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In reply to Post #758
It was in the late sixties early seventies that myself and graham were offered the lease at bomere it was a nice water of 25 acre i had regular poached it most of my life so i had a fair idea what fish it held There was lots of rumors about it being haunted which put a lot of people off going any where near the place. it was also a haven for wild life i said to graham i had fished, the pool and poached the woods and had never seen a ghost so graham and myself started to bait up a spot on this old lake firstly we had to rake out a good area of weed to clear enough space to fish four rods between us, we baited up a little bit often about three times a week consisting mainly of sausage rusk layers mash breadcrumb with a few drops of tincture lemon grass it smelt absolutely great.
We were both exited when we arrived at the lake for our first session as no one had ever fished it at night well not to my knowledge i had poached it into dark put the that was a few years ago. After Sorting our selves out and putting the old garden bed chairs up and pegging the umbrellas down in case of rain we managed get our rods out we used twelve ft rods coupled with Mitchel's 3 lb line size eight hook and free running quarter oz arsley bombs completed the set up we were using bread flake tipped with maggot on one rod with maggot or caster on the other after casting out and putting our doe bobbins on the line between but ring and reel we sat down and relaxed but not for long we had a pike, in the swim and he kept striking at fish, we had in the swim mostly small roach, so it was out with the pike rod on went a plug first cast i had him he weighed in at fourteen pounds, not a bad start to the night i decided not to release him back into the swim and took him further up the lake i watched him disappear into the depths no worse for ware then i returned to graham and our baited swim. The first take produced a nice roach of two pounds plus to graham followed shortly by a tench for myself of nine pounds plus to say i was over the moon was an under statement before midnight we had accounted for twelve roach eight over two pound and my big tench ,plus the fourteen pounds pike. And then it was like some one pulling a curtain down the fish vanished until first light when we caught more roach to around the pound but the big ones had vanished and it was some time before we caught them again well that was our first night on bomere that was many years ago . so a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #757
I dream about my early years when i stalked the rivers for the wily trout and the gray ling, and the days i spent walking the mountains fields and hedge rows to find the black birds nest and the thrushes to, and to clime a tree to the buzzards nest and hold the eggs in my hand a wondrous thing to see . To watch the little dipper walk under water and watch the kingfisher in his vibrant colour dive from his perch above the water and catch the minnow in his beak to me it was a marvelous thing to see this was how i spent my youth i fell in love with the country side which has lasted all my life.
To stand in the river jar in hand catching the bull heads with our hands to lay a minnow trap full of bread then mount the minnows on a flight and spin for the trout this was my way life to trot a float with a little red worm and catch the gray ling and take him home to stand under the falls lip hook a minnow and wait for the take from the beautiful perch it never ceased to amaze me the fish i caught the little jack pike who i hooked on a minnow under the sill of the falls. To watch the sand martins darting around making holes in the river bank for there nests i would take the wild garlic home to my mum we really did have some fun i would be sent with a basket to the mountain tops where i would pick the whim berries, the blackberries mushrooms to we harvested them all nothing was wasted in those early years
I loved the woods and walked for miles watched the keeper go about his work i would poach the lakes as most were private in my youth to stand on the bank rod in hand and watch the big Rudd in the clear spots in the weed drop a hook in with a bit of bread flake tremble with anticipation as you waited for that take the float would tremble and away it would slide you would tremble with excitement when you held this fish in your hand with its lovely red fins and its golden flanks to catch the carp on floating bread between the weed beds was another thing that past the time in my early years. well a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #756
I was born in the year 1942 into a loving family. although my mother and father have now gone i shall always be in there dept they always encouraged me to fish and shoot and to live the country way of life. just up the road from where i lived was old rabbit catcher home, grandfather would take me to his house i well remember him telling us about his way of life i suppose i was only about five or six at the time but i was fascinated by the tales he told. he told of times long ago when he used a pony and trap he would actually fill the trap with rabbits from the snares he had put down he caught hundreds and made a good living out of them he would have rabbits hanging in big rows from hooks in his garden and cages full of ferrets his life was hard but he had a great understanding about nature and the country side and i really have a lasting impression about the gentleman and his way of life .
