|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #101
What weather we are having i loved to be out carp fishing this time of year, always so much to see the wild life would be at its best the birds have more or less finished breeding i would lie in my bivi listening to every thing around me i had a pair of night scopes that i borrowed it made life a little more interesting they were a good set ex army so i am led to believe. I fished one lake and was always a bit apprehensive being there they would be out with the rifles fox shooting i know the farmer used a 243 and i did not fancy being hit with one of those you would lie in your bivi half a sleep then bang it was quite off putting the farmer was a friend i know i could trust him but it was the others that poached the surrounding land and believe me there were a few you would see the lights sweeping across the fields they were after the rabbits, using 2.2 i have even pulled my rods in and i have gone for a closer look there would be as many of six some had dogs as well big lurchers, it was not until they really involved me by going into the woods which i had ran as pheasant shoot, for the last thirty odd years i did not want them roaming about in there but we managed to scare them away by putting trip ,wires down connected to a tube with a cartridge in they would trip the wire pulling the cotter pin out and releasing the firing pin and bobs your uncle if you put a piece of tin sheeting under neath it made an almighty noise i would take the pellets out of the cartridge and fill them with rice but not always you would be hiding in the wood then hear the bang then the shouting as they got away saying they had been shot at i and my mates would roll around laughing we had these traps set all over the woods and they certainly did the job.
 a carp from this old lake
i caught some big old fish from this lake over the years i can well remember poaching the place years before i suppose i was about twenty years old at the time it was a wonderful lake in those days covered in lilies alas now nearly all gone when the place was sold the new owner let us fish the place for five shillings it was fair bit of money then but then he had the shallows dredged with a big machine and it really spoiled the place we used to make some spectacular catches of Bream fishing the shallows plus some good roach we also caught a number of eels some going six pounds but those days seem to have finished, no one fishes for the eels any more there are some good carp in the place but it is now used for water skiing the carp are usually fished for at night i have caught from there when the skiers have been using the water but its not for me i like piece and quite not noisy boats going around washing all the birds nests away but i suppose we have to learn to share the waters that are available well that's it for now more latter
 < A real old black warroir from the lake
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #96
What a wonderful holiday plenty of good weather, while there i had a fox cub underneath the caravan he came mostly at dark and tried to get the rubbish bag down which i had hung up in the awning i watched from the window as he delicately balanced on a deck chair and managed to get it down i then had to get the bag and replace it once again, i removed the chair but by next morning he had managed to get the bag once again how i don't know but he had ripped holes in the bag and managed to get some strawberries that we had thrown away also getting a few slices of bread a fox eating strawberries its a new one on me i just hope he did not get a bad belly when i looked under the van you could see where he had been lying down leaving two slices of bread i think we must of disturbed him.
We also went down to the harbor at porthmadog it was absolutely full of mullet and there was some good fish amongst them i had left my rods at the van i sure our ken will tell us how hard they are to catch i have had them in the past using match tactics using very small pieces of bread but i have missed more bites than i have hit i did wander after watching them taking small pieces of bread that the holiday makers had chucked in whether you could catch them on a fly rod as i watched them even having a go at a little piece of white feather i am sure if you tied some small hooks with imitation feathers small that resembled bread you may catch a few well it's worth a go i will have to try next time i go up there.
Where ever you look the road side banks were full of foxgloves and many other wild flowers it was a sea of colour they have yet to cut the bank sides and hedge rows leaving them well alone until the birds have all nested i notice a pair of blue tits were still nesting in a hole in the stone wall behind the caravan according to the chap next door it was the second brood, they have nested there for at least the last five years maybe not the same pair but nice to see. The chap next door had a few nice sea bream from his boat, , and a couple of nice codling but no mackerel as yet but it wont be long before they are catching a few, well all being well we will be off fishing again next week maybe be for the barbel or the carp i will, let you all know how we get on well that's it for now more latter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #99
just back from holls i will commence stories tomorrow all being well
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #96
ill be back in a few days and will; continue my stories may have time to do one more before i go, so see you all latter thanks for reading them, pete
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #97
thanks ken for your kind remarks appreciated
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #93
Nice Borises, Pete and great tales as usual.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #95
We arrived to fish at the weir at shrewsbury this morning the water was only six inches from the top where we fish and the water was a funny colour i have caught barbel in those conditions with four oz feeders graham did not fancy it and we would have been burnt to a cinder its that hot, if we had been younger maybe we would of chanced it graham is now 75 years old i am coming 70 next birthday you just cant do the things we used to do.
