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He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport five years ago 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!
Following In The Footsteps Of Izaak Walton
Since the start of this year my continued targeting of chub hastaken me to a new river, the Sow. Flowing solely in the county ofStaffordshire, the river passes through Stafford itself beforeemptying into the Trent near Rugeley. Until its union with the RiverPenk, just after it leaves the outskirts of the county town, the Sowis little more than a brook. In fact, although it is supposed to bethe Penk that flows into the Sow, just like a newly married woman whogives up her old name and takes on a new identity, in reality whenone stands at the confluence it definitely looks as if the Penkconsumes the Sow. The Penk is also the longer river, at 21 miles,compared to the 18 miles of its big sister.
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Whilst the word Sow seems to indicate some past association withpigs, it actually is an old English word that means ‘flowing water’.So in reality, we are actually talking about ‘River Flowing water’,which would be more appropriate as the name of a native NorthAmerican rather than an English waterway…
But of course, it is with Izaak Walton that the river is mostassociated. Born in Stafford in 1593, the Sow is where he spent manyof his days fishing. In fact, a museum dedicated to the Father OfAngling is situated just north of the town on the banks of the Meecebrook, itself a tributary of the Sow. So it was with a great sense ofhistory that I made my way up the M6 to fish the very river thatIzaak Walton himself had fished all those years ago.
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My trips in January and early February left me struggling on theSow. Due to the rains, the river was like a yo-yo, up and down. Thenwhen it fined down nicely and looked good, the temperature plummeted.Ok, so in a round about way, what I’m really trying to say is that mytitle ‘King of the Blankers’ was left very much undisputed after myexcursions into Staffordshire…
One thing about Pilgrim’s Progress though, is that I’ll behonest. When I catch something good I’ll report it and when I blankbig time, I won’t try and cover up! I don’t see the point in tellinglies to make oneself appear ‘good’. After all, angling is aboutenjoyment, and I certainly enjoyed my trips to the Sow, even if mostof them were fish-less. Mind you, I wasn’t a total blanker, I didmanage a chub of 2lb 2oz. I’m sure there were times when I could havescaled down and managed a few small fish, but I was going forsomething decent. Specimen hunting can be a waiting game, with greatpatience called for, particularly in winter.
On my visits to the Sow, I often wondered what ‘Sir’ Izaak wouldmake of fishing today. What would he think of fluorocarbon hooklengths, boilies, braid and carbon rods? More to the point, whatwould he make of me? All this modern technology-produced fishingtackle, and I still only managed one chub in 6 weeks.
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Then just as the middle of February came and things started toimprove, (on my last visit to the Sow, I had a couple of cracking bigchub bites that unfortunately I missed) disaster struck. Of course,I’m talking about the Foot and Mouth situation, that put an end to mySow campaign. Coupled with a work-related trip to Ghana that consumedthe first two weeks of March, my river season finished a month early.
Arriving back from West Africa, I was intending to target theMarch – June period after carp. However, just catching up on the newsconcerning the Foot and Mouth outbreak took a couple of days. Andwith the situation changing on a daily basis, at the time of writing(river season just ending) I’m still uncertain what my plans are.Still, I’m so addicted to fishing I’ll have to do something, even ifit means setting up a bivvie in the garden and having an all nighterbeside my garden pond. So I’m sure I’ll have some fishy activity toreport over the next few months.
And finally – Don’t forget, in the next week, to renew your rodlicence(s). If you’re out on the bank without one come April 1st andget invited by a bailiff to visit the local Magistrates Court, itwon’t be an April Fool’s joke. It will be for real. So visit a PostOffice right now, while it’s fresh in your mind.
In next week’s Pilgrim’s Progress I get political. I share mythoughts about how society has changed in the last 30 years, and howthis has given rise to the ‘anti’ movement. But the article is alsoan encouragement to all of us as anglers to play our part, while westill can, in promoting angling as a conservation minded,environmentally friendly pastime.
See you next Thursday with ‘The TimesThey Are A-Changing…Anti’s, Hunting And Fishing’
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
