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In reply to Post #593
As you already know i have a deep love of the country side although i fish and shoot i don't kill indiscriminately all that is shot is eaten.I hear so many people say you should kill this and shoot that yes you should control but not anilate every thing in sight we must learn to live in harmony with our wild life. Mink are fast becoming a problem in my area there is no control as the mink hounds have now been banned hunting with dogs. the mink have devastated some of the wild life on the severn killing ducklings moorhens and such they are vicious killers some say trapping is the answer but you cant in a built up area its quite a problem. one animal above all i certainly don't like that is the brown rat filthy creatures and disease ridden i have seen farms locally over run with them. i have seen the poison put down for them around the farms and hedge rows i really don't like the method as it kills other wild life. the rats seem to move onto the farms around November if not before its when the hedge rows Get to wet and food scarce. one method i have seen used with great success is shooting them at night around the farm buildings with an air rifle i have a friend that does it on a regular basis and does a good job for the farmers and regularly shoots up to 250 in a night the farmers are very grateful as i said in an earlier thread that how you can acquire some good fishing one good turn for the land owner and if he has some good waters he may let you fish them I have been watching the peregrines the last couple of weeks they nest in the quarry not far from my house lovely birds but alas they are not always safe two years ago some idiot stole there eggs they are now watched night and day and so they should be. As they were on the endangered species list for a number of years i really thing they have recovered well in the last few years well a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #592
thanks pete great read mate i remember minnow traps!!! as a kid not many bullheads now adays brings back funny memorys there few years ago keep it up fella your right to many "instant carpers and anglers" nice to know some people still love our countrysides tight lines mate!!
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In reply to Post #590
over the years ive done a fair bit of stalking the wily brown trout. a favorite method was free lining a little red worm especially on the one i would lie down on my belly in the under growth drop the worm in the side of the brook and let it trundle down. you would get two sharp taps and away it went you were in. i caught loads using that method i would leave home at first light and be back for breakfast long before the keepers and bailiff were about i would catch ten or twelve they all weighed about a pound or more and made good eating and my family neighbours and friends were always grateful . as i said in an earlier thread i only ever got caught once and that was because i had taken some one with me and he would not run he was petrified so i stayed with him. I never ever took any one with me again for many years quite was the order of the day and i always had my ears and my eyes were always open i would see the keeper long before he got anywhere near i have crawled under the brambles and nettles on quite a few occasions and would get very badly stung by the nettles mum was always rubbing calamine lotion on my arms hands and face and it did cool them down quite a bit. Condover brook was another it was stocked full of brownies and the keepers kept a very strict eye on it if you got caught there you certainly ended in court. condover was known for the big estates and it was a huge pheasant and partridge shoot and they employed lots of keepers as i have said old bell was the head keeper and not much got past him the locals were scared to death to even go on the property. so i did most of my poaching at night .i got chased a few times and hid up a few trees but i never ever got caught. The keepers dogs were a real worry as bell had alsations and they were really nasty, and would really bite well thats all for now more latter
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In reply to Post #589
I can just remember the bombers flying over my village of bayston hill i must of been about three years old. and sitting down looking out of the bedroom window the sky was red and grandad said that is Liverpool burning it seems such a long time ago. He started me fishing i was only about three years old we would walk down the road to what was called the prill and i would fish with a garden cane and cotton for line and match stick through cork for a float and a bent pin for a hook. What i did not know at the time there was no fish in the prill but it was grandads way at keeping me happy and i would stay there for hours watching that float in fact i loved every minute of it. We moved on from there and fished the rea brook we only caught minnows but they were great fish to a young un like me he taught me how to set a minnow trap which has served me well over the years. And identify the different animals and birds . It was 1947 when it came to an end it was a very big shock to me we went to feed the pig and my grandad collapsed one week latter he was dead it really affected me as he was only 52 years old and you did not think about death when you are that young i was devestated and it took some time to get over it. At the same time i lost my farther who got killed fighting in the war but i did not know him very much as he had been away for years, it was not like loosing grandad as i went everywhere with him. well you have to get on with life and my mother managed to get a house and we moved in we also had a lodger who was a land army girl. they were great days you could go anywhere i was only about five but i soon learned the way of the country side i would spend every hour i could down the fields watching the wild life. even at that age i would be off birds nesting no one would touch you . mum used to worry when i went fishing i only had a bambo cane rod and a wooden reel but soon manage to catch the odd chub or roach i could not swim but soon learned myself in the brook. The land girl would bring a horse home with her at times or a pony i would be on its back when no one was watching and would be away for a ride no sadle and i hung onto the horse main it was great fun. i would ride down to bomere and look at the pool. i would get a telling off from mum when i got back as she was frightened i would fall off but i never did i was fast becoming a jack the lad well more latter
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In reply to Post #587
well i have just came back from work party and i was rather surprised at the amount of volunteers a few years ago i have seen the time when graham and myself and a couple more were the only ones present which makes it very hard work. but today it was all done within three hours and i must say the lads that turned up were all great chaps and we all got on together and got the job done and dusted. myself and gray have not as yet wet a line but hope to start latter in the month but where i am not sure as we have such a lot of water to have a go at, and i also like to do a bit of prebaiting. when we fished for the big bream in the sixties and seventies we always baited up at least three times a week some times we traveled a fair distance but with the price of fuel today we may have to cut the number of times we bait up although we do share expenses it can cost a fair bit. when i was young i cycled every where Rods tied to the cross bar of the bike box on your shoulder you would be knakard before you even started fishing. i have a couple friends who still cycle to there chosen lake or swim on the river they pull a trailer behind there bikes with all the tackle loaded into it. not an easy task but not bad if you have a few miles to travel but certainly not for me with my legs but do it they do and are quite successful anglers and a lot fitter than myself or graham.
