In reply to Post #954
one from whitchurch

In reply to Post #955
one from ellesmere

In reply to Post #956
my mate graham with another from ellesmere

In reply to Post #957
Well its been the last day of shooting for my syndicate, the two lakes had once again frozen over we had a few pheasants but one thing we must sort out is the foxes i don't mind seeing one about the place but we saw six today a few to many i love old foxy but you must control them the farmers will be having a go next as it will soon be lambing time the one dog fox i saw was nearly black first time i have seen one so dark he looked a majestic animal and in really good nick its a shame we have to resort to such measures but needs must before we get complaints from the farmers, i really wandered if some had been let go as we have been in that position before its not only cruel but very foolish as they cannot look after them selves or hunt like the old country fox the one that came out in front of me did not have a care in the world he was in and out of the wood just like he was used to being around humans a wild fox would catch your scent and would of been away but not this one unfortunately he was dispatched cleanly and so was a vixen having a look at the vixen she was barren not carrying cubs but i still wander if some have been caught up in the city and have been let go on our patch how many more there is i dont know as we did not shoot all of the wood and land but on what we saw this morning i would think more its strange how they have turned up with a week we have always had the odd one which i like to see, i shall over the next week be having a look around as i feel something is not quite right.
the lake frozen again

my syndicat members another year over


end of the second drive


i had an email from a friend who is a bailiff for the federation and he sent a nice picture of a roach caught at sydney avenue shrewsbury it was two pounds eleven oz a most beautiful specimen and what made it all the better was the chap that caught it has just started fishing and this was his first visit to the severn with rod and line i would be very proud if i was him its a fish of a life time most have never seen a two pounder never mind a bigger one well done him and i wish him all the luck and i hope he contiues to fish the river i have not heard of any barbel being caught in this cold weather only a few chub but at least some are catching a bit cold for me as yet but i shall be having a go as it warms up. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #958
When we first started carp fishing seriously it was hard as some of the lakes we fished had very low stocks we had no idea how to even start this would be in the middle sixties quite often when eel fishing we would hook a big carp on lob worm as it happened most that we hooked were lost in the big weed beds lilies and such. i know one lake we used to fish in the Telford area graham and i would ledger big bunches of worms we would catch a fish a cast not big but at least they were carp we were on a learning curve and catching any carp gave us a boost of confidence. I think it was in the mid sixties or early seventies we met a man who has been a good friend ever since a lad called Bern weaver he was mad to catch eels and carp we fished together at acton burnell betton really all over Shropshire's and some times over the border into wales he was dead keen his father Aubrey always came along and his brother charlie they were out most week ends and had caught some very impressive eels and the odd carp and some really good tench.



Bern with the first thirty from acton it weighted 33 pounds


Bern with his twenty seven pounds fish



Bern Graham and i were like the three musketeers never apart in fact Bern is a member of my shooting syndicate all three of us are now getting on a bit, but we can still remember the good times, when we fished in wales together i think in two days we caught over eighty fish the locals told us it was hard i was completely knackered from catching them we had fish to fifteen pounds, some of the nicest times together were at betton and acton burnell we would catch the tench in big numbers from acton and most fish averaged anything from five to seven pounds i well remember Bern catching a thirty three and a twenty seven pound carp on the same night i suppose that was the early seventies i think if a remember right it was the first thirty from acton but looking back she was severely spawn bound i had three the same night and i think graham had a number of tench some over seven pounds but they were great days we were still learning and were managing to catch a few.
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my self with a common from the same night


another from the same night


When i met lordy and he asked me if i would like to fish his private lake i really never looked back a few months went by and lordy asked if i would like to form a syndicate on the lake i snatched his hand off i had 14 in the syndicate and Bern was one of them we had some great times on that lake we caught chub big fish some going to seven pounds, graham caught seven in one morning, but it was the carp we wanted and managed to catch a few biggies it really changed in the eighties the Hair had arrived and i heard on the grape vine about using peanuts i would bait up often not to many at a time the fish went mad for them we absolutely slaughtered the place the other members could not believe how many we were catching or what we were using and i think to this very day they dont know. well ill tell you a bit more latter

my rods out at acton early eighties

In reply to Post #959
Another cold morning -7 the car is covered so i will get the scraper out once again one thing i have noticed the snow drops are out and the daffodil are starting to shoot a sure sign that spring is on the way a wonderful time of year the woods and hedge rows will team with new life, the vixen will soon be having her young, the foxes we saw Saturday were definitely let go, the shoot over the fields from us shot 3 and saw a few more the one had severe mange and was put out of its misery a most terrible disease and your dog or farm dogs can catch it from being in contact with animals that have it. The people that have let these foxes go think they are doing a favour for the city fox by giving him a chance to flourish in the country side but they are very foolish and do not understand the foxes way of life they do not survive very long as they can not hunt like a true fox that has been born in the English countryside, it is also very strange territory which they do not know or understand it is very cruel and irresponsible .