i was only young when i had my first ferret i would carry him in my shirt to my mothers horror she said i stunk but that old hob ferret caught me lots of rabbits giving me lots of pleasure i would carry a few nets in my pockets and up the woods and fields i would go find a small warren with two or three holes net them and stand quietly back the rabbits would bolt into the nets if you were lucky you would have two or three and be away to the next bury but i was always on the look out for the farmer or game keeper as i was poaching and it was very much frowned on and if caught you would be in serous trouble i soon learned the best holes to ferret, how to blend in with the land scape and escape the keepers clutches and my family and neighbors were always grateful for the rabbits i caught.
I loved the way of life i learned such a lot in my early years that put me in good stead in my future life this time of year i really loved it was always a pleasure to be out be it fishing or shooting to see the colours of the trees the orange rustic browns and the yellows of the leaves as another year came to an end to smell the damp and decay in the woods it was all part of nature to watch the squirrels collecting what they could and store for when times were hard i loved to look for the different fungus which grew on rotting wood to watch the rabbits scurry through the wood to hear the buzzard high above or see the stoat stalk the rabbit it wont be long before he changes his coat or catch a glimpse of the weasel where he has his home within the farmers wall or catch a glimpse of old foxy with his rustic coat it all gave me pleasure as it does today to fish for the pike on a frosty day and stare in wonder at this great fish as it lay on the bank in all its glorious colour then returned to his home deep whithen the pool maybe to catch another day what could i ask for better than this its been part of my life for so long and i pray it will continue for some time to come for when i have gone who will tell the tales from long ago. more latter
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In reply to Post #755
as i stand and look down the lake at bomere and the surrounding woods it brings back some happy memories. I well remember the days when it was strictly private and the old keepers that looked after the shoot and all the wood where hard men and would not hesitate to put a shot over your head if they saw you any where near the woods or on the surrounding ground. Shooting was big business in those days and bomere was part of a huge shoot that stretched for miles it was heavily keeper by the likes of old bell and Gerry haiz and a number of under keepers it stretched from my home at Bayston hill to Dorrington and it was well known for its big partridge shoots. I would watch from afar and was fascinated by these men in there plus fours they were all toffs and all spoke very posh . The sgt from our village a mr Landers who i have mentioned before was part of the shoot as well i think they invited him to keep an eye out for poachers . As i have said earlier he used to rear a few birds behind his house at the police station for the shoot as i said in my earlier stories i had a few of those and it did not go down very well he was livid and came to see my parents but he never proved anything it became a game of cat and mouse between my self and old landers But he never caught me . People still laugh on my village as most of the older generation remember those days and my poaching and the scrapes it got me into
Just up the fields from bomere was the old stone quarry ,and in those days it belonged to a man called harper as i have stated before the honey meadow backed on to the quarry it always flooded when there was two much water in bomere but it always had a fair amount of water in it all year round i have told you before i used to shoot the ducks on there when Gerry was at the pub well just above the quarry was a strip of wood land also belonging to the shoot but it was a bit out of the way and not many went any where near it, as they all said it was haunted i think this was circulated by the farmer mr lock and the keepers to keep any one away from the place. Well it did not keep me away although i was a bit apprehensive i would be there on a black cold windy night when the keepers were at the pub i would take my air rifle and torch and shoot them while the were at roost it was an easy method and i made a bob or two doing it i was there one night when i heard a shout come out of there or ill shoot and he bloody did it sprayed the under growth and trees all around i was not hit but i was away across the fields as soon as i got my bearings, just down the fields towards my home was an old disused firing range that the army used to use in the war years for target practice i dived into the cover and lay there i was shaking with fright and there i stayed for the next hour or so i could hear them shouting and i think the police were there also. But i did manage to get my self home in the early hours when everything went quite it was all over the village in the coming weeks that poachers had been taking birds and they had been duly chased off i laughed to myself poachers it was only one myself and i managed to get away with four brace funny really they were exiting times and i loved the chase but did not fancy getting shot in the rear. but it never happened my poaching days are now over but i have great memories of those far off days. more latter
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In reply to Post #754
it was the first shoot for my syndicate of twelve today. i was a little bit hurt to say the least i have mentioned before it is a Treble ssi site and they have been working in the woods and the surrounding area for the last twelve months and the work was supposed to have revolved around removing four and a half acres of rose dendrums which have flourished there for many years but it is a little bit more than that all the silver birch trees have also been removed, and along the the path that runs beside the lakes they have now cleared all the bank side vegetation and most of the trees, it really looks more like a desert than the place i have fished and poached most of my life. my main concern with taking the bank side scrub and trees down is there is a good chance the woods could get severely flooded as there is now nothing to keep the water back. There was a need to remove the rose dendrums as they were so thick it stopped other things growing ie primroses and the blue bells and wild garlic that grew in abundance when i was a youngster.
