Close

Final fling


Well, I've fished the middle for three days, and the tidal for three, plenty of bream to show for it and they were from the tidal at Sutton. On all of those trips and a couple before I was testing and only using  a bait marketed as a barbel attractor !

High tide

So yesterday I handed over the remainder of the  package for testing at Sutton between June 16th and mid August, in the hope that a review of the bait can be available for the autumn magazine.

Spent a couple of the days at Sutton trying to ID a flock 14 ducks with a whistle call in flight, I think they were teal wigeon

The "best" of the bunch

The middle down stream

The middle stretch is a noted spawning area, the EA strip off barbel here for future stocks.Yesterday was the first indication that the big girls were arriving, timed perfectly.....not for me alas!

So my river angling is over for 3 months, and I have to say that from a fishing view point I didn't give enough time to assess my skills, maybe a dozen trips this season mostly on the Trent.
Too many other things to deal with, so I'm looking forward to some pond fishing for tench and ago at some monster perch, and perhaps from next season a more varied approach to my angling in general.Certainly aim to get onto the bank more often.

..and then there were two!

I know I shall be somewhere around the Bristol Avon come opening week, not for fishing primarily, but the travel rods will be in the boot.
So watch out in the new season, I could be knocking at your door to come along and share the Experiences of your local river.

MOT

Visited the Doctors surgery about a fortnight ago for the NHS offered over 55's MOT, knowing full well that I am very overweight but feeling generally fit.
Results yesterday leave me for the need for more tests, to assess my glucose tolerance.
With family members suffering with varying degreesof diabetes this was an obvious outcome, my cholesterol is ok but I apparently drink too much and am clinically obese and have a 1 in 20 chance of a stroke or heart attack in the next 10 years.
Not certain I accept the booze thing, although the liver count may tell me otherwise,  too much weight was a no brainer !
A stone lost since early January only 7 to go!!

Red meat


Whilst thinking of health I began to wonder about these scientific studies about what we can eat or drink, and thought to myself do these scientists ever consider that the longer we all live the more of a burden we will become on our loved ones and society as a whole. Not their real concern me thinks, I bet the red meat scientists were all veggies anyway..
I for one don't want a few years extra on my life, with the potential of suffering dementia,or some other high dependency illness. So sod the go without or else philosophy preached,  if I took any pills which I thankfully don't, I would certainly give consideration to saving some up for that day when I've had enough!

After thought


A certain blogger is getting boring now with his constant chunterings about the close season and otters etc etc, give it a rest Bob, the blog is reading just like the Daily Mail now, even with their touches of inaccurate reporting  thrown in.
It seems to me he's pushing for a sure fire method  to build his readers figures in this river Close Season.
He talks about people on "......internet forums with renewed vigour and drone on endlessly.........."      yep!  
My forum reply to which Bob refers, was that the Adams Mill fish were fat, old and probably close to dying, if not dead, when dragged up the banks to be eaten by who knows what, maybe fox's, carrion eating birds, or  possibly even otter. Nobody has produced facts only their  interpretation, which is what I did!
Take a hint from John Bailey's article in this weeksAngler's Mail , Bob  "..... there are endless reports of  fish between 14 and 17lbs coming from more than a handfull of rivers. Fish of these proportions and in these numbers would have been unheard of when most of us were kids" 
John even thinks a revival of the Wensum's big fish is not far away.

So Bob, what goes around comes around, but there will be no changes to the Close Season in our lifetime and fish will carry on existing....as long as we have water for them to swim in.
Talking of which there was a report in an Oxford paper, that the Cherwell and Kennet are now " relying on “man-made” water to stop them from drying up."   In otherwords "clean" water being pumped from  sewerage works !!
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9569082.River_Cherwell_drying_up_in_drought/
That's where you should start your chunter!