The Pleasure Angle – Summer Sentiments

Mark Hodson

An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years.

He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm.

Summer Sentiments

A summer storm

Suddenly your piscatorial desires take a back seat as lightening arcs across a moody blackening sky, drawing your attention to the storm heads that have crept up on you from behind, turning a previously heavy and oppressive skyline into the battlefield of the gods.

This is quickly followed by the titans of the heavens releasing a rumbling crescendo of deafening thunder that shakes the ground and has you shrinking as far back into your chair as you can get.

Another lightening bolt races through the air and the atmosphere is rich with the smell of sulphur and is charged with expectancy. You look across the water and see, before you feel, the first drops of rain. The brolly quickly goes up and everything that can be, is thrown under its cover. Soon the steady pitter-patter on the brolly becomes a deafening drumming and water is streaming off the brolly like a steady tap, causing pools to form at your feet on the hard baked summer bank.

The titans continue their battle overhead unabated, with each flash of nature’s raw energy being answered by yet another soul-shaking clap of Thors hammer. In five minutes you’ve gone from confident angler to five year old child as the slight sickening feel of excitement sits in the pit of your stomach. A quick look down at the array of fine 12 or 13ft carbon conductors sitting close at hand suddenly puts an element of doubt in your mind.

Should I be out here at all?

A sudden squall develops, trying to drag the leaves from trees that creak and groan in protest, adding yet more noise to the sudden symphony of destruction that sprung up from nowhere.

Then, as quickly as it came the storm abates, the rain stops, going from a downpour to light drizzle and then nothing, in the drawing of a few breaths, rays of warming sunlight break the gloom and persist, as the thunderheads deposit their final few seconds of lukewarm rain in a sudden burst in a bid to catch out those who have prematurely crept from the sanctuary of their shelter. I do so love summer fishing.

Despite its long balmy days which induce a state of lethargy in most fish for two thirds of the daylight hours, the sensory experience that is the bankside during summer should not be missed, for the awe inspiring glory of a summer storm is but one facet of summer fishing.

A List of ‘Must Do’s’ for the Summer Angler

Childhood memories
At least once a fortnight during July and August I try to get out with just a chair, a little terminal tackle, a float rod and nothing more than a pint of maggots and a small tub of worms and enjoy the middle of day, 10am until 4pm, and the delights of catching small fish, just like I did during the school holidays when I was a kid. Whether on the river, lake or canal this ‘bite a chuck’ fishing is easily found during the summer as waters abound with silverfish in the 2-6 oz bracket that are all to eager to engulf a couple of maggots and a size 18 or 20.

Of course the occasional better specimen does put in an appearance but the workout your reactions get during these ‘fun’ sessions is good practice for when the more serious stuff is the order of the day. I have taken a whip on occasion but found myself becoming too efficient and slipping into matchman mode and starting to think about my fishing a little too much, which is not what these sessions are about really. So now I purposely just take a standard waggler rod. I still have to sit there and try not think about how I could increase my catch rate or tempt a better stamp of fish, but instead I conjure images and faces in the reflections of the passing clouds as my float gently drifts with the warm summer breeze and then sinks out of sight as another small rudd tries to make off with my bait.

You also get to have a lie in, breakfast with the family, travel to your venue after the rush hour and school run, enjoy the best of the weather and plenty of action, then return home after the school run but before the rush hour and then have tea with the family. Magic stuff, everyone’s happy.

Playing amongst the pads
If one thing is synonymous with summer fishing it’s lily pads. Like an unfinished patchwork quilt of green, auburn, and yellow covering the water they are a delight to the eye, with their flowers standing proud of the water they are the centrepiece of native aquatic flora. Just to have your float sitting within inches of the pads with the bubbles of feeding fish drifting lazily up and around, the pads knocking and moving as fish drift amongst the stems, not knowing whether the next bite is going to be from a tench, big rudd or a monster carp really is the stuff of summer angling daydreams.

Aquatic Flora at its best – the Lily

Make sure you don’t miss out, dedicate at least one day this summer to spending the day in the company of some lily pads and a float.

Siesta Time
Most of you will have been unaware of, or missed out on the fact that the 28th June was national Siesta day; it’s something we really should incorporate into British culture, might just chill a few of the hotheads and stress junkies out a little if they had a little nap at high noon. Anyway back to the point at hand.

Fish amongst them or in this case walk across them!

