Christmas comes but once a year (End of Great Thought) but when it comes it does not always brings Good Cheer, especially among fishing families where the Pursuit of the Angle and the odd extra pint can lead to some unfortunate misunderstandings, not to mention the raking up of the all the transgressions over the past twelve months.
So this time I'd like you to remember that Christmas time is family time. Let's keep it jolly, lets keep it peaceful. And it'll be mainly up to you, you've not got to mess Christmas up again like you did last year. Start your Christmas peace efforts early, and you'll reap the rewards.
Let's get back to the wife. You've made your peace. You're going to be a good lad from now on, cross your heart and hope to die. And you're going to set the seal on your resolution by buying her a proper present this year. A present she'll like and can use, not the usual litre bottle of Scotch or set of floats.
I've done Dearly Beloved really proud, you see I bought her a mixer, a grinder and a blender for the kitchen. She's always fancied those, and this year I thought what the hell. Last of the big spenders, me. So she'll be able to play with them straightaway on Christmas morning, I've got them all ready, unpacked them from their packaging and tested them out. I must say that all three of them work superbly.
Should you be thinking of buying the same, I can thoroughly recommend them. The mixer. A couple of minutes with that and you've got some beautifully textured dough bait, with the high protein additives mixed evenly all the way through.
The grinder. How smoothly it reduces wheat and oats to use as fine groundbait. How quickly it chops down a handful of worms into bite-sized pieces for the fishes' little rosebud mouths.
And the blender. Warm water, custard powder, any kind of flavouring essence, and in seconds you've got a beaker full of liquid gold to squidge into the groundbait.
Pardon? No, I've been testing them that's all. I washed them out properly, dried them, and put them back in to the boxes.
I wouldn't dream of using them regularly for preparing bait. Not until after Christmas anyway, not until things are, how can I put it ? a little more peaceful.
Which such a busy time at the minute with work being full on as always and the behind the scenes funeral stuff to be sorted (funeral the 12th) I had a short opportunity to visit the syndicate stretch before meeting a mate for a curry at a pub ten minute away.
Pike and chub were the intended target to a smelt on one rod and some bread flake on the other.
And what a chilly one it was, barely above freezing but thankfully if ones cockles got a little too cold then the sanctuary of the car wasn't far away.
Nothing much happen for an hour or so and the smelt was moved every 10 minutes or so to try and induce a take from a pike. I decided to change to lobworms on the chub rod but again nothing doing on that. What I didn't expect though was when reeling in the lobworms was that a pike out the blue decided to grab the bait and give me a merry dance.
There was a bleeding smelt 10 foot to the left 🙈 why not take that. Anyway the 4lber came off at the net sadly and I thought I was on for a blank. 10 minutes after though with the full moon bright in the sky and the sun setting the bread was getting interest and a drop back bite turned in to a full on bent quiver tip and a chub was on.
Not a bad fish either at a nadger under 4lb but with my hands now like ice blocks I got it back quickly rather then spend time taking a picture with me holding it.
As soon as the sun disappeared from view boy it was cold, thankfully I only had 45 minutes but I was determined to stick it out till I had to leave for a well deserved curry. It was still though and despite the chill it was quite nice to be out.
The fish had other ideas though because nothing whatsoever in to dusk and beyond, when I left at 5.20pm the landing net was frozen solid and the rods were covered in frost. Still not a blank and with it being cold going forward hopefully the pike rods will get some action.
0 comments:
Post a Comment