The Inglorious Sixteenth.

The lake water is as tepid as a cup of tea that has been left to stew. A cacophony of birdsong fills the air, a chorus of excitement and expectation. The air is heavy with the heady smell of spicy hempseed and the strawberry flavoured sweetcorn that has stained your fingers blood red. The oddContinue reading “The Inglorious Sixteenth.”

Beep!

16th June. Coarse fishing on our rivers begins again. Sharing my swim today was a kingfisher. He was no more than an arm stretch away. Together we watched the mists rise and the trees turn to gold. We fished side by side. Brothers of the Angle. He, a sleek flash of electric blue; me, anContinue reading “Beep!”

Lake Of The Dead.

It is a few minutes after five o’clock on the last day of July 1991. The air is still, humid. That stifling torpor of mid summer lethargy. Slowly, I am making my way along a narrow spit that juts out into the lake. I am already sweating and the sun hasn’t even begun to lightContinue reading “Lake Of The Dead.”

Winter’s Rewards

Keep it simple. Just a rod, a reel and some bread and worms for bait and a small measure of expectancy that hangs like your breath in the air. There is a strangely perverse pleasure to be had by spending a few hours on the riverbank in Winter. The coldness of the silt filled riverContinue reading “Winter’s Rewards”

Sabina And The Curse Of The Culm

I know it’s all my fault. Laziness is not a disease; just a state of mind and as minds go mine is pretty static- unless it’s full of thoughts which are absolutely useless to me or anyone… I go back to the end of last season- March 14th. I finished work and threw the creelContinue reading “Sabina And The Curse Of The Culm”

First trip of the year…well almost!

Having seen footage of rivers flowing through houses and waves too big to surf on. I have contented myself with central heating, glasses of port and Chris Yates’ excellent new book “The Lost Diary” (www.unbound.co.uk for details.) But with a day off ahead and a blue sky beckoning I hurried the children off to schoolContinue reading “First trip of the year…well almost!”