I was absolutely disgusted with the mess they have left. A lot of the wild life has now lost its habitat with having the trees ripped out even some of the rare sphagnum moss has also disappeared which was protected by English nature i am told that the trees beside the lakes and under growth was removed to help the natural plants like lilies and such to get a bit more light so the can flourish i am not convinced. It will over a period of time grow back but it has seriously effected our small shoot the pheasants are not there in numbers like they used to be, i think that was mainly caused by the noise from the huge machinery that they were using but that has now finished for this year i was well pleased with the ducks as lots of mallard was seen and shot with a good many teal a lovely little duck which makes good eating. Talking to some of the carp fishermen they are not to happy about some of the work that has been done by contractors for English nature and they have informed me that they do not fish the one bank as it is now to open to the elements and when windy gets quite cold. my grandfather and father had lots do with these woods and lakes and i really wander what they would say if alive, especially old Gerry the keeper who was there for many years. I poached these woods for years fishing and shooting as i have already mentioned in my earlier part of my stories and really love the old place it will take years for it to get back to what it was and i wander if they have done the right thing only time will tell but in the mean time with the help of friends i will monitor all the wild life one thing we did see was a couple of foxes i love to see one or two and as long as they do no damage they are quite welcome. well that's it for now more to come latter
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In reply to Post #745
I loved Acton Burnell when i was young it was a place of mystery a magical place it was surrounded with trees and woods that sloped up towards the sky i roamed those woods well before i fished Acton i think i only poached it once it was well keeper ed and i knew them well peter Jackson Bert owlet and co it was peter that first gave me permission to fish the estate i suppose i was only about 15 years old. i soon got to know the owner who gave me a ticket to fish the lakes any time i wanted i would bike from my home with the rods tied to my cross bar and bag on my back there were two lakes both man made many centuries before. Between the two lakes was an eel trap the water drained from the big lake into a purposely made eel trap and the eels were collected from it and sold at market but that was years before i suppose it made extra revenue for the estate. centuries ago for those that don't know the first parliament was held at Acton Burnell when i fished at night i would imagine the ghosts of those long ago still walked the paths and roads that surrounded this old and mysterious place.
It was a place of beauty and mystery and for a number of years i never met any one else on the place exept for the keepers who would always stop for a chat and see how i was getting on how could i poach and loose their trust although there were pheasant every were i never once took a bird. But i would roam the woods at times looking for birds nests and would listen to the wild life it was on one of those walks that i came across a little pool deep in the woods it was full of Rudd not big but i would take a rod and catch a few for live baiting for the pike that Acton held , i caught plenty from there but i did not have one above fifteen pounds. But alas they have now all gone the tench, i caught have also gone, the roach, as well. It was drained and stocked with huge carp who now swim in the depths of of this old place that i fished long ago. Gone are the carp that we stocked years before that myself and friends would catch, They inhabited those lakes to forty pounds mirrors, and commons, where they went i do not know but when i pass the burnell now i think of the times we had and of the friends i got to know some still here and some have passed and i wander if there ghosts still haunt this mysterious place that i fished all those years ago more a bit latter
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In reply to Post #746
Looking at about 9 months. A full history of carp fishing through the decades remembered by a lot of top names. Also some bang up to date stuff.
