July 2016 fishing blog

 

 

 

Well the politics has moved into its next phase and Britain has voted for Brexit, well England and Wales voted for Brexit, the only major areas besides Scotland and Northern Ireland  that didn’t were London and Manchester but as they have their own little economic bubbles that keep them safe from the realities of everyday life as an average UK citizen coupled with the fact the majority of Londoners are not actually “British” anymore and as such have no real ties to remaining British rather than becoming an amalgam of races and cultures in the Coudenhove-Kalergie mold of a supposed new “race”, personally I like diversity, I don’t really want my descendants to look like ancient Egyptians, nor do I wish them to be subservient to a master elite…Nope, I like freedom and I like democracy, call me old fashioned, I don’t really care.

I did as much as I could to get the message across to as many people as possible, I lost…I lost…I am struggling with the correct wording here…. I lost the tolerance and acceptance of several ( I think my Facebook list is about 20-30 people down) acquaintances, I won’t use the word “friends or friendship ” as they were not close enough to be friends but whatever they were they are not, I am not too bothered if truth be told

As I get older, I find I have less fucks to give anymore,life is too bloody short to worry and mither over keeping everyone happy

As I have said, the Brexit vote has brought into crystal clear focus numerous personal relationships and I welcome this clarity, it allows me to plan my life a little more carefully without giving due concerns where they are no longer needed.

 

The main issue now is ensuring Great Britain moves onwards and upward and this can only be done if the population becomes a little more vocal and a little more militant, yes, we may get called fascists, we may get called racist little Englanders and we may even be called Nazi’s but this is all bollocks interjected into the discussion with one objective and one objective only and that is to shame the opponent into closing down the discussion and in doing so surrender his or her position, we as British citizens have a right to live in a country that reflects our aspirations, we should attain great things as the norm rather than the exception, more investment needs to be made into education at grass roots level, average working class children are a wasted asset in this country and have been for generations.

 

Let’s go fishing….

 

 

And that is enough of the politics…Let’s go fishing shall we? Well, the Trent is still up a little and running with a touch of colour, the fishing isn’t as easy as some would like it, it’s been a very odd Spring and it is my opinion the fish ( barbel predominantly) have not really spread themselves out from their breeding sites and this is something that is reflected in the numbers I have landed and the condition they have presented themselves in …and by that I am saying I haven’t bagged that many and the ones I have bagged have been very much in a spawned out condition.

The picture here is a few years old now and shows a barbel that has not dropped its spawn, the winter was cold and so the spawning was late and as such for those that craze pounds and ounces the potential for personal bests was massive, this one was 14lb 1oz and was at the time my personal best.

 

This barbel was from the season before last, the spring was warm and the spawnings were early, the ovipositor was still a little extended but the fish was in good condition and became my new personal best of 14lb 2oz, had this fish been in the condition of the previous fish it is my opinion that it would have been around 15lb, rather than 14lb 2oz

This is one of the better barbel I have had so far this season, it is in pretty decent condition but the ovipositor is still showing and its belly was pretty much hollow ( am doing a good job holding it)

The weight was about 8lb and in a few weeks it will be in top nick again and closer to 9lb, one thing with the extra water is that a lot more terrestrials ( worms, slugs ect) will find their way into the river and be consumed by the million allowing the fish to recover condition in no time at all.

 

 

Back to Roxholme

 

I had a day off work and planned to do a bit of fishing, I texted Hobby to see if he fancied a trip out and he said that he was planning on fishing Roxholme again, I like Roxholme and so it was soon decided that Hobby had come up with a master plan!!

Hobby said we would be meeting up with a mate of his called Darren that had not fished Roxholme before but lived local and so it was agreed we would be meeting up for a breakfast at a little cafe on the outskirts of Carlton in Lindrick, I cannot remember the name of the place but it is on a junction and is white, most importantly the breakfast was excellent!

Now it has to be said that Darren is a good fly fisherman, Hobby is a more than decent fly fisherman and I can just about cast a fly so it came as no surprise that they were both into fish before me!

Darren had 14 fish eventually and I think 11 of them were doubles…it was something stupid like that, I cannot be sure to be honest I was too busy struggling to keep count, I did eventually get into the fish but I had to really work hard at it!

What Darren was doing however was using his more experienced trout head and casting at moving fish rather than fishing blind like me.

He saw a fish, he was on it, the water flattened, he was on it, a trout bow waved, he was on it!

He worked bloody hard and it worked a treat!!

I just kept plugging away !

This Brownie wasn’t my biggest but it gave a fantastic fight, I think the scales would have given it about 8lb but what with the rugby being on it wouldn’t have been fair to get Andy out to weigh it.

I did get him out to put this rainbow on the scales though, I still cannot get my head around the quality of the fishing Andy offers at Roxholme, it is truly special, it is the place to be to smash personal bests!

My biggest fish of the day went to just under 13lb and was I think the biggest fish landed that day, that however doesn’t alter the fact Hobby had two fish to my every one and Darren had three!

Small lures and nymphs were the order of the day and as you would expect on a water stuffed with fish like this it does not suit to fish too light!!

Andy will not thank anyone for leaving hooks and line in his babies so gear up for the trout fishing ride of your life!

 

 

On the Field

Finally the sun has begun to shine , the rain that made June the wettest June on record has abated and the butterflies have started to emerge in numbers. I am glad of this as it had been a total washout so far with notable sightings few and far between.

Also the potential for hatching has commenced with dozens of 5 spot burnet moth cocoons or pupae appearing on the stems of tall grasses and woody shrubs such as knapweed flower spikes.

It will be a good year for them no doubt as I am already seeing them in their dozens daily!

I like the Burnett moths as they are rather dramatic with their red and black livery, there are several species of Burnet moths but there is also the Cinnabar Moth that is black and red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cinabar feeds on the super toxic Ragwort species of plant much hated by livestock owners, especially horse owners, ragwort is super lethal and causes liver failure in the animals stupid enough to eat it, so I suppose Cinabars are a natural control method of Ragwort.

Other species that have started to show are the Common Blue that seems to be appreciating the increase in trefoil, I have seen these most days but haven’t yet seen any of the predominantly brown winged females this year, only the bright blue winged males. I expect there will be some around, I just haven’t seen them.

The Skippers have also started to come out in large numbers, these are probably the commonest of all the “grass” butterflies on the field and I have three species as far as I can tell, Large, Small and Essex.

I did see the Mallow Skipper in Spain this year along with the Spanish Festoon but these don’t appear on Bowden Houstead!

It isn’t all butterflies either, Damsel Flies also appear, I think they must breed in Carbrook, I really do think damselflies are the heralds of summer, I love them!

Anyway that is all from me for now, I had better get my tackle sorted out, by the time Sunday arrives the river should be at normal levels, the clarity should be good and the fish ready to be caught en mass.

Good luck

Tight lines

And remember…

Be kind to the people like me that voted to leave the EU, we did it for a reason.