I think i mentioned once before about the time i was walking my dog SAM and came across this big white van with no number plate, as i approached the driver opened the back and out shot a number of foxes, he did not see me i went straight to the farm but by the time we got back the van had gone but the farmer had trouble for weeks with the foxes around the farm yard, he had one little vixen that was always trying to catch a chicken but had no idea how or what to do he eventually trapped her she was put into a bag and taken i think without having a look at my diary she was taken to the vet what happened then i don't know, but it was when hunting with hounds was legal and they were called in a good many were either shot or killed by the hounds, this should not happen.

i love the spring the new leaves start to appear on the trees and hedges the birds start to mate i love to listen to the bird song early in the morning or the black bird or thrush singing as the dark approaches, so much new life the lambs start to be born which keeps the farmers very busy, especially the hill farmers who manage to scrape a living from his sheep a most important time of year for him, the young rabbits start to appear scampering away as you approach, the lakes start to come alive, the weed beds start to revive the moorhens coots and ducks have one thing on their mind to lay there eggs a rear their brood, where ever you look you will see somthing new on most lakes that we fish still have the old close season, most are ssi, but there are a few we can fish and hopfully graham and i will be giving it a go ,as long as my health hold up. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #960
I love my fishing its a few years since i fished the big meres of Cheshire and Shropshire there was always plenty to see the big skeins of geese and rafts of duck but most of all the beauty of the place i would lie on the old garden bed chair and watch the stars far above it always made me feel so insignificant i have heard the nightingale sing watched the planes over head there was never a dull moment. i would drift off to sleep and jump with a start as the fox, barked somewhere behind i would look at the trees and wandered how many years they had stood on that spot and if they could talk what wondrous things they may have seen, some of the oaks must have been four to five hundred years old nature is so wonderful . We would catch the big bream and at times the Tench or float fish for the big roach the big meres held, we caught the eels using big bunches of lobs . i liked the big winds on the meres, it would blow in your swim and the water would foam at your feet this was the night for the bream i would watch the doe bobbin hanging on the line between the reel and but ring away it would go an inch at a time before smoothly rising to the but ring you would sweep the rod up and feel the resistance of the fish, yet another bream you played it gently to the bank into the net you would steer your prize, and gently part the net and stare in wander at the big bronze flanks, it held no weighting the fish in the dark into the giant keep net he would go you had already pegged the net out before you started, you cast again to your chosen spot and put the bobbin on, before you even get it done the other rods away another bream hits the net what away to start you night you look within the net and lying there before you eyes is a lovely sight a huge bronze bream of double figures you tremble with delight as you gently put it in the big net . You feel so tired and yet you continue until your eyes can take no more so in the with the rods, and leave them on the rests, you cover your self with a blanket and canvas and sleep the the the night away when morning breaks you weight your fish and have your photos taken a nine pounder and a ten no more could i wish so we put the tackle in the van and away home we go still tired but feeling good about the night you have had, A night in my life fishing for the big bream on colmere year 1970 a little more latter


A big bream fromk colmere 1970

In reply to Post #961
I loved the piece and quite and have fished a few places where you would never see a soul other than the farmer checking on his sheep we have caught the true old carp torpedo shaped they never grew big i think the biggest we had was just over seven pounds but god could they scrap they would lead you a merry dance before getting them to the net i fished two lakes that held these fish there was no difference between either the fish looked the same and scraped the same how or when they were stocked into these lakes i do not know i would doubt for food as the one lake was to far away from civilization the other did have the farm and a few houses doted around i asked the one farmer he said they had been in the lake for generations. he allowed myself Bern graham to fish there and we had some great days catching the fish i don't think the one lake had ever seen a hook but the fish were catch-able all muscle and stream lined ill put some photos up latter
bern and graham with the true wildies caught from hill country

