Crumble.

Hi fans,

Sadly there`s no fishing this week, time and moving house waits for no man,  I`ve found myself too busy this weekend with garden duties, clearing and weeding etc.

Two years ago my wife and I planted a Plum and an Apricot tree, they were twiggy little things and I wasn`t hopeful however my doubts were unfounded, they both grew very fast and are both  now over 10 feet tall and the Plum tree bore a bountyfull harvest of large juicy fruit for the first time this year.

So today I picked the last of the ripe Plumbs and had a bash at Jamie Olivers crumble recipe, as you can see from the picture above its a crumble to be proud of, I added a couple of apples the kids next door had thrown over the hedge and some home grown berries, now to open a tin of custard and its happy days.

Ha, ha, ha, sob!

Hi folks,

I managed  three hours fishing my favourite Trent peg on Sunday evening, my usual tactics, feeder, size 14 barbless, maggotts, result!, one Perch and one Gudgeon. Not very good really, the flow was steady, the water was as warm as bath water, the maggotts lively and I fished through sunset  so the timing and conditions were perfect in theory but still only two measly tiddlers.

Obviously my tactics are wrong, I still haven`t caught a Barbel and I don`t mind admiting I`m getting a little downcast about it, I guess thats why it`s called fishing and not catching ha ha ha......sob!

I`ve been putting half a dozen bait feeder fulls of ground bait, pellets and dead maggots out as acurately as possible and fishing over it with a feeder full of live maggots and triple on the hook and I`m just getting bits occasionally.

Thats enough moaning, the river was beautiful, the Swans and Ducks where playful, I enjoyed being outdoors in the peaceful countryside breathing in the fresh air and supping bottles of Bishops Finger rather than grimy city smog and crap coffee, just wish them bloody Barbel would show up, think I`ll try Lobworms next time, that`ll tempt em!

Mental

Hi folks,

Its been a while since my last post but please bear with me, being a security bod its been a busy time as you can imagine, add to current events organizing moving house life has left me with little time and constantly knackered, not even time and energy for a few hours on the river bank annoying tidlers.

Anyroad what about these feral gangs aroaming the streets causing mayhem, working with/against the ferals and watching the carnage on the goggle box has left me somewhat underwhelmed, working them I and my team at the peak of the hysteria confronted a couple of  groups during the days, when they`ve tried it on, not much came of it, although one particularly vile young hood rat managed to get one of his teeth knocked out, our method was to confront em early and do it politely but like we meant it and they usually backed off and went elsewhere looking for easier targets, there`s the occasional exception of course, some are just hell bent on violence and getting in your face, then you`ve got to deal with them quickly and with purpose, no Queensbury rules or chit chat, you do what is needed and make sure you can justify it, or you get out of the way rapid, and let the police deal with them, if there are any.

So buddy what have I learned from all this, not much frankly, recent events have confirmed why I prep and enabled me to put some of them into practice, dealing with confrontations, battening down the hatches at home and work and getting home safely avoiding high risk areas.

It was interesting watching how others reacted to this SHTF event, too many where totally  unprepared either tactically or mentally, no alternative routes home, no communication with family etc. People where scared and shocked by what they where seeing and hearing, mentally unprepared as the veneer of civilization slipped and the ugly truth underneath revealed itself, demonstrating to me that mental prep is a massive issue, I saw fear and shock  freeze people on the spot and people actually putting themselves and  others in more danger through panic.

Ta ta for now.

Preps- Keeping Beer Cold

Hi folks,

I`ve often wondered how I`d keep my beers cool if the electrics went down for a long period of time, well now I have a nice little project for the weekend, all I need are some clay pots, some sand and a wet towel.

Preps- Bugs n Slugs

Hi folks,

It`s on damp mornings like these that you`ll find me in the garden rooting around hunting slugs. So it was this morning before I set off for work, 15 mins hunting produced 21 sluggys.

My two hens love em and fight over them, they make a good supliment to their diet and keeps down the damage to my veggies. I do use pesticides, sprays and slug pellets however, I`ve tried the organic approach but after repeatedly losing most of my crops to slugs and bugs I abandoned that approach.

The problem is in a SHTF situation losing crops would mean less food which of course would be a bad situation so I`m always looking to be well stocked up with critter killer.

I`ve also heard Mr Slug makes a good bait for Chub, I`ve not tried it yet, maybe this weekend.

