand by the big old oak i listen i can still hear the old cock bird call from somewhere deep inside the wood i watch the buzzard high above circling on the terminal i can just see him from where i stand through the canopy of the old oak trees, i have stood under this tree many times how old it is i can only guess it does not seem to have changed since my poaching days i listen but no keepers dog can i hear they have long gone the kennels, where they were pulled down the keepers cottage now modern flats, i get a lump in my throat and nearly shed a tear when i think of how things were its all gone the keepers slumber in the old church yard maybe there ghosts still haunt the wooded rides and del

The woods i poached

the wood behind the keepers cottage now felled

As i stand i remember things past how i waged a war against these old keepers and poached there pheasants and there ducks many a tale can i tell how i i moved silently on a winters night through those very woods where i now stand i have hidden in the ferns and watched old foxy on his travels the keepers were on his tail i could hear the beaters far away driving this old wood on and on they would come but old foxy he was not daft i watched as he stopped sniffed the air he passed me by and never knew i was there, they would not shoot him today he would get away i knew where this fox would go as i had watched him on other days he would make for the old lake and in the water go they would soon loose his scent he would make for the old ivy tree and up he would go and hide under the canopy of ivy leaves he had done this so many times before i had even watched him clime that tree, i would not tell as i should not be there.

I would poach the lakes under the keepers nose i would spin for the pike i could see his cottage from where i fished no one ever walked around the lake most locals were to afraid . The wood was full of flowers in spring the blue bells and the primrose a beautiful place to be but from october on the woods were full of pheasants for the gentry to shoot there were thousands the keeper would never miss as few or so i thought most night he would be at the local pub no one would take his pheasants, but i had a few over the years they kept us in meat and made a few bob for the back pocket i knew those woods back to front and where to hide if needs be. Old gerry chased me a few times and even fired his gun over my head i was a bit frightened i must admit i dived for cover under the old shooting range and there i stayed until all was quite he had even got sgt landers out to try and find me but they failed, i hid my gun, and birds, and fetched them latter on they were great days so full of fun but now i have only my memories of those days long ago. more a little latter

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#331 25 May 2012 at 10.47am

In reply to Post #330
God where has the time gone i have reached a mile stone in my life tomorrow i am seventy my mind is willing but my body tells me different but i am still trying to go fishing and enjoy myself looking in the corner of my garden it looks if my old vixen may have returned the grass has been rolled flat and i am now wondering if she has brought her cubs up from the fields i will have to set my night camera up and maybe get a few shots she comes most years i don't know how old the vixen is or whether it is the same one if it is she must be really getting on in age.

I used to enjoy night fishing in this hot weather god we have caught some sort of eels when its been warm and muggy in those days we had no bedchairs, or a bivy, we had the old sun loungers, they did the job but could be a bit uncomfortable we did manage to acquire umbrellas, but that is all we had to protect us from the weather but we enjoyed our fishing, when i first left school all i had to take me fishing was my bike i would cycle every where i would strap my rods to the cross bar and my bag on my back i would cycle to Acton burnell it was about six miles from my house i would be tired out by the time i got there i was lucky the keeper had got me permission to fish there but he never said anything about night fishing but i would go i never saw another soul, i would use maggot and bread flake for bait i would tuck myself in between the under growth and only used one rod three pounds line mitchell real and size twelve hook and a small arsley bomb i would cast out put my rod in two forked sticks a piece of silver paper or a piece of doe pinched on the line between reel and butt ring i used my bike torch to shine with red reflector it gave enough light to see my indicators i had managed to buy an old landing net, up the bobbin would go i would strike there was nothing nicer than feeling that fish on the other end it was usually a big tench but i caught some wonderful roach, at my young age i did not think much about size but thinking back they must have been around two pounds or more i caught some really good bags of tench from that water the estate had two keepers and they were helped out by others if needed it was covered in pheasants ,they had some really big shooting days in season, i can honestly say i never poached one bird from there as both keepers had been very good to me but just down the road from acton burnell was another lake set in the grounds of a splendid back and white manor house this lake was full of carp i was determined to fish it i was told if i got caught i would be taken to court as it was stricktly private i was told the keeper was a nasty old bugger, who would stand no messing the people from the house would come down and feed the carp most days. I would watch from afar usualy up a tree i had a few good nights on that water and poached a few pheasents as well . I will tell you more latter

Tench from acton in the seventies

Carp from acton burnell years ago

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#330 21 May 2012 at 10.20pm

In reply to Post #329

Two more little darlings

petethecrip

Posts: 2831

Honorary member

#329 21 May 2012 at 7.15pm

In reply to Post #328

Two more lovable little cubs at freds home


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