Still here, but not for long

As are the swallows.
Hoards of gulls following the plough's today, there must be a thousand of them wheeling their way back to the roost over this part of the Lincolnshire Wolds.
I've not been fishing since my last blog, it's tidy up time in the garden as we're off to soon.

Another holiday
We're heading to the North of Portugal close to the town of Ponte-da-Barca and into the National Park of Peneda-Geres.
Our last visit to the North must have been getting on for 35 years ago, we were probably there for our wedding anniversary as we will be this time for the 43rd year!
Our stay last time was in the coastal town of Viana do Costelo, it has many fond memories for us, we hope the in between years haven't changed the location too much, although there is now a motorway off the coastal route that didn't exist before, so we shall see.
I'm taking some of my fishing gear with me as we are on the banks of the River Lima. I shall probably be fishing barbel style, much the same as the Trent, and see how it goes.
My guess is that the internet, if any, will not be that brilliant,so I may well keep a log and report on our return.
I already have a "Travel Experiences" blog page set up from our Brazil trip, so I'll add it to that when possible.

House Sale
It's now a year since we've put the house on the market. We have got through two High Street agencies, the latest since April.
What we can't make out is the lack of viewings, although it does seem to me that High Street estate agents are a thing of the past, folk now check out the likes of Rightmove, and no longer look in the agents window.
So we've challenged the agent to produce a new marketing strategy for our return from Portugal.
My guess is that we will take the house off the market, and start again with a different outlook on our life here on the Wolds, or perhaps Purple Bricks!

Fishing
On my return I shall be heading for the Trent and the Upper Witham, too see how I fair through the Autumn for barbel, chub and perhaps roach.
I've also gained a local contact for some sea fishing on a boat out of Grimsby, and have a couple of the villagers who are interested in joining me. So again, we shall see.

That's all for now, I'll be back

More this and that

Around and about the garden

I'm sitting in the garden this afternoon,lapping up what may be perhaps a few days of summer's final blast, with temperatures currently at 5pm around 77f
I've been noticing for the last few days that the acrobatic swallow and martin's had been replaced by the local small flock of starling, and our resident house sparrows in the stalling flight insect hunt they are both very good at. 
BUT, only just this minute I am hearing the twitter of a small group of swallows telling me that they haven't all made the trip down south yet. 
The swifts departed probably three or four weeks ago.
All in all it's been a good year in the garden for birdlife.
We've been inundated with linnet's, nesting in our hedges, they all seem to have left the surrounding gardens now, maybe the harvest is calling them to more abundant food sources.
The robin's are currently singing their quiet plaintive call in several locations nearby. Our own, I assume a male having the brightest of red breasts I've seen for some while. 
That may be due to reflective light, but he certainly looks in good full colour. 
Generally, the other birds have not fared quite so well, blackbird and song thrush although having a good number of broods, have been noticeably restricted in the end to one or two fledglings, with the odd three showing earlier on in the spring. 
The woodies only appear to have one per brood surviving , but they have been rampant all year. Flimsy nests cropping up all over our higher hedges
Other than that, we've had dunnock, wren and house sparrow producing one clutch successfully, but not other birds.
Our annual great tit  nestbox was squatted by house sparrow for the first time since we've lived here again just one brood although there has been great success around as we often have up to 30 around our pond.
Our two apple and pear trees have been quite successful this year  the victoria plum however, has for the last two years after an excellent harvest failed, and we had a great deal of rust spots on the leaves. 

I've cut it down now, before leaf fall, on the basis that I think it's diseased, and don't want to chance an infection of the rest of our trees. 
Other than that we didn't plant a great deal of salad/vegetable crop on the basis that we may be moving.
Alas that hasn't come to pass yet. 
We did have enough for tasting at least, of raspberry and blueberry. No gooseberries this year though, and as for the grape vines, not enough to even trouble the blackbird.

Fishing
I was going to venture down to the Trent again tonight, but decided too many beers on the patio probably made it not such a good idea.
I did go down yesterday and fished for four hours up to dusk.
Only one take just after 6pm, and that turned out to be a very angry barbel of about eight and a half pound. He gave a cracking tussle for his quarter tin of garlic spam. 
I think you can see where it ended up!

.
My hook knot tying method appears to be improved, lack of care beforehand I think.
The mojo is definitely back, this stretch of the Trent isn't easy, but I'm winkling them out slowly but surely. A challenge gratefully accepted.
I thought the two barbel reported in last weeks blog were different fish, so thanks for those of my readers who responded to confirm my thoughts
Unlikely to go out again until Friday at the earliest, unless I get the dawn call.

In the meantime off out to the patio with a bottle of wine...... or two

I think I've got it back

My mojo for fishing that is.
I've been on Trent a few times since last reporting, most of it small stuff and a lot of blanks.
This week I've been out twice, two days on the trot! I maybe even having a trip down tomorrow (Friday)
The Trent is painfully low, but I've persevered with the maggots and hemp approach, fishing the chunk of meat on the inside line, and a mix on the main rod.
All of my smaller stuff has been caught on dendrobaena worms, with not so much of a sniff on maggots.

On Tuesday I met Flyfisherman Richard for an afternoon session on the middle, did my usual stuff and after about two hours I got some action on the meat rod and landed my second barbel of the season, again at 9lb 8ozs. 
I'm hoping it's not the same fish as my first day fish!
Other than that once again maggots failed, but I took some same chub and perch on the worm.
Richard was unable to buy a bite.

Anyway last night I grabbed my cane rod, my Purist II and some bits, and decided that a session on meat only would be worth a test,
I thought that perhaps a bit of weight on the line would suit better
having noted yesterday, and indeed firstly on this session, that I was loosing a lot of meat on the anti erosion rocks.
So after about an hour of setting up, and with the weight on the line, I was into my first fish. 
A chub of about 3lb, it had snaffled my quarter tin of garlic spam without any trouble.

So out again, I waited, as you do with big meat and, was just tidying up, and having a pee, before the off, when the reel gave me the alarm again. 
I lifted into a fish still with my todger hanging out!
Left handed put away, right handed rod hold...or was it the other way round?
Anyway, this time the fish was bigger and tougher, and was heading off downstream, it was starting to give ground when.....it came off.
Once again I had a knot failure, this time on the hook length swivel.
Disgusted with myself I packed up, it was nearly sun down, so being off the fishery is in the rules.
I was so angry with myself that it took a while to calm down even after some idiot pulled out on me on my approach to the roundabout at Newark.
The driver kept faffing about in front of me all the way up to the A1 roundabout, after a few blasts on the horn I felt a lot better and then calmed down for the remainder of the drive home.

This is/are the fish, so if I have any readers, are they the same fish?

I'm now determined to go back down again, and to make sure before hand, that my lack of practice in knot tying fluorocarbon is improved and I'm up to finding out what is in this part of the mighty Trent.