Who says fishing is dull

Now where to start, so much to write about  this weekend was the first expedition for the "Fishing Fools" - Hurrah - After all the weeks of preparation and anticipation, a fishing location had been chosen, and all that remained was to turn up, cast lines, and reel in that big fat 20lb fishy like all the books show...well that was the theory anyway...needless to say, I had a great time, and I'll cover some of my highlights in this post...

As you would expect there was that last minute "panic" shopping excursion the day before - I wanted "fresh" maggots, and there were a few bits of tackle still on the list....I'll leave the full write up to Paul to explain...needless to say it was a complete laugh, and proves that Google doesn't know all...Certainly gave me something to smile about...

The venue was Whinwhistle Fishery's near Romsey in Hampshire...A really picturesque location, with a good variety of lakes, a tackle shop onsite, ample parking, and a cafe!

An early doors start was on the cards, as according to the books, the best time to fish was in the morning...It also meant we got first dibs on the locations, and could get the comedy/embarrassment of setting up out the way without being kicked of the site...

We got to the fishery at 7:00am - the sky was just starting to clear, and it was defiantly "brass monkeys" weather outside, with the car reading just 4 degrees!! I was certainly having second thoughts about not putting my thermals on

We booked in at the office, picked up our "pint" of maggots - found out something new here..When the chap who owns the fishery "John" wanted to know "what type" of maggot we wanted - *blank face* What type of Maggot...Oh bollocks...went through my head....They didn't cover that in the books...Type of Maggot...Isn't there just the one sort I thought...Luckily Wyatt was able to blag a response, and we ended up with a bag or "red" and "white" crawlies....nice.... In fact...while I'm talking about maggots, these little buggers are quite the avid escape artists - the bag they were in only had a small opening on it, but they found that and would proceed to "sprint"...yes...they are fast when they want to be...out of the bag, and along anything there on....

We got setup by the lower lake, chairs, cool box, tackle bags, food bags, rod rests, landing net, rods, reels, bait, I'm sure you can imagine  The lake looked fantastic, with the outside temperature being so low, a light grey fog drifted a few feet above the water, with constant signs of fish feeding...The sky was really clear, with a slight orange/purple tint from the early morning sun rising over the horizon.

We got the rods setup quick I thought, trickiest bit was trying to get the line through the ringlets without it all dropping of into a birds nest of tangles. First task was to "plummet" the depth of the lake so the float could be attached at the correct height...This involved feeding a float onto the main line, attaching a hook to the line....We used some pre-threaded hooks which are brilliant (definite must have) ! And then joining the hook to the main line - this involved using a knot...but I bought my "pocket book of fishing knots" so after a few minutes of tangled fingers, were soon adept at joining the hook to line...

I followed Wyatt's lead on how to cast "The Plummet"...so took rod in hand, and approached my peg spot - this wooden platform that extends over the lake to give better access...I'm sure you can imagine it...lush grassy bank, leading into long foliage, leading onto a wooden 4x4 foot platform over the water...I strode forward, confident and mindful of the water to either side..Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the lush grass was "hiding" the 1 foot "gap" between the bank and the platform...squelch....right foot in the wet stuff up to my knees...Oh ass...or word's to that effect  and yes...the water was cold...

After the initial cluelessness of what to do...I soon picked up the basics of casting...that hook sure is sharp...it seemed to be attracted to any inanimate / organic object in a 10 foot radius..like a magnet...This probably wasn't helped with the maggots trying to perform their rendition of "the great escape" while on the hook...can't really blame them...and making a lunge for any blade of grass, item of clothing, coke can ring pull in site...Let's just say that my casting, like my school reports..."could do better".

From that point on, it was really downhill for me...my fishing buddy Paul, by 12:00 was on at least his 7th fish - bloody hell! I had caught f*** all in 5 hours! The pressure was really on...I had no intention of leaving that place until I had caught something, so it was shaping up to be a long afternoon!

By 2:00 I was getting desperate, Wyatt was on his 12th fish?( I think he'd stopped counting..cocky bar steward  )....I still had caught nothing! trying something different, I started casting closer to the banks and under the tree cover...that proved to be interesting - there was this small island to the left of my peg spot, separated from the main bank by a stretch of 10-20 feet of water, with an overhanging tree, and loads of fish feeding near it! Cool I thought...casting near to the tree would be a good idea --- This was fine, until a guest of wind blew my cast of course....phut...and that was it.....my line was stuck 10 foot up in the tree....I tried tugging it, but this was no use...I wasn't about to cut it and leave this bright orange float in mid air! So...This Island was joined to the mainland via a wooden plank (you know one of those builders' planks you find on scaffolding) - So there I was...precariously balanced over the lake on a bit of wood no wider than a bit of A4 paper, poking at this tree with my landing net! (Oh yeah top tip...Landing net handles are perfect for getting lines out of trees) - What a laugh that was

Anyway, time was racing on...I still had caught zero...nought...f*** all..And was really getting p***** of..I changed by location to one nearer the bank, and re-adjusted my rig setup...It had just started to pee with rain again, and it was looking like a bleak afternoon was ahead....then....the impossible happened...my float twitched....I took the strike...and....."I had a fish on my line"....O.M.G....at last....so it was only a tiddler...yes it is small!!  that didn't matter to me...Me a man of technology / gadgets and science had fought nature and won....me hunter...it felt good  I was hooked ! And craved more! My next catch was only a few minutes behind the first....and was enough to make me feel contented with the efforts of the day and ready to go home...much to the relief of Paul I'm sure...

In summary "my first fishing day" in 20 years was really good laugh, it was like the blind leading the blind at times..but what fun..The stuff I've learnt being out on the water in 1 day is priceless, and covers more information than I've found in any book or Web article in the weeks lead up...

I can certainly say I'm "hooked" now...There's loads of new setups I now want to try, with the knowledge gained from this expedition, I really can't wait to get out on the water again...hopefully avoiding the gap between the peg next time

Anyway, this blog post has turned into a bit of a novel...full photos can be found [Here]

I'll catch you later  

Add comment