In reply to Post #774
Heavy snow forecast for some places in Britain by Wednesday i will believe it when i see it although the bird life can give you a few clues to what may happen i have noticed that i am getting large numbers of birds on my feeding station at home and are really gorging them selves silly. Also up in the hill country a lot of the sheep have moved from the tops of the hills and are now down at the bottom in the valleys a sure sign of bad weather to come we shall see. i would like to get the boat out and try for a few pike before the weather really does close in i must admit graham and i love to spin from the boat as we can get to places that are inaccessible from the bank and have done really well in the past i have done a fair amount of trolling with the the soft jelly type lures you can buy today especially the roach, perch, will also catch but i find the roach come out on top i have had the rod nearly snatched from my hand when getting a take we have caught some good fish using this method and have also lost some huge specimens at the net . i like to get onto these big reservoirs if possible we go to one that has recorded fish to over thirty pounds , we have had plenty up to eighteen plus with the odd twenty chucked in but never a thirty although we have lost fish, at the net that looked really huge we will have to wait and see the place does have one problem and that is otters and i am not really surprised as the river that runs from it has eight pairs in a 16 mile stretch far to many but i am not getting into arguments about the animal all i will say it has no predators they did have the hunt years ago that kept them to a certain level. I also like to dead bait on the river and we really should be having a go i have caught fish to twenty pounds plus using sprats herrings and such it has been a very nice way to spend a winters day but with all the problems we have on the severn now lack of fish roach dace and such i don't no how we will fair the river really is in crises In all my years i,have never seen it like it is now so many anglers blanking the other thing i have noticed is the lack of big shoals of minnows they are also disappearing you could drop a piece of bread in and you would see them all over it not any more something is drastically wrong with the river and we are waiting the results of a survey being done by the environment agency but i have said before the vast flocks of goo-sanders and mergansers and cormorants, And otters mink are not doing the river any favours when i mentioned this to someone while fishing the other day i was shot down in flames they were horrified that the birds and otters should be blamed. i tried to explain that they were not helping the situation but it did no good and i am afraid while we have do gooders around like that anything we say will fall on deaf ears but we definitely need a cull but i cant see that happening in the foreseeable future . well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #775
Hi Pete, I agree with you mate about the birds, even down south here on the coast the birds were frantic this morning feeding like no tomorrow.

Keep the posts coming Pete, always my 1st read.

In reply to Post #776
Thanks pete just wrote another bit we had a power cut lost it so ill do a bit more latter

In reply to Post #775
I was only thinking this morning who had the most influence on my generation when we were younger and i came up with the same man dick walker i think every one had heard of dick, he was writting for angling times in my youth , and we always looked forward to reading his page , i had a small book by dick called course fishing and it was published by angling times, at the time it cost me one shilling and sixpence in fact i gave it away to an editor of a well known magazine as he was a avid collector off memorabilia about dick collecting anything from books to rods unfortunately he does not work for the said mag any more . The other book that had quite an influence was Mr crab tree goes fishing i could not put it down i think i had one of the first publication of this excellent little book.

looking back there was others we looked up to that gave us inspiration jack Hilton pete Thomas bill quinlan Fred jay and many more i suppose you could call them heroes but they are legends most have now gone i was told pete Thomas is still alive what a great age he must be. i never dreamed in my youth that i would actually fish with some of them i remember meeting with jack Hilton and bill quinlan and fishing with them for a week after the big bream in the company, of graham Dennis Kelley it was a great week and we had some tremendous laughs jack and bill were fishing redmire at the time and although dick had told me loads about the place some of the things jack told us about huge fish that had been seen was a little mind blowing. Don bridge wood did the photos and write up for the session and i think it was chris ball who recently told me via a pm he had a write up about that very session i think looking back it was the early seventies we caught some nice fish in that week with bream to nearly ten pounds and some huge rudd so they were both very happy chaps when they went home.

You dont have to look far for legends we have our very own on this forum mr ken townley i heard lots about his achievements from anglers that i fished with over the years, i think i first i heard about ken was in the seventies if i remember right he was fishing some lake in the west country but anglers looked up to him i have one mate bern that was always on about him sorry im giving you a plug ken, but its true you were and still are a legend . i have been very privileged in my life to have known and fished with a good many of these older anglers who, have now gone but there achievements will always live on for they were the fore fathers of our sport and i am very glad i met them a little more latter

In reply to Post #778
Snow already in places severe frost i hope we are not going to get another like last year as it killed quite a number of fish around the country this morning its very cold with a severe frost. but when i was young you had good summers. And hard winters lakes would be frozen solid for weeks we would be out with the sledge and would slide on the frozen pools the ice would be at least five inches thick we really never saw any fish casualties, but i suppose it must of happened . i have seen as stated before birds frozen to the ground pigeon moor hens coots some survived some did not, luckily i have not come across that the last two winters. Even the rabbits suffered as they could not get to the grass as it was deep below the snow most survived by gnawing the bark of young saplings causing extensive damage to some woodlands.

