| KEVIN PERKINS | |
Never mind smelling the flowers, don’t forget to take time out to see the satirical side of fishing life and grab a laugh along the way as well. So here’s a regular column from Kevin Perkins to remind us that life is for laughing at, or taking the p*** out of, whenever we can. |
What Lies Beneath?I MANAGED TO get out fishing the other day, which is a rare enough event for me at the moment, but even stranger than that was the fact that, for once, I actually didn’t blank! Although, of course, it’s not quite a simple as that…Plan A was a trip to the Thames with young Andy Whapham for an end of the season spinning session, but the amount of water still pushing through the weirs at the moment made them more conducive to white water rafting than any form of leisurely fishing.
Plan B was to have the 12th and 13th March off work and go wherever took my fancy, as ‘er indoors’ had told me I should have some time off and get some fishing done. Plan B fell by the wayside when it transpired that the new kitchen we were having fitted was delayed by a couple of weeks and they had to start work on…..the 12th of March. And somebody had to be there with the fitters to show them various bits and pieces. Plan C – Armed to the teeth Having met and instructed all the workmen it became a necessity that the same somebody also had to be there in the morning of the 13th to let them all in as well. Ho hum, early start to go fishing out of the window then So, Plan C swung into operation which was pop down to the very local Furzton lake for a couple of hours spinning, at least it would get me out, and so by mid-morning on a pleasant spring day I set off to the lake armed to the teeth and ready to do battle. There are those amongst us who can happily go spinning with just one rod, and half a dozen lures, and still have a great day’s sport. I always take one rod, of course, but this time I had a spare. My defence being that it arrived the day before, so it had to have a trial, but I wouldn’t pin the chances of my precious day’s fishing on an untested toy. So, armed with two rods and three reels, well, if your one reel does just pack up miles from home you’re buggered, aren’t you? Add to that a small selection of lures, well, by that I mean only one cantilevered Plano box holding probably sixty of so plugs, spoons and spinners; can’t be too sure, can you? And a bag containing the flask, sandwiches, Penguin bars, camera, (optimistic) scales (v.v.optimistic, I know…) spare spool of line, I might as well take the trolley, too much to carry by now….
Arriving at the lake, the first spot I had planned to fish already had an angler in attendance. I understandably felt sorry the chap, what with him not knowing who his father was, and moved round to my second choice swim, which thankfully was empty. Out came the new toy, Mr. John (cue maniacal laughter) Wilson’s ‘Six Shooter’ single-handed lure rod and matching multiplier. I won’t give a detailed analysis of its or, more importantly, my performance with it, here. Suffice to say that it was a good job I did bring the other rod along, otherwise it would have been a very short session. I can’t fail – Can I? The area I was fishing is by an inlet to the main lake, formed by a feeder stream which empties into a shallow pool, and then a 75 yard long channel about 25 yards wide connects up to the lake proper. Plenty of bankside shrubs and weed beds would appear to make it ideal perch territory. Also, the shallows see plenty of spawning activity, so always the vague possibility of one of those big old lady pike turning up. My enthusiasm was further heightened by the fact that I was using a lure that actually carried a health warning. Such is its efficiency at emptying waters of fish that the packaging warns the user to practise moderation when using it – can’t fail. Can I…?
The lure maker is not joking about its ability to clear out a water, clear it of debris, anyway. Every cast brought back leaves, weed, twigs, bits of plastic bag etc, etc, but fish….oh no! A stroll along the channel brought no response from anything with fins, despite changing lures several times, so I thought I would have a cast around in the main lake. Yet another poor fatherless angler was sitting in another spot that I had mentally earmarked, so after a little hissy fit, I packed up all my toys and went off to another venue altogether, the local canal.
I found a nice quiet stretch and set off along the towpath with just the one rod (not the new one) and fishing in classic spinning style, half a dozen casts, move along twenty yards, another half a dozen casts, and so on, covering just about all the water as you go. I will admit that I really like this type of fishing; it allows me to wander through the countryside observing nature as I go. Not long after I set off, I stopped just short of a puddle on the towpath to watch a robin enjoying a bath, splashing water everywhere. I waited until he/she had finished before moving on, noting as I did that the water that had been splashed out of the puddle had made the pattern of a pair of outstretched wings on the path. A bit further along I came across a mallard duck in the middle of the towpath, which had all the appearances of snoozing in a patch of sunshine. I crept up as quietly as possible, not really wanting to disturb it, but three feet away its head popped up and it staggered into the canal. I say staggered because the poor thing had only one foot, the other leg ending in a stump. Firstly I was struck by the fact that that was that was the second one-legged bird I had seen that day, having caught sight of a peg leg goose earlier whilst I was fishing on the lake, a bit later on I think I might have found the culprit….. I continued walking and spinning until a came to a wide bend with plenty of overhanging branches on the far bank, which looked incredibly fishy to me. Second (brilliantly accurate, if I do say so myself) cast right beside the tangle of branches brought a definite ‘nod nod’ on the rod tip, classic perch attack, but the strike connected with nothing. Two more casts, one more abortive ‘nod, nod’ but no fish were forthcoming. Around twenty more casts and a change of lure still saw me without a result, so I gave up and moved on.
Still fishing on the canal bend, I rifled through the lure box and my eye was drawn to a day-glo orange Mepps, oh well, I thought, might as well give it a go. Three casts in, and back towards the area where I had the missed takes, I finally get a result. Obviously a small fish, but welcome none the less, but from the little fight I am getting this is obviously no perch. And so it proves to be, as I put the net under what appears to be a roach/bream hybrid, which has taken the orange Mepps and is hooked fair and square in the top lip. As the fish lay in the net, next to the spinner, it suddenly struck me just how much that Mepps resembled a duck’s webbed foot, and I suddenly remembered that one legged Mallard I had seen just a few minutes before, but no, I thought, this couldn’t possibly be the culprit, could it….?Possible captions |