I was reading with interest about older anglers and the younger element of our hobby i personally have many friends that are young anglers and i am only to happy to help and answer questions regarding fishing there is nothing to be gained by being a miserable old sod i suffer pain but it does not stop me being polite and helping others i am not one of these secret squirrels and will tell other anglers what bait i am fishing with we all have to learn and to some extent you learn all your life, i love the look on the face of a younger angler who catches a nice fish and has caught it with the same rig and bait you have helped him with we older anglers have an obligation to help the younger anglers in our mist to learn how to fish and pass our knowledge on to them some may not agree with me, graham and i have taken his young grandson tom under our wing and we are passing our knowledge on to him about the countryside and its inhabitants the life of the fox badgers and the bird life it is our heritage so we pass all we know on it will make him a better person and he will have a fair understanding of the country side i also taught my grandson Antony from a young age he was only 3 years old when i first took him but he has now flown the nest and is a member of the royal dragoon guards i am so proud of him but what i have taught him will help him through his life time one thing he did not like was fishing he had no interest maybe one day he may take an interest we will wait and see.
I have had a wonderful life and have so much to tell the younger generation not only about fishing but the country side in general nature and angling go hand in hand and while fishing you see some interesting things i no longer night fish but still manage to catch one or two nice fish in the day, i loved to be out at night fishing i would listen to the different noises coming from the fields and woods i always carried a note book and would log every thing down i am now to old and crippled to erect bivvies i can not do it any more so i give the night fishing a miss all i have now is my memories and a few photos and i feel more comfortable in my own bed fishing is so different today than what it was in my early days tackle and methods have changed such a lot i think for the good i would not like to go back to how we fished in the forties and fifties although we had fun using it trying out different methods. well a bit more latter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #94
We went again on Friday but it was blankety blank although i lost what looked like a good fish the rod bent over no need to strike and away down stream he went he was taking line against the clutch i could feel him trying to shake the hook i tried to gain some line but it was hopeless he kept going i really bent into him and did turn him upstream but it was useless he managed to get his head down stream once again i could not follow him because of all the obstacles in between i hung on for dear life graham came to my assistance saying looks a good fish Pete no way could i gain any line and then it happened he snagged me in something what i dont know i pulled for a break no good so i decided to put the rod down give him some slack line and see if he would come out on his own no way not for a least an hour then he was off again there was a twang then nothing i had lost, him i was using drennan Dacron its nice and supple and really hugs the bottom but he broke me at the hook but that's the way it goes i said to graham and Rodger the bailiff it could of been a salmon it would not be the first time i have had a salmon on using small halibut pellets graham never had a take Rodger went and came back and set up next to me and what did he do caught one i said you jammy bugger but that's the way it goes we are going again on Monday so we will try once again but i am not holding my breath.
I have told you in part one all about Halford church yard at craven arms it is where so many friends from the past are buried even old SAM and his wife lie there it is a most beautiful place peaceful and pretty the water fall still crashes down in a silver spray it was a happy place when i was young and still is i thought about all the trout i had landed when fishing below the sill of the falls but yesterday was a sad occasion once again a friend i lived next door to and school chum has passed away he had a epileptic fit he has had them for years but he went into a coma and never came around some sort of meningitis set in and that was that he was only seventy thats another freind gone i had a look around the church yard and eventualy found sams and his wifes grave you can hardly see the writing on his head stone as its badly faded, i expect from the weather over the years, it has got to be nearly sixty years since he was burried i nearly shed a tear as i thought back to those years when he was keeper in the big woods that over look the church i would like to think that part of sam still roams those woods so yesterday was rather sad it really makes you think life is so fragile it only takes seconds and you are gone you are like a leaf falling from a tree so get out there fishing and do what you want as life is so short. well a bit more latter before i go on holls
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #93
I will continue after the barbel for the time being and let the dust settle on the carp scene graham and i have checked out a couple of waters and with a bit of luck we will give it a go in a few weeks time i will not be around for a few days as i am going on holiday so i will leave my son in law in charge at home plenty for him to do like watering the tomatoes in the green house so the stories will have to wait for a bit well until i get back. I had a phone call about some fox cubs the other night and i must have a drive down to have a look maybe with a bit of luck get a few photos the lady says she has had them in her garden and is a bit worried about her pet rabbits she has about six cross Belgium hairs big things i bet they weight about seven pounds or more old foxy wont mind thought he will soon devour them.