But us youngsters loved it we would walk to school in snow up to our knees our boots would be full of snow and we would be wet through by the time we arrived, we would take our boots and socks off which would dry by the stove in the middle of the class room but we survived, no having days off school because of snow we went what ever the weather there was no central heating only coal stoves but they kept you warm and dry they were great days the few cars you saw used snow chains but most business's kept going in those days i delivered the papers to a place called Cheney longville and longville it was about six miles there and back and if i could not get through with my bike i walked i would be soaked by the time i arrived back home then breakfast and school the papers arrived by train brought from shrews-bury i got seven shillings and sixpence a week for delivering the papers but it helped i could buy hooks and line for my fishing with a few sweets chucked in looking back they were hard days but that's how we lived most jobs paid low wages but we scraped by this is when i started to poach a few rabbits i learned fast IE how to set a snare how to ferret and i was soon bringing one or two home for the family and neighbors who were always grateful as i have stated before i watched the keepers from afar set there snares and would on ocassions take the rabbits they had caught i would reset the snare and away i would go . they were great days i liked my own company i watched the birds i loved the woods i would sit under the canopy of the trees and listen to the wild life the birds and fox watch the little tree creeper run up the tree finding the insects under the bark or watch the nut hatch the wood pecker it was my life the one i have loved but things have changed, there now stand houses where i used to go the wild life no longer there. i suppose its progress but not to me i will always rememer how it was all those years ago. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #779
I was the late seventies when graham parked the old land rover beside the road. we made our way across the snowy fields there were three of us and we had come to shoot the mallard duck as they came into roast and feed on the old pool within the fir woods. we stood huddled together, under the canopy of the firs occasionally the snow would drop from the trees sending a shower and covering our coats with a fine powdery snow and we would shiver with cold it was a moonlight night and further snow was forecast but now it looked if there would be a severe frost but the snow clouds came crossing the moon casting weird shadows every where you looked, it was a cold night as we pulled our collars tight around our necks i wandered if the ducks would come . but as we watched the teal began to drop in between the trees into that old pool my dog blaze shook with excitement as the first duck appeared it was testing shooting through the canopy of trees the mallard came in two and threes we soon had two or three down and waited until our our dogs had returned them before shooting more. it was an interesting night we shot a further twelve a mixture of teal and mallard the snow had started to fall heaver it was time for home we staggered up the field towards the road but we had not realized how much snow had fallen as we had been protected from the snow in the old fir wood the weight of the ducks did not help we watched as fox crossed the field oblivious to our presence the snow had now stopped and the moon cast shadows from the drifting clouds making the tree look like ghostly giants as they stood out in the white land scape. as we reached the road it was covered in snow which had drifted in places i began to wander if we would get from this place high in the hills but as we made our way through the drifts the land rover slid from side to side, i was not sorry when we got home it was Christmas we had orders to fill which made us a bob or two we would be out again before long maybe to poach the pheasant at roost with the rifle in those days you could get a fiver a brace it was easy money we would sell them at market or to friends that had placed orders it made us few quid for Xmas and maybe a pint or two. from my diary 1978. a little more latter

In reply to Post #780
This is another story you may think is far fetched but i assure you all it did happen. people on my village were saying they had seen a big cat like creature the police were called to one individuals house he told me that they had just got up in the morning and had opened the curtains and lying on the lawn was a big black cat which was eating what looked like a rabbit the police arrived with there flashing blue lights and siren blaring away the cat was a way through the hedge and gone. i know the family well and they are not liars i kept an open mind on the sighting, . Then other people started saying they had seen a black cat while walking there dogs. then nothing all was quite for a few months one morning i received a phone call from my mate tony who seemed rather exited you will never guess what i have seen this morning while feeding the peasants tell me tony a black leopard he replied his on our shoot and jumped out of the undergrowth right next to the feeder which feeder the one next to the pool the dog chased him i had to call him off as he might of been killed now tony has lived in the country side all his life and knows what he saw he was not frightened as such just amazed at what he had seen. The fishermen said they had seen a strange black animal while fishing . Then the water skiers said they saw a black cat watching them from the bank but when they got near he walked off into the woods. The farmer Mr Adkins said his cattle had been spooked at night and he had also heard strange noises . It was getting better we started to find half eaten rabbits then i had my first sighting head on we had been duck shooting and as we came down the track he came through the gate in front of us his eyes shone in the land rover head lights he was a majestic animal and held his head height seeing us he was away into the woods and gone, i saw him one more time sunning himself on a bank below the woods but was to far away to take any photos there was one or two other sightings by the locals but then he disappeared as thought he had not existed there were reported that he had been seen by local game keepers. But i or the syndicate have never seen the animal since a friend recently told me two were shot while the keeper was out foxing and were told to bury them by the police i suppose to stop people panicking its a shame well this is a true account make out of it what you will but i know what we saw and it was very real more latter