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In reply to Post #748
Amazing stuff Pete. Definitely worth a book in its own right! I will hopefully do it justice in the forthcoming book. There is certainly some fantastic material to go with it from some of the best carp anglers there have been.
thanks jason i am glad you enjoyed them we will wait for ken to return and we will then sort out whatever you want between the three of us lots more to came yet kind regards pete
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In reply to Post #748
Amazing stuff Pete. Definitely worth a book in its own right! I will hopefully do it justice in the forthcoming book. There is certainly some fantastic material to go with it from some of the best carp anglers there have been.
thanks jason i am glad you enjoyed them we will wait for ken to return and we will then sort out whatever you want lots more to came yet kind regards pete
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In reply to Post #749
#749 29 Oct 2010 at 4.22pm
In reply to Post #748
Any idea when the book will be on sale?
if you pm milk proten he will give you some idea i think brentwood show thanks again pete
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In reply to Post #748
Any idea when the book will be on sale?
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In reply to Post #747
Amazing stuff Pete. Definitely worth a book in its own right! I will hopefully do it justice in the forthcoming book. There is certainly some fantastic material to go with it from some of the best carp anglers there have been.
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In reply to Post #746
pete i certainly do i fell through a few the canvas used to break or the cover, and away you would go i have also had the rachet break more than once you would end up on the floor when i think back we managed with nowt thanks again pete some of the stories will be appearing in a book which is being launched the end of next year by a member on this forum
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In reply to Post #745
Peter, another good read that brought a smile to my face, like you I remember only to well the old garden chairs we used back in the 60's.
Keep these great stories coming mate. Pete 
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In reply to Post #742
We stood on the dam wall at Acton graham Dennis and my self we were there to catch the big Roach and Tench that inhabited this lovely old lake it was one of two and the smallest. i fished the right hand side while den fished the left side leaving graham in the middle. i walked around to the small island and baited up using layers mash bread crumbs laced with maggot it had been a very hot and humid day and there was storms forecast we were using the old garden chairs or loungers as that was all you could get the year was 1969 at least we did have umbrellas which sheltered us from the wind and rain we always pegged them down to stop any movement by the wind.
the sky took on a purple tinge and the wind started get up i watched from under my umbrella as lighting streaked across the sky lighting up the woods above us the thunder was so intense it was nearly deafening. i had just about got my rods out one baited with bread flake tipped with maggot the other with maggot when the heavens opened up i had a attached my little red light to a spare rod rest and it was now shinning on my two doe bobbins the rain was bouncing off the pool the lighting was so in intense you could see the other end of the pool sod this for a game of soldiers i shouted to graham but i got no response i reeled my rods in and made for the car which was only yards away taking my boots off i covered myself up with two blankets and listened to the rain hitting the roof of the car the thunder seemed to be getting louder the lighting was spectacular as it streaked across the sky i eventually drifted into a deep sleep and awoke with a start on looking at my watch it was 3-30 it had stopped raining and the mist was rolling down the lake like lost souls from another time. Graham and Dennis were asleep covered with a blanket and a canvas sheet there bobbins were still hanging from the rods since casting out last night the air was humid but i felt we were in with a chance i baited the left hand rod and cast to the island the other into the corner to my right i was just putting the bobbin on the right hand rod when the other was away i played the fish and after a few minutes a nice Tench slid over the rim of the net six pounds exactly . After waking graham and Dennis i cast out again and was just having a cuppa when the same rod was away again another Tench slid into the net on weighting it was five pounds exactly i was well pleased but the next fish i lost to a hook pull. the other two were now also catching we ended the night with over 100 pounds of Tench none under five pounds we were well pleased with our effort and we decided to do another session latter on i will tell you about this session latter .
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