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He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops.
Pilgrim’s Progress – read it everyThursday!
Back On The Big Bream Trail – Part Three
Over the last two weeks I’ve been documenting my recent week-longsession in Suffolk after big bream. In Part One I managed to catch a6lb 14 oz tench in 53 hours. The 48 hours that took up part two saw adouble-figure carp on the bank. How would the final couple of daysgo? Would I go from bad to worse? Would I go out with a whimper? Willthe session end on a high? Join me as we reach the end of the sessiontogether.
Day Six
‘What I need now, I thought to myself, is a nice double-figurebream to take my mind off things’. Those words were amongst myclosing paragraph for the day five entry. They almost becameprophetic (I’ve been writing this ‘live’ on the bank, by the way, asthe session has unfolded) because at 2.00 am I caught my first breamof the week. But notice the use of the word ‘almost’ as the fishweighed in at just over 9lb. Half an ounce over to be precise.
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It also gave me a sense of satisfaction as I had slightly changedmy tactics. The line was now pinned to the lake bed to avoid thenumerous line bites I’d been having. I’d also introduced line clipsand I was now fishing during darkness with 14 mm Tutti Fruttiboilies. It’s always difficult to measure whether a change of plandid the trick, or if one would have caught anyway. But, it’s alwaysan encouragement when an adjustment puts a fish on the bank.
However, the joy on the fishing front is being negated by theactivity of my furry friends outside. Whenever I shine the torchbeyond the bivvie door, there is instant activity as rats scatter inall directions. Words such as ‘infestation’, ‘epidemic’ and ‘overrun’spring to mind. Steve Irwin would love it here. (He’s the Australianguy on TV who plays with snakes, crocodiles, rodents etc). He wouldthink it was his birthday, Christmas and New Year all rolled intoone.
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Rising at 4.30 am to re-cast and bait up again I’m greeted by yetanother rat flap in the bivvie. Next time I come here, I thought tomyself, I’m going to bring a cat. Then my vivid imagination andentrepreneurial spirit combined to hatch a business plan to exploit aniche in the market. Why not sell a rat deterring animal such as thefox as the ultimate ‘must have’ carp accessory? I could even get aleading manufacturer to market the idea and we could sell it as ‘TheFox fox. Complete with tether to attach to a storm pole. Only£ 349.99’
If, or when, the Government bans hunting with dogs, we can employthe redundant huntsmen to trap foxes. They can then be sold toanglers. Why haven’t the politicians thought of this before? It’s anidea that benefits everyone. Fox hunters keep their jobs, and the foxdoesn’t die, so the animal rights people are happy. But the fox istaken out of the countryside, so the rural folk are satisfied. Andanglers being troubled by rats will be a thing of the past.Brilliant.
Anyway, enough of my inane ramblings about foxes, rats and suchlike. Back to fishing. At 8.30 am I connected with another fish. Abrief but spirited fight saw the fish coming in steadily. However,about three rod lengths out it got stuck in dense weed. Pulling thefish towards me didn’t help as it simply gathered more weedresistance. I needed to get on top of the fish and lift it outvertically. Only one way to do that – In I went. Another sense ofdeja vu, as I had been in this position on my last visit. Then, Ilost the fish, this time things worked out. I netted a fully scaledmirror carp that looked about 30lb in the net. However, by the time Iremoved the weed, it weighed in at 10-7-8.
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Expecting a quiet day as far as fishing action was concerned, Iwas pleasantly surprised at 1.45 pm to land another bream. Toppingthe scales at 6-2-8, not a monster, but certainly welcome. Followedby another bream hooked at 6.30 pm, day six was proving veryproductive as far as bites were concerned. Unfortunately, I didn’tland this fish, as it snagged in the weed in front of me. So close,yet so far…..Although prospects looked good, the rest of Fridaywent very quiet, so I was able to sleep.
Day Seven
My beauty sleep was rudely interrupted at 12.45 am by a bite thatput the second 9lb bream of the session on the unhooking mat (9-1-8,to be exact). A few minutes later this was followed by a tench of 4lb4oz. In most situations that is a good fish, but compared to the restof the week’s catches it’s just a baby. After catching the two fishback to back, I returned to the bivvie a happy man. This feeling ofsatisfaction, however, was short lived, when I noticed not one, buttwo fresh rat shaped holes in the nylon. I had managed to repair theprevious ones with some adhesive patches, and now these had appearedto take their place.
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Everything edible had been removed out of the way. The only thingthat remained was…..err…..well…..ME…..A quick count of mybody parts revealed I still had nine toes and eight fingers. That’sright isn’t it? But seriously, it’s one thing knowing rats arerunning around outside the bivvie, but to have them targeting youdirectly inside is something else. Running repairs to the nylon tooktill 2.30 am. My shelter now has more patches than a ship full ofpirates. And the zips on the door have also been chewed through. Ahwell, I just rolled over on the bedchair and went back to sleep allpeaceful and contented …..NOT!
My mind was taken off the rats when, at 5.15 am, I had anotherrun. The second 6lb tench of the week took the needle on the scalesto 6lb 13 oz, an ounce lighter than the fish that had opened the weekup for me. The fish fell, as did four out of the last five, to 14mmTutti Frutti boilies.
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Although I was due to stay for another day, my ongoing encounterwith the creatures of the night caused me to end the session a dayearlier. Not only is it unpleasant having them in your presence, theyhad been near my food, so I was concerned about the health aspect.And of course, at this rate, my bivvie would end up in ribbons.
Looking back, the 53 hours of part one had produced one fish, asdid the 48 hours of part two. But in the 33 hours of part three, noless than six fish were caught. My end of school report was nowlooking better, ‘A. Well done. Perseverance and patience paid off inthe end’.
The catch for the week was as follows :
Bream: 9-1-8, 9-0-8, 6-2-8
Carp: 13-3-8, 10-7-8
Tench: 6-14-0, 6-13-0, 4-4-0
Setting off back home I slipped my current favourite Northern SoulCD into the car player. Hitting the repeat button, and listening toThe Showmen singing ‘Our love will grow’ half a dozen times soon madethe encounter with the rats a distant memory. Major traffic delays onboth the A14 and the M6 saw the journey take considerably longerthan it should have done. But safely in the car, I was just glad tobe away from the rodents that had plagued me for the last week. Buthang on a minute, what is that rustling coming from my rucksackbehind me…..
Remember the gameshow ‘Mr andMrs’? In next Thursday’s Pilgrim’s Progress I put Mrs Sedge, theone and only Debby, on the spot. How well does she know me? Will mybout of ‘Ve av vays ov making you talk’ make her crack under thepressure? Or will she come through with flying colours? Wonder whaton earth I’m talking about? Well, tune in to FISHINGmagic next week,when all will be revealed…..
The Reverend Stewart R Bloor
Sedgley International Christian Ministries
PO Box 1216, Dudley. DY3 1GW.
Telephone : 01384 – 828033
Web site : www.sicm.org
e-mail : missionscentre@sicm.org