I told the lady to move the rabbits into her shed for the time being while the cubs are around but its not them but the vixen or dog will do the damage i have heard of a number of residents on our village complaining that there pet rabbits have vanished ripped through the wire of the pen and one or two cats have gone astray to they will take a cat but not that often as the cat can quite easily escape and can and put up a fair fight. A friend down the road was really anti fox hunting and anti shooting he would tell every one how nice the fox was and they should be left alone i agree they are lovely animals but they can and do cause a lot of damage, but lets continue about this friend he had pet rabbits some he used to show well to cut a long story short old foxy got in and played havoc killing a number of his show rabbits i was called down what a mess he had killed at least five taking only one, we found another three in the next door neighbors garden still alive but very traumatized it was pure carnage the gentleman has now changed his mind about foxes you can shoot the lot his certainly not anti anymore but as i explained the foxes had cubs to feed and the rabbits were easy pickings the gentleman has now got them in a big shed where old foxy cant get at them i found the earth just down the field at a place called the stocking you could see by the way they had been playing the cubs were quite big next to the earth was a corn field you could see where they had been playing rolling the corn flat it wont be long before the vixen moves them on and they go there separate ways well its off fishing again tomorrow we will try once again maybe we will catch a few maybe not but who cares we are still alive and its a wonderfull way to spend a day. A bit more latter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #92
With a bit of a struggle graham and i decided to go fishing yesterday we went for the barbel and although the river was low. When i say struggle my back is terrible painful but i managed a few hours after this hard fighting fish, there was a hint of colour in the water we only fished with one rod each as where we were fishing its a bit cramped. Trust me i screwed the rod rest in to the bank only to be met with a swarm of wasps i soon moved swims lucky i did not get stung when the bailiff came around i pointed the nest out to him i think he is going to get it dealt with a few years ago i would of dug it up for the grubs it held they were brilliant for fishing for chub but those days have gone , we started fishing with a feeder and small ellipse pellets and it was not long before graham was attached to one angry fish he was talking to the bailiff at the time he played it for a few moments then all went slack he got cut of on the rocky bottom it seemed a reasonable fish but not deterred he cast out again and was soon into another fish which was duly landed and took the scales to six pounds ten oz not a bad start to the day the bailiff had told us it was very quite and not many had been caught since opening day the sixteenth of June.
 Graham with his 6ib -10 0z barbel
 Me with the biggest of the day graham weighed it at eight pound ten oz but it looked a lot bigger
Then it was my turn the top of the rod bent around from a savage take i grabbed the rod, and he took line as he headed down stream after a while i managed to turn him and get his head up stream he did not want to give up and started moving against the current upstream i could tell it was a good fish and took me about fifteen minutes to get it under control it was duly landed looking at the fish i could see he had a fair belly on him graham weighted him at eight pounds ten oz but he looked a lot bigger i said to graham have we weighted that fish right as to me it looked a, lot bigger, never mind i recast sitting there wandering if grahams scales were right when once again the rod tip looped over it felt a reasonable fish but only weighted in at six pounds eight oz but it was turning into a good day and up to now i was well pleased it was shortly followed by another of around five pounds then it was grahams turn he was into what looked like a decent fish when all went slack he had lost another good fish well that was it although we tried no more came our way so at tea time we called it a day it had been well worth going the final tally was six barbel and we lost three not bad for our first day out we will try again on friday hoping for more of the same. a bit more latter
 A beautiful stretch of river
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #89
I was with Dick one day at his mothers god bless her and he said come with me Pete he proceeded to get a fork and bucket and started digging for worms they were perfect lovely little red jobs after putting some soil and leaves and mixing them together he said take them home with you and start breeding your own worms i had already got one in my old compass heap but i added Dicks i think he gave me around a hundred and i still have it today i like to think some are descendants of Dicks worms they have certainly caught me some fish over the years mostly perch and trout but i have also caught a few Rudd and bream using them.
Looking back that was in 1974 thirty seven years ago where does the time go i really don't know most of the old anglers from my generation have now passed on Dick was my boy hood hero jack Hilton bill Quinlan terry Thoma's Fred jay all gone but they left there legacy they were the anglers of yesterday i really feel that if it was not for them and what we learned from them our carp fishing would not be like it is today they were the pioneers, then we have good old Terry Thomas Chris tarrant's mate i remember them on tiswas together i certainly learned how to drink wine when he was about ,i remember him falling out of a boat while filming a bit worse for ware i would see terry most years at the game fairs and he was always a bit under the weather but a nice chap and we had many laughs talking to him.
Dennis Kelly was another quite well known angler at the time and in the late sixties and seventies he was one of the best bream anglers ever he caught so many big bream he also broke the record, a fish of over thirteen pounds from white mere at Ellesmere but he never claimed the record he did not want it publishing as you would have never been able to fish the place again. There were only a few swims so it was kept very quite i fact it was broken again by another member of our group and that was also not claimed for the same reason but they were the days we would be fishing at every opportunity i would fish all night then go straight to work next morning i would wash at work and have a change of cloths i would be tired out by the evening through lack of sleep as in the early years we did not have bite alarms and you would have to stay awake watching the doe bobbins for any movment that was tiring enough but to go to work after you would be completly tired out by five in the evening and ready for bed things improved for me when Dick gave me the Herons and i found i could sleep a bit which really helped in fact i caught my biggest bream from colemere using the Heron bite alarms i could never thank Dick enought for his kindness in giving me a pair. well a bit more latter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #90
Thank you so much Allan you are right the banks were very quite in those days most lakes where private you had no chance to fish them unless you did a bit of guesting you were right about dick he did hold both records i see your name is walker no relation are you dick also did a bit of poaching with the gun shooting a pheasant or two Tim his son said he was caught and i am not certain but i think he was done for his crime well done the man seriously it was a pleasure knowing him he was a terrific man and freind thanks again pete 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #89
Pete,
I always enjoy your posts. There is something about the old days that is sadly missing today, natural untrodden banks for one.