In reply to Post #781
Just read the thread about estate lakes well i am lucky to have fished a few estate lakes in Shropshire you have heard me mention lordys a most beautiful lake tranquil and very peaceful not very wide but very long and full of lovely old carp i have spent many happy hours fishing this lake it varies in depth from a couple of ft to around six ft at its deepest. i have had the lake to myself over the last few years but i am only allowed to day fish as lordy does not like people on the estate at night.

owing to my arthritis i have not fished as much as i used to as there is a fair bit of walking and lordy does tend to set the fields either side off the lake with barley and corn it has now got rather over grown and it takes some time to get your tackle to your chosen spot. i got permission to take a couple of friends with me and managed to drive my car around the edge of the pool as he had not set the field with corn but put it to grass for the last two years, as no one had fished the place for some time i really did not no if they would get on the bait but i was in for a shock using trigger wrapped in paste i was soon into my first fish a lovely common of nineteen pounds it turned into a great session i ended the day with six fish to twenty two pounds but this was just the start my friend saw some huge fish good thirties and did manage to hook one but he lost it in the weed. although they never caught we decided to fish again the following day they both caught the biggest going a tad over twenty pounds i managed a couple more with a nice mirror being the biggest weighing twenty three pounds i also started to catch a few tench to round five pounds plus they have certainly grown over the last few years in fact the trigger has really got the fish going.

we also started to catch the occasional chub looking back the biggest going to seven pounds wonderful fish and surprisingly they fought well a few years ago lordy had the weeds sprayed but unfortunately it killed the lilies as well but they have now made a come back i am very lucky to fish this old estate lake and i hope it will continue for some time i have become a good friend with the owner who i call lordy and can fish the lake whenever i want its such a peaceful place and is covered in wild life with great crested grebes ducks and such it is a big shooting estate and lordy is a big conservationist. ill tell you more latter about this old estate lake

In reply to Post #782
The snow was deep as i crossed the fields to my beloved river rea it had piled up in the hedge rows that surrounded the fields it was difficult walking but i was determined to try and float fish for some of the roach and chub it held. i was wrapped up warm as an easterly wind blew across the fields i wandered whether the river would be frozen the ice had started to form beside the river but i set up on a fast stretch that had produced before i was using a twelve ft rod an abu closed face reel loaded with two pounds line the bait was maggot i sat on my old wicker basket and tossed in a couple of handfuls of maggot the swim was only three feet deep running into a deeper section which made a nice eddy under the bank every time the float reached the deeper water it would dip and i was away i was catching mainly roach to half a pound but nice on light tackle but i was experiencing the line freezing to the rings but i manage to carry on and then i started to get the occasional chub nice fish around three pounds graham was above me and was also catching well but the cold was getting to us my fingers were numb how long we could continue i did not know. the wind blew even harder blowing the snow and covering our coats in a fine powder we pulled our colors tight around our neck it was february against the snowy back ground the river looked almost black a kingfisher passed me by like a dart going further upstream maybe to look for minnows to satisfy his hunger the sky took on a grayish colour as the late afternoon approached, and still we caught one after another i heard a plop and looking to my right i was just in time to see old ratty the vole disappear into some cover beside the bank it surprised me a bit as i would of thought he would of been asleep in his nest or had a stoat or weasel disturbed him from his slumber. It was time to go we ended the day with 30 pounds of fish between graham and myself not a bad day considering the condition we really struggled up the fields the wind had blown the snow into drifts that we could not avoid it was above our wellington tops we both arrived home wet and cold but as i sat before a roaring fire it was not long before i was dreaming of other days we had spent on that old river rea wonderfull times from long ago. more latter

In reply to Post #783
The year was 1958 i was now sixteen it was Christmas i had just acquired my first gun well legally that is, it was a webley four ten bolt action and was just the job for doing a bit of poaching, but that must wait a Christmas tree was called for we were not that well off like loads of others so it was to condover i went saw in hand creeping into the small plantation keeping my eyes peeled for the landowner or old bell the keeper i took the top out of the nearest tree and away over the fields i would go skirting the old quarry and having a look on the way at the honey meadow and what ducks Gerry had got on there, plenty for me i saw a couple of hundred mallard and made up my mind i would be back on the friday night when the keeper was at the pub. i managed to get the tree home, where did you get that i was asked oh i was given it from the farm at condover no more was said but i think dad knew different but he said no more.