Another lake graham and i fished or poached was absolutely beautiful it had a summer house and beautiful lawns that ran down to the waters edge we would park our car behind the big hedge and walk through the lush gardens to the lake we would cast our rods out and if we wished and sit in the summer house, all the time we fished the place we never saw a soul we could pick vast quantities of lob worms from the lawns and would fish for the big eels it held . it was covered in places by gorgeous lilies pinks whites we would float fish for the tench, we tried to find who owned the place, we even called at the hall that was in the grounds, but without much luck we asked the locals but they did not know but there must have been a Gardner as the lawns were well kept and cut, we fished that place for years and to this very day i do not, know who owns it. But it was a magical place to us and we had lots of good nights catching the eels and tench i think the biggest eel was only around three pounds but i know a friend who had a go and manged a six pounds plus specimen a lovely eel i saw the photo but we have not fished there for years but i imagine its still the same i must go and have a look some time it will bring back happy memories.
seven wildies caught in one night from lake in hill country

Another lake we fished was above clun deep in the woods we poached it for some time it was a route march through ferns way over your head i knew the pool from years ago when i lived at craven arms it had a small boat house at the one end when looking at the water it looked blue asking around a few years latter some said it had been a marl pit we caught some big old Rudd from the pool we also saw some decent, carp the place had not been fished for years if ever but i never felt comfortable fishing the place. when we found the owner we asked permission but we were refused keep away from there he said, i don't want anyone near the place i do wander to this day if at some stage a tragedy had happened on that lake but he was a nice chap and gave us permision to fish his private stretch on the river severn but no way would he allow us into those woods to fish that old lake. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #962
I have just been down the woods the lakes are still partly frozen after all the rain we have had i cant believe its now been two weeks of milder weather and we still have ice. The wind is blowing a north westerly a penetrating wind very cold i really went to help tony out with his young springer spaniel he took his four ten shot gun down and wanted myself or graham to put a couple of shots up in the air to see the dogs reaction, he sent him for a dummy and we fired at the same time no problem he did stop and look as if to say what was that about then he was OK no problem what so ever he should make a really good dog.

when i was younger this weather really never bothered me i would be out and about every bit of spare time was spent fishing or up the fields with the ferrets doing a bit of rabbiting we had some great days just netting up the holes in the big hedge rows i well remember netting two hedges rows on this one farm and catching sixty rabbits they were all netted none shot, and we got an excellent price from the dealers those were the days we would be out at every opportunity we were also giving a good service for the farmers , i am hoping to get a day or two next week as long as my health will let me, nothing nicer then being out in the fresh air catching a few rabbits it will probably be a week end so we can take young tom along to continue with his tuition about the ways of the country side
another shot across the moors we lived not far from here the lake we fished was in the distance a rugged and remote place

If we were not ferreting we would be pike fishing on the river or one of the big lakes i loved the river we caught some big old pike on dead bait a totally different fish it would beautifully marked compared to the fish we caught in the lakes but i loved it all, there were hot spots on a river if you caught one it was usually followed by more and in a good morning we have caught ten or twelve fish some making height doubles i think we really caught the bigger pike from the lakes but i really did not mind what size they were as long as we caught and enjoyed what we were doing
My beloved hills and valleys where i poached and shot the black rabbits when i got married in 1960

I am going to the hill country this after noon taking the wife to her parents grave then a ride on through the hills and dales wonderful country and so full of wild life it is our heritage a place of beauty and ruggedness i shall no doubt pass the old lake where we fished for the wild carp all those years ago, no one fishes it any more or so i am told to far to walk across the moor and valleys, of course we knew the owner well and he would take our tackle down on a tractor and trailer and pick us up three days latter its still the same farmer but the sons now run the place i think the lake is used for duck shooting, you can see it in the distance from your car it looks the same as it did all those years ago a beautiful place locked in time which never seems to alter well a bit more latter

looking back to the old lake in hill country where we caught the wild carp from

where i poached and shot the grouse and watched the fox cubs play

another photo of the wonderfull hill country that i so love

In reply to Post #963
When i think back to the early sixties and seventies how on earth did we managed. all we had was the old garden bed chair a blanket and some canvas we have fished in mid winter and on more than one occasion we have woke up and found we were covered in hoar frost you would be that cold your teeth would chatter your whole body would be stiff and aching but we did it, we loved to be out and to catch a few we have been out in gales severe gales where trees were falling down but we stuck it out and caught fish, at times our lines have frozen in the ice i think it was then time to call it a day. I have trotted down a float on the river for the roach only to see the line freeze to the rod and rings and we have still caught but those days are now over i am at the age where i like my comfort more i now leave that to the younger generation but with the equipment to day they are better protected for the elements than we were in our days.