Mystery Fish, Still no Barbel

Well folks,

its been a while since my last post on your fav blog, I`ve been pushed for time and energy lately so lets have a quickie!, I managed to get a few hours freedom fishing the Trent with my dog PJ last night, he had a paddle while I caught an assortment of tiddlers, Perch and Chub.

I did catch something I`ve never caught before and I`ve no idea what it is, it pulled the tip of my feeder rod round into a good bend and initially I thought it was a good fish, I dared dream I`d hooked a Barbel at long last but alas no.

Though small, Ok tiny it put up a good squabble before I landed it, a very pretty fish with a blue tinge and large jet black eyes, any idea what it is?

Big Game Fun

Hi folks,

Ive been looking through some photos from a few years back and came accross some fishing pics taken during my hols in Cuba.

I caught quite a few of these fish using freelined prawn tight against the rocks, and let me tell you those rocks were razor sharp, my flip flops were shreded at the end of the day.

This is where the larger ones ended up, at the local beach bar, cooked on the hot plate and washed down with copious amounts of beer, mmmmmmmm!

The highlight of the holiday was a big game trip, we caught a number of Dorado and Barracuda

When we were coming back into port we spotted the Snapper floundering on the surface so one of the crew gaffed it out onto the boat. As you can see its tail is missing, the gaff man told me that Barracuda often bite off the tails as a snack leaving the rest.

Sundays Dinner Is Cheese

Aaaaaaarrrrhh,

I can`t get fishing out of my tiny brain, I`m planning my next trip to the banks of the Trent for this Sunday and its only bloody Tuesday bwaahhh!, no time before then, real life getting in the way.

A work buddy swears by cheese as a bait in the Trent, especially for big Chub and Barbel, I`m usually a worm and maggot man though recently I' ve mixed it up with Halibut and Trout pellets but my catch rates have been poor to be honest, a few small Perch though I did catch my Pb Chub, about a pound and a bit hahahaha!

I put this down to being away from fishing for too many years and being out of practice but practice makes perfect as they say so I`m going to give cheese a go.

Not sure what kind yet, there`s a Liddle nearby, I`ll pop in and do a sniff and texture test, something that`s got plenty of pong but is firm enough to stay on the hair or hook depending on which I use.

I`ll just have to be patient and make sure I `m properly prepared for Sundays trip, tonight I`ll sort out my tackle box that should help keep my butterflies at bay.

Any tips on cheese baits from you loyal readers would be appreciated, in the meantime here`s a picture of a Chub, caught on cheese of course.

Anglers Compass

Hi folks,

Well here we are, the first post on your new favourite blog lol, in the midst of a media and political storm, the air waves and tv screens awash with chatter and theories over  hackergate, yaaaaaaawn!

All the waffle over our societies supposed lost moral compass did get me a wondering about the morality of fishing and fishermen in the UK, is there a place for morality in the art of the angle and if so where are we at and where are we heading ?

Most importantly for me is the way we catch and the treatment of the fish we catch and the way we treat the flora and fauna around us, basically what kind of condition we leave our pegs, shore line etc, It shocks me still the state some anglers leave pegs in, litter left is an eyesore and a danger to wild life, I always take a bin bag and clear what I can, it only takes minutes to pick up and dump into a dustbin.

When I was a yoof there was no such thing as barbless hooks, now of course they`re all the rage, the belief being that less damage is done to fish mouths without a barb, there are theories mind that the opposite is actually the case, people like John H have concerns, I`m sure there are others I`m not sure either way, general opinion deems them a good thing so I use them in the hope this is true.

I think we fishermen have come a long way in how we treat our captures, fish friendly nets are standard although I don`t use a keep net , I admit to              having an issue with keep nets which is not going to make me popular with     the match  fishing brigade, when I see large nets of fish being hauled around the bank I can`t help thinking about the fish at the bottom of that pile.                                                                                                                          

Unhooking matts are now standard kit and not using one is frowned upon which works for me, Korda produce a carp specific medical kit so we can now treat fish we catch with various ready made medications, however it is important to properly clean the wounds etc before applying meds.


So much I could say but too little time for now, to sum up, I think anglers are in a good place right now, fish care and their habitat protection have never been more in anglers minds, of course there are still some who need to get with the program.What the future holds for our sport here in the UK I don`t know but we as anglers must be vigilant and progressive.

Thats it for now folks, work beckons, I`d be interested to read your thoughts on the subjects I`ve touched on in the comments so go ahead and have your say, tata for now.

                                                        Nice fish