it was the Friday after noon about an hour before dark when i skirted the wood and crossed the railway line into the honey meadow it was a bit early for Gerry to be at the pub but i needed to take the chance we needed the ducks for Xmas i had been asked by some neighbors if i could get them four as well as my own. I would lie in the undergrowth and wait for the ducks to come in to feed on the barley the keeper had put down earlier, they would flight in there hundreds i would wait until they were paddling in the shallow water then bang no sporting shot did i make we needed the food some times i killed two at a time up they would go circle around then drop back on the pool and i would repeat the same thing as before, i would kill about eight and away i would go across the railway and make for home but i was always listening for the game keeper you always knew when he was around as you could hear his motor bike in the distance i carried the duck in an old postman's bag i had been given but did not like going any where near the road until it was dark we had no street lighting then and i was frightened old sgt landers may catch me. So i would cross the road and skirt around the fields and would eventually arrive behind my house. Just behind our house was a little wooded valley not very wide with a little stream running down the middle , a few pheasants roosted in those trees so i would have a couple on the way home to complement the ducks they were easy to shoot in the bag they would go and through the hedge into our garden mum always welcomed the ducks and pheasants and we always had a good Christmas with plenty to eat. at times she would make game pie it was delicious but that was years ago my parents have now passed on but i have my memories i loved them dearly and always will but this is how we lived it was a necessity for me to poach so we could live, but i loved it and the excitement i got out of it . Today the spark has gone im now to old to run but i dream at times of what i have done all those years ago more latter

In reply to Post #784
As i lay in bed last night i could hear a vixen calling for her mate she was of probably down the fields but her call was load and clear she would almost certainly mating what a noise she was making the night was frosty in fact minus eight but the sound traveled on the stillness of the night a few years ago i would have been out and down those fields hoping to get a closer although i have shot a great number of foxes i hold this old fellow of the woods and fields close to my heart watching him over many years has given me great pleasure and many others who i have taken with me to watch who other wise would never see a fox .

the fox is britain's only wild member of the dog family and has inhabited britain for thousands of years it became a native just after the ice age today it thrives well is commonly found living in sheltered woodland and copses through the country side he is a mos butifull animal

In reply to Post #784
As i lay in bed last night i could hear a vixen calling for her mate she was of probably down the fields but her call was loud and clear she would almost certainly mating what a noise she was making the night was frosty in fact minus eight but the sound traveled on the stillness of the night a few years ago i would have been out and down those fields hoping to get a closer look although i have shot a great number of foxes i hold this old fellow of the woods and fields close to my heart watching him over many years has given me great pleasure and many others who i have taken with me to watch who other wise would never see a fox .

the fox is Britain's only wild member of the dog family and has inhabited Britain for thousands of years it became a native just after the ice age today it thrives well is commonly found living in sheltered woodland and copses through the country side he is a most beautiful animal with his reddish brown rustic coat he stands approx forteen inchs hight a nd about two feet in lenght and has a distictive white tip at the end of his tail. his name in the country side is renard . The agile fox is one of britains most fastest animals and can reach speeds of forty miles an hour he will eat almost anything rabbits squirrels rats mice pheasents even hedge hogs, but in times of harship frost and long peroids of snow he will raid the farmers yard and will kill any thing that moves he prowles stealthly like a cat and will capitalize on the farmers chickens and ducks but at times he reveals the worst of his nature if he gets in the chicken run will kill every one by biting off there heads and will not stop untill all are dead he is also partial to young lambs in the lambing season espeacaly when they have cubs to feed i have seen the vixen killed and have watched her litter sister keep on feeding the cubs untill they were old enought to look after them selves most of the year they live a solitary life until november when the dog howls a sharp bark in hope that a partner is around when they have mated the off spring will be born in late march in a disused rabbit hole that has been inlarged which is usualy located beneath brackon or brambles they usualy produce between four and six cubs which are born blind this is my obsevation from years of watching this old fellow of the woods and hedge rows i know it has nothing to do with fishing but it has been a great passion of mine for many years i have stated before that i have only seen pure albinos once in my life time pure white with pink eyes and i moved them on i could not bare the thought that they would be hunted and killed by the man with the terriors. but the do have to be controled although i love them they can do lots of damage to the keepers coverts and the farmers at lambing time the country side would be a poor place whithout old renard. more latter