You are absolutely correct about Dick and the trout record. In fact he held the trout record at the same time as he held the carp record. The only man in history to hold two British records simultaneously.
The 34 lb common that took his bait off the dam wall at Redmire was at the time the second biggest carp ever caught in Britain. The only man in history to hold a record and the second biggest fish of the same species at the same time.
Truly, he was the greatest.
We will never see his like again.
Alan
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #88
I always remember the last time i spoke to dick i really rang up to see if he wanted any more wood pigeons sending down as i used to send at least four a month as i have said before i would pack them in a shoe box i don't know if he would eat them or whether he used them for fly tying i never did ask him. well i rang him from work this one morning and a lady answered the phone i suspect it was his wife sorry , but dick is to poorly to take phone calls i heard a familiar voice say who is it peter from shrews bury ill take it hi Pete he said how you doing and what you catching i told him all the news do you still want the pigeons dick no Pete i am in bed i have got cancer i am dying it went very quiet i was absolutely shocked, i thought you knew Pete no i did not i replied what do you say to your boy hood hero words would not say how i felt i was devastated as he had done so much for me given me tackle and such but one thing above all else stood out he gave me friendship i would certainly miss our little chats and the visits to his factory we said our good byes and that was the last time i spoke to dick walker he did not last that long and a few weeks latter he had gone i never went to his funeral as i could not get the time off work i would of loved to have gone but it was impossible owing to big work commitments one thing i can honestly say he was a great man and had a good sense of humor also an inventor and writer and a superb angler i do wonder if without him carp fishing would be what it is today i still think of dick as the grand father of carp angling.
But he could and did catch many other species he caught big perch roach tench you name it he caught it in the last few years of his life he spent fly fishing if i remember right he broke the rainbow record i am sure if i am wrong some one will correct me i have fond memories of the times i went to his factory he would take me around the factory and introduce me to the work force he knew all by name it appeared to be a wonderful place to work he said most who work here are fishermen or play football his co director was a world class referee he would take me out to dinner and a pint or two then either to see his mother or around some of the lakes he had fished i used to like going to see his mother we would always have big pieces of cake and tea she was a wonderful old lady she used to try and scare me with stories about the resident ghost i never did see it but she was conviced the ghost was real dick would shake his head take no notice pete i had some wonderfull times when i went down to his factory and they will remain in my memory for ever,. well a bit more latter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #87
How the years roll by it did not hit me until yesterday, the next birthday i will be seventy i said to a friend yesterday wheres my life gone it has passed so quickly i have had a great time especially fishing and i have met some some great anglers and made many friends. I have fished in shropshire from one end to the other some legal some not but i have enjoyed it all they say life is for living i have certainly done that if some one asked me what was the best thing you ever did i would not hesitate and say meeting dick walker he was an icon, i learned so much from the great man he was so kind and generous towards myself and friends we lived a long way apart but he would ring me at work asking how i was and what we had been fishing for he loved it when we were catching the big bream and asked me to write about our campaign but i never really had the time i was a young chap with a young family work had to come first.
At that time my life was rather full most of the time when i was away from work i was either fishing or down the woods as nature played a major part in my life i also walked the hills where the time came from i don't no i would come home from work and would be away fishing until dark i lived and breathed fishing in the sixties and seventies and then i had my shooting in the winter so there was never a dull moment lucky i had a very understanding family and wife, I remember dick giving me a ring at work hi Pete can you do me a favour and take a disabled lad fishing no problem he gave the address and telephone number i arranged to meet him and his father at Acton Burnell i had a ticket and was a friend of the owner i took all my gear a long but i had no need dick had sent him all the rods reels the lot line hooks you name it he sent it the man was so generous and helpful towards young anglers, the rods were made by hardy one a twelve ft float rod the other an eleven ft ledger rod but i had my work cut out with this young lad he had no coordination between his arm and brain when he tried to cast it would end in a tangle at his feet it took nearly all day to get him casting but he eventually did it i can remember his face when he caught his first fish a small Rudd he was made up, and that was the beginning of a long friendship with his father who was also a friend of dick the great man rang me up at home and could not thank me enought it was not a problem, i know the lad carried on fishing throught his young life i think his father has now passed on and i have now lost contact with the family i suppose that would be in the middle senventies. well a bit more latter
|
|
Stickies