How wonderful it was to walk the tree lined river where the snow had piled up in large drifts beside the swirling water it almost looked black as over head the snow clouds formed once again threatens more snow ice had formed at the waters edge as i cast my spinner into the channel that was still open it was a little mepps spinner no sooner had it landed than my rod bent over to the satisfying take of my first fish, i had no landing net for it was 1959 but i managed to land this great creature from the depths, i held him in my trembling hand a stared in wonder at this striped beauty of course it was the perch i returned him to his home between the ice i could of killed him and took him home for tea but i thought i would give him a chance to live another day
a nice perch from years ago

I walked on down the river side a cast here a cast there until i came to the falls the water ran faster here but icicles had formed under the sill they looked like daggers hanging there out i cast to the far side and slowly spun it back i hardly turned the handle of reel when i felt a savage take the rod bent over into a hoop this was no perch or chub away he went down the river i hung on and fought with all my might at last i played him to the bank and there he lay upon his side what a sight a pike, no more than a few pounds but what a fight he gave i cut my hand unhooking him on his wicked teeth, i returned him to his home beneath the falls maybe we will meet again another day. The wind got up and the snow began to fall as pulled my color around my neck it was time to head for home as i walked up the fields the snow swirled in circles in the wind, looking back my tracks had already vanished no sign of me would bailiffs find i would soon be home beside the fire reflecting on my day and maybe fall asleep and dream about things i had done or things to come another day. This is a true story around about 1959 i was seventeen years old and it was on the river rea the falls have now gone those days will never return but i have my memories of those days from long ago which only i can tell . a bit more latter

In reply to Post #964
Some of the best times i had fishing was with Dennis Kelly myself graham fished together Dennis was from the potteries and was chairman of stoke angling society he was well known in my young days for his big bream exploits and would travel long distances to fish for them. we first met when we formed the three counties specimen group which i believe is still going today. We had great times fishing together and fished a great many of the big meres here in Shropshire and Cheshire graham and i both owned A 35 vans so there was no problem traveling the first mere we encountered was colmere it was big and hard but we had a huge success on there leading up to breaking the bream record by a man called will Collins, in fact it was broken three times but only claimed once whitemere was another interesting water which held some huge fish in fact the two other fish that broke the record came from there we also fished crows mere for the roach and tench the roach grew to a good size and you would find us there in the winter float fishing we never caught any huge fish but had great fun catching them to a pound or so.

Blake mere was another one we fished catching some nice bream we had one or two sessions there with angling times the fish were not that huge but we caught them to eight pounds plus they were good days why bream you may say well what we really wanted was to catch double figure Bream which were not that common in our younger days and to show other anglers it could be done and we really did it in style, we were really well known for our big bream stints, graham and myself had just managed to get the lease of Bomere so a few from the group joined our syndicate, Dennis absolutely loved the place and spent hours fishing for the big big roach it held, we would live bait for the pike when you had one on they would tail walk they would go mental we had a few good catches of pike especially in the summer, as the lake would come alive we had angling times there for a session after the pike and roach which lasted two days it was not to bad for myself and graham as we only lived up the road and if we got to tired we could nip home for a wash and kip there was no bite alarms in those days you had to keep awake i made some butt indicators for the roach fishing which proved a big success, and we used them for the Bream as well.
the but indercaters i made all those years ago

We fished to together for a number of years we fished Acton burnell for the tench and roach there was no syndicate in those days and i really had the run of the place, when the syndicate took over i could still fish the place as a friend of the owner we had some great nights fishing there catching some really respectable bags of tench and roach they were hazy lazy days, we even fished in a couple of big matches on the canal, at ellesmere and i won both i had the pi took a bit because my weight was only around four oz but i won and got a bit of money which was very welcome at the time i shared it with graham as i always did we had been mates for years so it helped us both.
i won some big prizes in the seventies for my big bream exploits even holidays with angling times which was spent in ireland on the black water and in denmark fishing on the guden. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #965
What a better way to spent my time than fishing , shooting, and general nature, fishing has always been my main hobby although i shoot i suppose i was brought up amid country pursuits it is a way of life and a very close knit community i have made many friends over the years some have been a big influence in my life some have been very rich others very poor but they all have one thing in common and thats the country side but even this is not what it was when i was a lad the wild life i took for granted is no longer here some seem to have disappeared, we do not see the lap wing in big numbers any more the curlew the chiffchaff the spotted flycatcher, the yellow hammer, that even seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate, these birds and many more were quite common when i was a lad the green finch seems to have disappeared completely in Shropshire i think habitat is something to do with it but not all, we can not afford to lose to much of our wild life, as i have stated once before we tread a very thin line and the country side is a very fragile place, and if we do not look after it there will be nothing for the future generations.

