Operation Brazzers Breech - Kernels and Field Marshals

Not a bad little dram this from Jura, I'm a neat rum drinking fan and not a peaty / smoky whiskey drinker so this ticks both boxes really. 

Rum cask finishes are nothing new in whisky though they have become more common in recent years. Perhaps more than most spirits, Rum has a long and bloody history and it doesn’t always make for the most pleasant of reading.

I think it is important, however, to acknowledge this when writing about the spirit. It originated in the West Indies with the earliest records dating from around 1650. Back then, it was known as kill-devil or rumbullion. 

When Britain captured the island of Jamaica in 1655 the availability of Rum led to an association with the Royal Navy. 

It had suddenly become cheaper and more available than beer or brandy and was soon being used in their daily rations. 

By 1687 it had become the official ration of the Royal Navy. With such regular usage in the Navy, it seems likely that a few empty casks found their way to Scotland where distillers would have been only too happy to put them to good use. 

Anyway I’m a sucker for a big arrival from the cask strength whisky I usually buy but this dram rather sneaks onto the palate with a bit of a whimper much like many of my fishing trips, but it does develop in fairness and there’s a burst of flavour in the middle of the tongue. 

Decent length on the finish too and at £30 for 1 litre (Tesco Clubcard Offer) it offers someone who is a little wined out at the minute a nice weekend tipple without breaking the bank. 

 

Anyway back to the fishing the last session here really was quite a successful one with a 1lb 7oz Grayling caught slap bang in the middle of Warwickshire where a group of largely unknown and forgotten fish have established themselves. 

I didn't think anything like that size would exist here so it really was a shock when a fish I thought was a chub at first actually was a half decent Grayling. Who would have thought from someone that lives in Bards country that I had the lady of the stream literally on my doorstep.

It got me thinking about the fish I lost on the third session he may well have been an even bigger Grayling rather than at 3lb Chevin  or a trout I initially thought it was. 

Bites to be honest were hard to come by so for this early morning short session behind enemy lines I'd up the ante with something a little more visual. 

The maggots would again be the main stay but this time I'd trot sweetcorn as something more likely to be picked out in the slightly murky waters. The clarity wasn't brilliant here last time and I'd imagine the bait would need to have been more or less dropped right in front of the fishes noggin.  

Now this is a stretch where ones footfall will become from this session forward infrequent and sporadic because I suppose the quest has already been concluded but the fact still remains that, it will always stay on my radar because of exactly what I managed to catch, a species that was never thought to exist from those apparently in the know. But it just goes to show there is no smoke without fire sometimes and it's not always cut and dry, there is definitely some middle ground.

So the next quest ? well there is rumours of a catfish in some lock pounds near me, that would be an interesting challenge if it wasn't for the footfall from the question askers, the dog walkers and the whistleblowers. I did think about trying to catch a Stoneloach on rod and line, but that would be having to fish a small stream in to dark to try and catch these tiny nocturnal feeders, to be honest I think even I would question ones sanity, but then what's new ?

Anyway better get back to the session hadn’t  !!!

Well you didn't miss much, some rain overnight I thought the river would be up, but far from it as it seemed shallower and less pace on it than last time I fished it. The sun didn't help either, but boy it was a tough session. I fished from 6.30am to 10.00am in three swims and alternated between sweetcorn and maggots, and for my efforts all I managed was two bites and two bumped off fish.

One of those fish was on for a few seconds but the hook pulled on the first proper bend of the rod. I assume it was a grayling as their boney mouths need a proper hook hold and sadly, the hook clearly didn't do its job from my lacklustre strike. So there you go after a 11 chub haul yesterday it was back to reality. Fishing ain't all sunshine and rainbows now is it.