Piscatorial Quagswagging

...the diary of a specialist angler in around the Warwickshire Avon and its tributaries.

Sunday 18 April 2021

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.191 - Jabs and Jargonauts

The fire was cranked up during the evenings much of this week, ok it's not that cold during the day but I'd had my DIY hat on and the garage door which leads directly in to the kitchen has been open for a couple of days whilst I'd stripped and glossed the door which was a rushed stained wood job. 

The roller garage door is insulated but its surprising just how well this fire door helped keep the heat in. The overnight temperatures have plummeted though and all but one morning this week we've had a hard frost.  There are signs things are improving on the weather front though, as I type this a T-Shirt wearing 15 degrees. 


Those morning frosts though knocked me and the fish for six and I'd not really had the motivation to go fishing especially as the sun has been high in the sky of late, where the weather was there to be enjoyed without fishing being on ones mind. 

Heck even the BBQ came in to play again with ones tandoori chicken with griddled veg, be rude not to I suppose, good food, good wine, those small things that make you happy need to be enjoyed in these COVID times.


Now when the Double Barrel Shiraz by Jacob’s Creek came out a few years ago it created a bit of a buzz in the wine industry. Indeed, the barrel-finish gimmick is broadly, and commonly, used in the liquor market, as well as in craft beer industry all around the world, but it was virtually unheard of with wine!

Plenty of Whiskey makers finish their fine spirits in Bourbon, Port, Sherry (my favourite), Madeira, Sauternes, or even Chateau Margaux barrels. But wine producers generally stick to maturing their wine in… well, wine barrels. The Double Barrel Shiraz however, after a common ageing in wine barrels, goes through a finish in Scotch barrels!
 
The wine is full-bodied, which you would expect from an Aussie Shiraz. Generous body, a wealth of smooth velvety tannins. 

It overall feels relatively dry though for the style, no obvious or too dominant sweetness other than the richness provided by the ripeness of the dark berry and touches of dried fruit flavours.

I'm not usually a Shiraz drinker but this caught my eye and as it's a tenner in Tesco at the minute, and it turned out to be not a bad drop at all, and I'd recommend a bottle or tow to enjoy in-front of a movie or a steak dinner....

I had intended to go out the evening before with Sam but after a numb arm after my jab the pull of the sun soaked beer garden was too much, the Blue Monkey Infinity at our adopted local has on tap at the minute.

It's very nice indeed too, in-fact I was disappointed they'd sold out of Landlord but this was right up there with beers I'd recommend to try if you're new to the ale scene, you just need to have it kept as well as the New Inn in Norton Lindsey, it makes a massive difference, it always has done, no matter the beer on offer. 


Talking of monkeys some news this week came from scientists who had injected dozens of human stem cells into developing monkey embryos, and the resulting hybrids survived for up to 20 days in lab dishes.

These human-monkey embryos could someday serve as helpful models for human disease, embryonic development and ageing, 

By zooming in on the interaction of human and animal cells in the embryos, scientists could also learn how to help human cells survive amongst animal cells, potentially advancing the effort to grow human organs in living animal models.

They did say the implantation of human-monkey embryos would be ethically contentious and will need to be discussed by scientists, ethicists and the public before moving forward with such experiments,

And the CRT and EA are worried about a few 'unwanted' non native 'invasive' fish swimming around in the turbid Midland canal network, well ok. 

Check out Nic from Avon Angling UK's recent upload a small section of canal full of fish sharing the same water and shoulder to shoulder with this relentless predator. Eyes open please no need to send them from Coventry or wherever to Billingsgate Market, they are quite happy where they are thanks.


15 hours prior to this session I'd had my Oxford jab and to he honest I should have stayed in bed. Half an hour in to the session with one schoolie caught the chills started and the goosebumps there to see.

I wanted to try out some circle hooks I'd been trying and the 4 fish caught in this session all hook perfectly in the top of the mouth. I'd bumped a couple of fish off in a previous session and wasn't quite happy with the hook arrangement.


This area as reliable as any I know to get a bite or two. 

Two hours in though I just wasn't enjoying it and the fact I wasn't feeling brilliant only amplified that, so once the footfall was increasing at an exponential rate I decided to halt the session early and go back to bed with a paracetamol and a warm duvet. 

Still not feeling 100% as I type this, after a feet up chilled day I've aches and pains and a high temperature, let's just hope its short lived, fingers crossed. 

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