i have been down the woods this morning we are having a fox shoot next Saturday shame some would say yes it is i love old foxy but there are far to many running around i have had reports from other shoots who have been seeing great numbers of foxes in the last two weeks they have appeared from no where as if dropped from the sky sad really that we who live in the country side have got to clear this mess up the people that are letting these foxes go want prosecuting as i have stated before the poor little buggers can not look after there selves and have no idea how to hunt not only that but the country side can only support so many the ones we saw last week end were real tame and had no fear of man its a big shame that we as a shoot, we will have to eradicate them if we do not we will have complaints from the land owners and farmers.

a most beautiful animal is old foxy and my favorite

In the spring i love to watch the young cubs i certainly do not want them all eradicated i take a few out with me most have never even seen a fox in the wild it is a good bit of education for them and they all go home happy, but the fox is also an old rogue i aways try and put this over to the people i take fox watching, he can and will if given the opportunity cause devastation in the farm yard killing just about any fowl ducks he can get hold of killing them by biting there heads of and maybe only taking one or two at the most for her cubs. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #966
One extreme to the other bad floods have hit the upper reaches of the river severn loads of people rescued through the night it must be terrible to have your home flooded, the weather has now gone very mild but the winds are still quite bad and one or two trees have toppled over. But one thing that gives you hope that spring is around the corner, is the daffodils they are starting to bud in the garden and it wont be long before they are in flower snow drops are already up with a nice show i can not wait for the warmer weather when we can get out and do a bit of fishing.

As you get older the winters seem to effect you more, but when i was younger i never gave it a second thought i would be up the fields and through the woods to see old sam the keeper there was always a welcome fire in the grate a mug of tea or milk with a big slab of cake, then it was up the woods with old sam checking his line of traps he did this once a day he would catch rats and stoats and such but it was his job, he would take me out with his gun in the early spring and shoot the carrion crow, he had no time for this bird as it did untold damage to the young pheasants and the birds of our hedge rows, we would walk up to this tree where her nest, was she would be away before we even got there, the bird had really good eye sight, but one thing they cant do is count, so sam would say youngun walk away and leave me here Erl be back in a minute and she would bang and that was that another to hang on his gibbet he may even put a shot through the nest.

sam was a bit of a dab hand at fly fishing and would take me down the brook, i loved it in may when the may flies hatched out, he had this little six ft rod and a wooden reel he would put on a imitation fly and with a flick of his arm it would reach the other side and float on the swirling water and in a splash of spray it would be gone he would play the fish with a big smile on his face the misses will be pleased he would say and she always was, if any one comes he would say bloody run what sam, run he would say, i ain't got permission I'm poaching i could not believe SAM would poach but he did and was very skilfull at it, he gave me a go with his fly rod but i was hopeless it would land at my feet old sam would roar with laughter you will learn one day youngun, and i suppose i did but it was many years latter, some times i have been out using the fly rod, and i can still hear old sam whispering in my ear if any one comes run. Those memories from long ago remain with me they were wonderful days we would go back to that old cottage in the woods where his dear old wife would cook the fresh trout for dinner, as i have told you all i have been back to find the cottage but it is no longer there only a few stones and bricks that is all that is left of that happy home from long ago, where i spent most my childhood, and as we stood beside the pile of stones i am sure i could still hear old sam say if any one comes run. well a bit more latter

the beautiful mayfly

a spent may fly floating on the old trout stream

In reply to Post #967
2 Questions Pete.

1. When are you going to put your memoires to print and make a book.

2. Can I have a signed copy.

Keep those storys coming Pete.

Tightlines mate
Mike

In reply to Post #968
mike thank your for your kind words some of my story will appear in milk proteins new book which i think will be launched at the brentwood show next year other than that its a bit expensive to have it made into a book unless it can be sponsored i keep hoping you never know some one may take it on thanks again mike pete