In reply to Post #786
What a wonderful winter wonder land i had a trip down the woods this morning arriving around ten pm what a beautiful place it looked with the snow clinging to the branches like pieces of cotton wool i had arranged to meet one of my syndicate members who does a lot of the feeding for us, it just looked like a winter scene like you see on your xmas cards the two lakes were frozen over the biggest of the two where i watched the skating years ago was frozen and covered in snow i love to track the different animals and its surprising what you see the first i came across was mink not one but two, there was plenty of rabbit prints and as we looked up the ride in the wood a fox shot across and vanished into the trees he was a big dog and looked beautiful against the snowy back ground i said to my mate what ever moved him it certainly was not us. further into the wood by the old beech trees we could see the prints of the badger he had been scratching about at the bottom of the old trees maybe looking for some old nuts that had been buried under the leaves . There was plenty of small birds the robin the wren and we saw the jay flitting across the ride in his spectacular colour and caught sight of a wood pecker it was the great spotted wood pecker we do have the lesser spotted also but it is a much smaller bird we also have the green wood pecker . the pheasants were also in residence you could see were they had been. They have been feeding on the bins quite heavily and a badger had also been after the grain i have known them to push the bins over but this one was to full and heavy so he had to make do with what he could find on the floor, to me they are a majestic animal and i hope they do not get inhilated with the future cull they certainly wont at bomere as most of the farmers do not have cattle only one mr adkins he may apply for a licence to cull as he has had a few problems with the said animal, there were a few signs of foxes so we have more than one i know the one is a very small vixen one of the smallest i have ever seen shes been around for at least three years to my knowledge and i love to catch sight of her and usually see her a couple of times a year when i saw her last year she looked really pulled about so she must of been suckling cubs as they can certainly pull the vixen about but they soon recover i feel very lucky to have the run of the place and really know it back to front and it holds many happy memories from long ago more latter

In reply to Post #787
quite a few have asked about my stories going into print in the form off a book. well i have now been offered a part in Jason's new book are own milk protein , ken townley has now edited the piece that will appear in the book and jason has told me it will be the first chapter that will appear we are now waiting for big Dave from cumbria to send some photos which he has of me to jason its going to be quite a big chapter he would love to print all my stories but can not do that it really wants another book of my own but the cost is out off my reach as i am now a pensioner, but it is a start i would really like to thank ken for all the hard work he has done on my behalf i owe him he is a top man, and thank every one for continuing to read my stories thanks jason and x pat in poland for having faith in me i think the book will be launched at the brentwood show next year thanks to you all god bless pete

In reply to Post #788
Snow and more snow the streams are now freezing over all the lakes and pools are frozen and are now covered in snow no fishing only the woods and hedge rows to roam the beech and the oaks stand out like giants with there out stretched branches covered in snow icicles have now formed on the trees and hang like daggers the woods and the meadows are so thick with snow it is like walking through an enchanted world where every thing seems to be suspended in time not a noise do you hear. the winter is upon us early this year the frozen landscape intensifies every colour and shade usually January is the cruelest month one of extreme cold and bitter winds but it has arrived early this year. There is hardly a leaf to be seen only the green of the ivy that stands out in this snowy scene the interior of the woods is a dark and silent place screened from the sunlight the trees are now laid bare not a leaf to be seen only the squirrel's nest high above i wander if he is within deep in slumber or if he is out looking for acorns he has buried to keep him going through the cold months. You find the tracks of other creatures imprinted upon the fallen snow where they have wandered in search of food russet coloured pockets of bracken poke from beneath the snow. the badgers bluish grey fur may be glimpsed in the half light as the evening approaches which blends in with the dismal tones of the wood. looking up grey clouds hang withen the sky and seem to cover the distant hills promising the certainty of more sleet or snow with it will come the icy blast the easterly wind which will penetrate the woods and silence the animals that live withen. As i walk for home i find a five toed claw imprint with a large bar like pad in the snow covered ground left by the badger who traveled to the woods in search of food it tells of his nightly activity he is a wary and cautious animal his only enemy is man he has short power full limbs and you can see where he has tried to dig some poor rabbit from deep within the hedge row he is a sluggish in his pursuit of prey and is now hungry and will eat most things he can get, i find his home excavated in the bank-side of the hedge old bracken lies out side they are meticulously clean and change there soiled bedding regularly and replace it with fresh dried grasss or brackon but where from now i do not know for most is now covered in snow. It is now snowing hard as i make for home the freezing wind blows causing drifts which i stumble throught. Eventualy i reach the car the windscreen frozen solid it wont be long before im home where ill be warm.. a little more latter