Perch Fishing!

Well it is time for the April Fishing Blog on Lee Swords Fishing…I just wish I could say I have done much fishing but alas I have not, these are the “Mundella” months and so I have been otherwise engaged for the most part but last week my mate Dan Stewart Smith phoned me up saying that he fancied catching a decent perch, he hasn’t had a good once since the three pounder he bagged at Ladybower a season or two ago and if truth be told I didn’t take much persuasion as I  fancied a crack at a big stripey because I haven’t snagged a decent Perch in far too long either.

And so it was decided we would have a crack at Alderfen Fisheries at Wroot where I know there to be a decent head of fish that have gone over 4lb.

I wasn’t too bothered about catching a 4lb fish though, I was just of a mind to increase my personal best …which is 3lb 15oz.

Anyway we arrived just after 9am because of a sat nav malfunction but were still able to get ourselves onto decent pegs.

Most of the morning was spent watching a lightweight bobbin doing absolutely nothing until the wind began to pick up and the sky cloud over a bit, this drop in light was all that was needed for the fish to start to feed, Dan was first in with a decent perch of 2lb 9oz, a speedy fish that was able to get to his lobworm bait faster than it could be stripped down by the hordes of silvers present…anyway before the camera is back in the bag it seems that he is in again and this time I am sure its a 3lb fish when I see it but alas the Reuben can only muster a score of 2lb 11oz!

I like taking pictures of perch as they are rather easy to handle and they are very photogenic, it is true the perch really is the biggest of fish.

 

Rigs were simple low resistance affairs that we could fish tight to features, features really are important when it comes to perch fishing as they love to ambush from cover…Anyway I am digressing a little bit ..I haven’t mentioned the fact that I have now fluffed two strikes and lost one at the net that looked to be of the same caliber as Dan’s before my bobbins lifted and I was able to get the net under something  and avoid the blank…So here it is…My perch…its massive!

Ok, it isn’t massive but that doesn’t mean I thought any less of it, look at me as an example, I used to be thin but now I am a proper “lump”

Big fish grow from the smallest fry and so we should respect them all as they grow…..

I would have still liked one as big as Dan’s though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The battle for Smithy Woods

bithttp://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/campaigning/campaigns/smithy-wood/

I grew up not far from Smithy Woods and spent many happy hours in there messing around and generally doing what young boys do, which in the 1980′s didn’t involve any technology whatsoever but included things that could be extremely hazardous to health and generally involved burning calories at a rate of knots that meant we were pretty much all built like racing snakes unlike the fat little bastards of today that seem to exist only on their tablets and phones…listen to me, typing on my blog and having a go at the youth of today for being technology obsessed tubs of lard, bloody hypocrite .

Anyway it now seems that the Nanny State would like to dictate when and where we eat by stating that drivers need to be able to make a stop every 35 miles.

Have you seen the prices in motorway service stations?!?!

Joking aside this gives the green-light for companies such as Extra MSA Group to set down proposals to bulldoze this 12th century woodland

But wildlife groups quite rightly state that offsetting in this case would be a travesty, as to suggest that ancient woodlands, which in this case are 850 years old, could be replaced overnight is simply not feasible.

I would go further and to say that it is bollocks but I am off the Shiregreen and have a tendency to cut the shit out of what I am saying and thinking.

Wildlife groups are worried the proposals will create a precedent and the loophole of offsetting will allow developers to freely concrete over Britain’s forests.

The plan for the site at junction 35 of the M1 includes filling stations, shops, a food court, an 80-bedroom hotel and a huge car park with space for 639 vehicles.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/m1-services-plan-revealed-for-sheffield-1-6522211?

Smithy Wood is designated as a local wildlife site within Sheffield’s Green Belt, and is a haven for plants, fungi, butterflies and threatened birds.

Unfortunately Sheffield City Council don’t give a flying fart about such things and will if allowed rubber stamp this plan quoting green-wash bollocks about offsetting and Government guidelines…

Unless people get up in numbers and say “No”

Do we need service stations every thirty minutes down the M1? I certainly don’t think so as I tend to spend most of my journeys down it asleep… but then again I don’t drive and I don’t drink coffee and I don’t like McDonald’s and I hate those canteen type food outlets you get in services that charge a mortgage for a glass of orange and a muffin.

GROW WILD

As everyone knows I love the wildlife, I love the wildlife more than I love most people, I find people to be highly objectionable creatures for the most part and I would be rather happy if the Ebola virus that is currently active in parts of Africa were to mutate itself into an idiot specific phage and wipe out a good chunk of the world population such as politicians and people with stupid ideas about sky fairies and waiting virgins…

But I will not go down that track just at this point in time I will instead concentrate on the Grow Wild Project that aims to increase biodiversity by sending out 230,000 packs of wildflower seeds and bee houses to community groups across the country so that they can help protect our native bees and butterflies.

https://www.growwilduk.com/activities-for-you

Obviously, this was an offer I could not see pass me by, so  I just had to form a community group and so the “Handsworth Butterfly and Bumblebee Protection Group” was born.

At this point in time we are small and open to new members but hopefully it will grow into something quite special…I have sown the seeds, let’s see what flowers.

If anyone would care to support the group or be part of the group that is all good, message me.

What we do need are more wildflower seeds as there is a lot of feral grass to turn over to flower meadow.

OK, that’s enough from me for now, I will be back soon.

 

TTFN!