When you are young the world is your oyster you can do anything your fit you can run if you are seen poaching. i would think nothing about swimming the river to get away from some bailiff or keeper it was the norm but as you age things become more difficult getting the tackle to your chosen swim becomes a chore where once you push it on the barrow in two journeys it takes three or four journeys now. I was talking to an elderly chap this morning who had carp fished most of his life saying how awkward it had become to get his tackle to his swim. and he was thinking about a change off direction and was saying he may take fly fishing up not so much to carry but has he said he will really miss the carp fishing. i just can not see me packing it up travel lighter cut the equipment down as i think some times we take far to much. well a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #587
Just been catching up with your stories Pete and I have to say, there's always something new and interesting to read.
Keep it up Pete, you'll have written that book soon mate 
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In reply to Post #586
Rhododendrons english nature and the forestry commission have been removing all the bushes approx 5 acres as they have been slowly taking over and stopping any light getting through So other plants. would not grow. they have been at bomere years and years but it really has made me a little sad to see them go. i have poached the place for the fishing and pheasant and have been chased on many occasions and have hid in the roses they have been that thick you could crawl under them and hide for hours even dogs found it hard to get through the tangle of branches but it definitely needs to be done. and the amount of light now getting through will and has already made a big improvement to the woods and its wild life. old Gerry the keeper had his house at the end of the lake and he reared hundreds of pheasants i had a few of those from right under his very nose and he never once caught me i would fish bomere right under his bedroom window and got away with it but i was young then and loved the challenge . my fishing is all legal now and i pay just like the rest. things have changed that much over the years even the land that i poached gone are some of the woods cut down progress i suppose. the fields have been enlarged hedges took out to make it easier for the tractors and combine harvesters i think its criminal it effects the wild life. the english partridge have all but gone because of this and you dont see the lap wings like you used to even the curlew which was quite common here seems to have vanished. the rabbits are still here in big numbers and are back to the pre mixy years but you dont see the people eat them like when i was young we relied on them for food . they still sell them in the markets but i think its the older generation that buy them. well more latter
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In reply to Post #585
I have always fished for the love of the sport the tranquility and freedom. it has never really bothered me what size the fish are. i have been lucky and caught some nice specimens over the years. but a fifteen pound fish gives me as much pleasure as catching a real biggie. Its being being able to be out there and appreciating your surroundings making friends and watching nature Another thing i get as much pleasure catching a pound dace as i do a big carp i suppose i am an all rounder but don't get me wrong i do like carp fishing and with a bit of luck will be going very soon. This may stir a few up i read so much about what boile to use what size and flavour are they the only bait some anglers use not me or my pal graham On some waters i fish theres so many gone in over the years the fish must get fed up with eating them. i catch a good many on the humble paste maze. little red worms have caught me some real biggies over the years another one is the bread flake ive caught more on flake than on all other baits bar boiles some will laugh but its true and i think many of the old baits are ignored and most now fish with the boilie. maggot is another bait i have done very well with and have caught hundreds of good carp with them and they don't cost as much.. i have never caught a forty pound fish but have caught loads in the twenties and thirties and doubles to many to remember does it make you any worse of an angler i don't think so its being able to read the water you are fishing and catch the fish at your disposal. water craft but today you dont see it used by many. Today you can be an instant carp angler by just watching others this may get up some peoples backs but today you can buy all the tackle you need from the local shop and you are an instant carp angler and are out on the bank hoping for that biggie and with a bit of luck you catch and are an expert over night it happens im afraid and no water craft comes into it. not like my days you had to learn or you did not catch. more latter
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In reply to Post #584
I quite often hear that so and so has been poached and i think to myself why poach you can buy them cheep enough from the butchers or supermarket. at times when i have been bailiffing and have caught the culprits. ive asked the question why poach the answer every time has been for fun the chase they loved it. money did not really come into it. i poached for food it kept us going meat was very expensive so all the game i caught gratefully received by all. but most of the land when i was young belonged to big estates and were all heavenly keeper ed most were big pheasant shoots and partridge, and in the early middle fifties over run with rabbits they were closely watched as they made good money for the estates most had warreners working for them who caught all the rabbits and looked after the big warrens on the estates. so if you poached like i did and you were caught it was an offence and if you were old enough you could be sent to prison i was lucky i never did get caught it. i managed to elude the keepers and police but i had some near escapes and got a bit frightened on a number of occasions. i could always get a few rabbits the warriners would set hundreds of snares