A day’s summer fishing really should incorporate a little power nap at around lunchtime, it’s a wonderful pick-me-up and reinvigorates you ready for the next feeding spell as late afternoon turns into evening. Summer fishing with its all too early starts means that sleep is often at a premium, and with those hot July and August days leaving those specimen fish very lethargic and not at all interested in feeding at around dinnertime and early afternoon, it’s the ideal time to pinch a few zzz’s and dream about the monsters you’ll catch in the evening. So next time you’re out and doing the nodding dog routine as your eyelids get heavier than a 25kg sack of crumb, just reel those rods in, or crank up the alarms enough to wake you. Then find a suitable spot, preferably some lush grass with a patch of wild flowers nearby to provide a suitable aroma, some song birds to supply a gentle lullaby, and let the sun warm your skin as you drift away. You’ll feel so much better for it.

Make a meal of it
Most anglers carry a cool bag of some description on day sessions, usually to keep bait cold and fresh. We really do spoil those fish; why should they get all the luxuries? Why not treat yourself and dine ‘a la cart’ at the bankside for a change?

The day prior to your angling trip take a trip to the delicatessen. A little game pie, a few Indian and oriental style snacks, some nice fresh bread, a selection of cheeses and cold meats, some rocket salad, some strawberries and cream and a glass of wine (or a bottle if your not driving). Make room in the cool bag, take a plate and some cutlery, and you have an excellent prelude to your siesta. After all, we all sleep, and fish, a little better on a full stomach. Summertime really is the time to give this a go. Fishing, good weather, fine wine and good food, combined with the delights of the water’s edge – surely the recipe to a contented life.

Embrace the Darkness
Before you all go running for the crucifixes, holy water and lock away your virgins, this has nothing to do with demonic worship or Black Masses (some I know will be disappointed at this).

It entails fishing into the first few hours of the night and the whole new world that such a session brings with it. Summer fishing is at its best at dusk, and at dawn, there’s no getting away from that. if you are like me, and are a fully addicted sleep junkie who finds it increasingly hard to drag themselves out of their pit every morning then dusk always seems the more amenable option. Many, however, lose out on the best part of a dusk session and by 10pm they are loading the car to return home. Just stay that extra couple of hours into darkness and enjoy the change in fishing and the change in the theatre of the bankside scene that surrounds you.

As darkness falls and the fish become more active, so do all the other animals with whom we share the water’s edge. Foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, owls and bats all show themselves in all their nocturnal glory and on summer nights they put on their most public show of the year. There’s no greater sight than to look across the water and witness bats silently diving effortlessly after the insects above the surface, missing the water by a fraction of an inch. Or an Owl swooping low over your swim as you try to concentrate on a solitary starlight on the end of your float, that seems to be dancing like a drunken sailor on his first night of shore leave.

Summer is the best time of year for this nocturnal experience, the warm nights make it pleasant and the fish always oblige. All you need for this night time adventure to be yours is a couple of torches, preferably one of the head variety, and if you’re going alone, a strong nerve. There has been many a time that my overactive imagination has had the hairs on the back of my neck standing upright at the way sound travels over water and tricks of the dwindling light have brought false phantoms to my swim. Those who are particularly daring could think about fishing on into darkness on a water with a little history of strange goings-on. Tales of ghostly monks, apparitions of those who have committed suicide, and deceased anglers returning to their favourite swim are to be found at many venues. Fish with these thoughts in the forefront of your mind and you’re sure to be in for an exciting and eventful night, whether you catch or not.

Weirpool Wonder
Weirpools are fantastic places during high summer, not only are they packed full of fish of all species due to the well oxygenated water but they are a sensory extravaganza, the sound, smell and cooled air that accompany the main pool make them a fantastic place to be.

Wonderful weirpools

Everything in and around a weirpool in summer is enhanced in comparison to the rest of the river, the flora and fauna is that little more richer. Large weirpools are like gigs at stadiums, they lose their intimacy and ambience due to their size. Find a weirpool on a small or medium sized river and then you’ve got your gig in the small nightclub. You can take in every sight, appreciate each sound and get the best from the experience; they truly are magic places.

The sound of falling water calms the mind, providing an ideal backdrop for the deep thinking and relaxed state we all crave from our angling, meditation for those who attend the temple of Piscatorial Pursuits. This on a summer’s day ranks as one of my all time angling experiences.

So there we are, just a few suggestions to ‘enlighten’ your summer fishing. Make every session different, enjoy the summer while it’s here, for all too soon the leaves will dry with the cooling winds of autumn, and so change the colour scheme of the water’s edge, bringing forth the next season in the never ending cycle.

Fishing, like life, is about experiences, so don’t let them pass you by. With a little effort you can make summer special, without making the catch of a lifetime.