Warwickshire Avon – Daylight Robbery and the Exhibitionist

Post 400, wow, doesn't time fly....

Anyway bye bye British Summer Time

Well not quite, but long now, October the 30th, when we go back to GMT again.

The mornings will be lighter (for now), and the evenings darker.

So the longest day of the year which is in June on the summer solstice, 16 hours and 50 minutes of sunlight. That dwindles to just 7 hours and 40 minutes on the winter solstice in December.

When you look at that one sentence, it really can play havoc with ones fishing sessions, it has to, and there is no getting away from it.

So when will it start to get lighter again ?, well as a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) sufferer it seems like months and months, and it actually is, 1am March the bleeding 26th.

William Willet the British businessman popularised the idea of Daylight Saving Time in the UK in 1907. He thought the clocks should go forward in April, and then September so people got out of bed earlier and saw more of the sun. He popped his clogs before seeing his plans put in place. Weirdly he was the great-great grandfather of the Coldplay singer Chris Martin, maybe explains some of his tracks I suppose.

So negative thoughts and feelings, fatigue, increased irritability. I didn’t mind it when I wasn’t a maggot drowner as when I lived in Birmingham (still got the scars) as the rather attractive neighbour over the road when the light went used to reveal herself and her assets to everyone in the street whilst trying on her extensive and skimpy wardrobe ….

….curtains open, light on, boobs out.

To be honest it got boring after a while, very much groundhog day, even the local taxi firm who serviced the area didn't bat an eyelid, it might have added a few grand to my house sale mind you, and you cannot knock that. Then again, sadly I didn’t get the chance.

At least the fattening up starts to get through the winter, be it Barbel, Chub or oneself…I’m not quite ready for those hearty stews, the port, the brandy, the Stilton cheese, the open fire, but I’m already on the look-out for a new woolly jumper and some thicker socks, anyway I’m 44 in November, heck might even start wearing vests.

Many get the winter blues, but me as a fisherman, ok the sessions tend to get less, but I actually prefer the winter fishing months so the SAD is offset somewhat,….

….the banks are quieter, the fish fatter, what’s not to like…

Now talking of exhibitionists, as the light dropped the fish start moving here, Barbel rolling, Chub topping, they were showing themselves off to a degree I’d not seen before, like they wanted to be seen, weird as it sounds, but I'd like one of those Barbel please.

So these smash and grab session(s) were just that, straight after work rods made up complete with a couple of spicy krill boilies on a long hair, tackle in car, the bare minimum.

Rigs deployed with an hour before dusk to hopefully catch a fish. PVA bag with a few matching crushed boilies.

Wait for sundown....and that unmistakable 'BITE'

1st session, no fish, just some outrageous Chub bites.

2nd session, no fish, no Chub nibbles or pulls.

3rd session, sadly work got in the way so finished later than expected. Met up with Russell Hilton (remember him) who was in the area and targeting Zander on the cut.

4th session, some Chub pulls but no fish banked, however I did spot two hunting barn owls though and the sunset was fantastic.

5th session, hair shortened, 1 small Barbel of 3lb, one small Chub

I might take up knitting....