some times twice a day morning and night time they would be up early in the morning to collect the rabbits they had caught and believe me that could be hundreds. i would watch them set the snares and be back before them and take a few they had caught i would always set the snare again and tidy up any mess that the rabbit had made struggling to get away. it was easy but i would never over do it. as i have said i have been chased on many occasions and have even lay down in the river close to the bank under over hanging branches and under growth not nice its been that cold you could hear my teeth chatter. but i have managed to get away and hide the rabbits till latter in the day, when it had quietened down. the peasants were a different thing all together i liked a windy night i would shoot them with an old Bsa pellet gun and would use a torch to show them up at roast in the trees. i would only take a couple here and a couple there and never over do it in one place and always try and clear any feathers the bird made when it hit the ground so not to give my presence away to the keepers as next time they could be waiting for you. well more latter
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In reply to Post #583
Mink was another problem we started to get and it was not unusual for the phone to go and some fishery owner would ask if graham and myself would go have a look they were really killing machines and would not only kill the fish but the wild life as well small ducklings anything. we always used traps baited with fish or any thing really they would go into the trap but could not get out i would try and set the trap under a bridge or in some rocks by the side of the river. they were nasty things and would try and bite you through the bars of the trap. sorry mods but i would put the barrel of a air rifle through the bars of the trap and at times the mink would grab the end of the barrel i would shoot them all like that and they were instantly dead. the people that let these killers go have no idea about the country side and should have been made an example of. but we now have to live with them . i had them at the trout fishery where i was bailiff and they did quite a lot of damage before we got them under control we would get rid of one and another would move straight in i think i caught about twenty on there in about six months. another problem cormorant they would take hundreds of trout and could quite easily swallow fish of over two pounds i was issued with a permit to shoot them but was only allowed two per month they would collect the bodies that was defra and would then study the contents of the stomach , well they turned a blind eye to how many we shot we could not shoot them with a rifle it was at the time not lawful  and most had to be shot with a shot gun i would wait for them to come into feed at first light and we got rid of a few over the months. in the end they seemed to learn the lesson and you did not see many on there so i think they do learn by association i would not want to eradicate them all i like to feel i am a conservationist but you must control when they are doing damage as fishing is to some a big business and they cant afford to loose that much money as it is there living. well more latter
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In reply to Post #582
Graham and myself carried on with the rabbit control for many years i suppose my arthritis put a stop to it as i was finding it difficult to walk. we did quite a bit with ferrets and some time use a long net. grahams brother came with us when we were ferreting, and i saw him actually get knocked out cold he had removed a net to the entrance on a big warren he was lying with his head nearly in the hole when a fox bolted and hit him head on. it knocked him out leaving his head with a nasty cut, i have never seen this before or since it was quite a big warren and the fox must have been lying in there its the first time i have seen a ferret bolt a fox. The farmer was a nice sort of chap and had about five miles of the river tern we had done quite a good job for him so i asked if we could fish his water no probs go when you want. we had some real good days on the tern float fishing and ledgering for the bream chub and roach it was also full of trout nice ones to up to round two pounds brownies if caught he said take a couple home we did not of course ha ha it was quit a fast flowing river,, and i liked it when it came up and had some colour in it the barbel would come up from the Severn i never caught the real biggies from there i suppose looking back six pounds was the biggest but would they go on light tackle. well the farmer came to me one day can you come have a look at this he said i could not believe my eyes he had over a hundred free range hens and they were all dead killed by a fox or fox's some had their heads bitten off. Can you do anything for me he said well we looked around and found a few birds he had dropped up the fields. One week latter he lost all his geese. he had four lovely peacocks as well and they even took them the chap was beside himself it was pure carnage the peacocks was the foxs mistake every fence he came to he tryed to pull them throught and left there feathers in the fence i followed for at least three miles and found him lying up in a wood or should i say them. i got the local fox shoot who were friends to come down and they shot eight foxs out of that little wood. The farmer was over the moon for what we had done for him and i could go fishing anywhere on his property. thats how i got lots of our fishing by doing the farmers a favour and helping out in any way we could but that was years ago and we are still freinds althought i dont see much of him now . know i could still fish his river moe latter
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In reply to Post #581
Poaching really not worth doing today. i see a thread on the forum about bailiffing as i have said before i have baliffed many lakes in shropshire it can be a thankless job but also very rewarding. you meet all sorts some real characters and some reaL hard cases that wont pay for a ticket and are very abusive towards your self. i always tired to be respectful to all i met and not rude but some were complete arsoles and knew they may get away without paying. they usually fished in threes and always threatened you or other bailiffs. i found the best way to deal with these characters go to the local police station with the registration number of the car if you had it or tell the police exactly where they are fishing. some times the police would say they had no police officers avail;able so i found the best way around this situation was to ask for a incident number and you could soon check next morning if the incident had been dealt with. it worked quite well for us. its no picnic being out at night with no back up so the police in shrewsbury ran a poacher watch scheme we would meet up once a month at the nick to discuss any poaching that had been going on in the area it worked very well and if you had a problem could call on any of the local bailiffs and game keepers to help you out and maybe catch the culprits with the aid of the police. i could never understand the local police i would have an incident on the trout lake maybe two or three poachers and i would watch them with night binoculars then ring the police but they always arrived with there lights flashing and horns blaring. i had a chat with the sgt about this and he said it was the best way as the more hassle they got the better it deterred them from coming thinking back it probably did. i think the best way was to let the dogs go i would laugh my tits of you could hear the poachers shouting and the dogs barking and would usually catch one or two but take them to court was a waste of time they were only told to be good boys. there was better ways than that which i will not discuss on here, ill leave you to guess but once it had happened to them they rarely came back. it was instant justice and cost them money well more latter
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In reply to Post #580
Another Easter gone and everyone back at work. i used to look forward to it but now i am retired its just like other days. a lot of the waters around my way are shut for the close season as most are ssi places of scientific interest. the shoot i run and some of the fishing come under English nature and we have a good relation ship with them. helping us in anyway they can they certainly help the wild life and and have improved our little shoot and some of the fishing dramatically. one thing i have is no shortage of fishing, plenty to go at and what with the carp and barbel it will keep me busy most of this year. i suppose i have about six lakes local and a few miles of river to fish. one i will certainly be fishing is lordys i went to have a look and saw a few nice fish showing so ill be putting a bit of bait and time in there. i was a bit worried as the depth is not that great average about five ft and thought being iced over for so long may kill a few but it does not seem to have done that much harm. there are some big old fish in this water that have been in it for years its strictly private and at one time i was the only one fishing its piece and quite i am also hoping to fish a bit on the river rea as i can walk down from my house not very far travel light there is some big gray-ling being caught some have been a pound plus what a way to spend a day standing in the water trotting maggots below a float and with a bit of luck catching the lady of the river great fishing, years ago i loved the upper reaches of the severn and used to travel up with a friend to llandrillo we would have some exellent days float fishing for the grayling catching fish to well over a pound they are very nice eating although i have not eaten one for years . George and i also fished for the salmon and the pike at llandrillo and caught some quite good fish from there. we had pike to just over twenty pounds mostly while fishing for the salmon. and a few good salmon mostley arround the ten pounds mark we also used worm for the latter and caught a few big bunces of lobs was the answer. the other bait we used was prawns they worked a treat and we had lots using this bait well a bit more latter
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In reply to Post #579
when i was a young kid i was always down the local brook with a net bucket or jam jar catching the bull heads or lampreys we would spend hours doing this great fun. but the bull heads have now seemed to have vanished and the lampreys are not as common as they used to be. i don't know what has caused the decline maybe pollution sprays etc its a real shame even the old minnow is not there in great numbers like it was when i started fishing with my grandad. i would catch them real easy when i wanted a few for eel fishing mainly with a bottle trap and would set it the night before i went fishing put some bread in it Tye it down the minnows would go in but could not get out i would go in the morning and could catch as many as fifty which would give you a couple of nights bait. a great bait for eels chub and perch and have also caught some nice trout with them. when i now walk the river bank the wild life also seems to have disappeared you don't see the old water rat like you used to the water voles are not there any more very scarce. and around my way you very rarely see the water dipper which were very common when i was young. the king fishers are still quite common and beautiful to see. the herons sill around in quite big numbers. but there is such a lot of our wild life vanished the sand martins still nest in the river bank and usually arrive about this time of year. when having a walk the other day with the wife i found a new fox earth and she had fox cubs already they had worn the earth smooth from playing out side, very early i have seen them in late jan but these must be quite big for the mess to be around the earth like it is i am surprised considering the bad winter we have had another bird i saw the other day was the red kite i watched it for some time a lovely specticle as there are not many pairs in this county but are slowly spreading from north wales. i heard there was only one breeding pair in shropshire or so english nature says. but it is a very big county and they could be anywhere well thats it bit more to come latter
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