Warwickshire Avon - Tree Huggers and Trechometers

Now old trees are extraordinary. Some of them have lived for thousands of years, linking us with our history and culture. And they have astonishing ecological value too, supporting thousands of species and always many of them of bear fruit such as the cooking apples I picked below that would be used for an apple sauce. 

When it comes to these special trees, the UK is immensely important. We have a phenomenal number of ancient and veteran trees compared with the rest of Europe. There are thousands all across the UK, from the oldest churchyard yews to lone oaks standing in a field.

Determining the age of a tree is difficult because often the trunk of ancient trees are hollow so there’s no chance of counting the rings. Yew are remarkable for their ability to renew themselves and continue to live and thrive for thousands of years. 

Character in abundance what is not to like especially when giving them a hug is meant to be good for your mental health and wellbeing. 

Now It’s unsurprising then that the oldest tree in the UK is a yew tree.  They are incredibly long lived. In fact they live for around 900 years before they become ancient. That’s compared to around 400 years for an oak tree. Ancient yews can then expect to go on thriving for thousands of years.

Imagine the tales they could tell on what they have seen and witnessed. Trees share water and nutrients through the networks, and also use them to communicate. They send distress signals about drought and disease apparently. 

The oldest yew in the UK is said to be the Fortingall yew in Perthshire. It’s estimated to be between 2,000 and 3,000 years old, although some believe it could be 5,000 years old. 

In 1769 the girth was recorded as 17 metres. Although smaller now, it’s still thriving with new shoots growing.

Now the Ancient Tree Inventory  has been mapping the oldest and most important trees in the UK with already more than 160,000 trees listed but there are thousands more to add. 

The one in our village which Sam is sat on has been listed on the website and all you need to do is access the tree search link to find an ancient tree local to you, even using Google maps in some cases to actually view the tree. Now for this short session in to dusk I fancied trying for another river Zander in the area I caught one the other day. 

Again simple tactics of a section of roach fishing under my light overdepth float set-up I actually use at the canal. These are only short-ish 20-60 gram lure rods but there isn't much of a cast here so the length isn't really a hinderance. 

The weather was a bit pants so far this week and I was fully expecting rain when I was bankside but travel light with a few bits and pieces and wear the appropriate gear all is well. I'm not one for sitting under an umbrella but I'm not a fair weather angler, and the session was only short anyway so not a massive issue.

Anyway ff the rain got proper heavy, I had the acid house poncho to hand !!!!

Oddly despite fishing in to dusk the rain never materialised but the bites certainly did. Now having fished for Zander plenty of times now this area really does go against the grain. Its gin clear still which is never good for Zed fishing but depth and being overcast certainly helps.

The first bite came within 10 minutes but I pulled the bait out the fishes mouth which usually means small fish. I was correct as after getting the bait out again the fish came back for another attempt and after tightening up to the circle hook a fish was on.

It came in quite quick almost like it was foul hooked but no it was lightly hooked and maybe didn't realise what the heck was going on.

A slightly bigger fish came on the downstream float not long after and then another bite on the first rod this time the float buried out of sight within a few seconds. At first I thought it might have been a pike, but no another nice Zed to be seen in the clear Warwickshire Avon a most welcome sight.

Another nice fish in the net in its dark summer colours. I've caught canal fish like this but in one half a mile section only. They really are stunning creatures and you can see why I like catching them. Now the bites dried up and I moved to the next swim down but that was it for me. What I didn't expect was a sponsored angler I recognised to pitch up next to me who had the same idea. 

During a friendly natter in the swim I vacated he got in on the Zander action as well having mediocre returns a few hundred metres away. Oddly when the light dropped and headed in to dusk the bites didn't materialise but still an enjoyable short session again where little and often seems to work well at the moment. 

2 hours 3 fish, sanity restored !!!!

Warwickshire Avon - Teratisms and Tephrochronology

A century ago millionaires built libraries, museums and art galleries for the benefit of the population at large. Nowadays they seem only interested in vanity projects for themselves, celebrities and their wealthy friends.  

You see this week Blue Origin's penis shaped New Shepard spacecraft successfully took off from West Texas on Wednesday morning and safely landed 10 minutes and 18 seconds later. The capsule crested at an altitude of 107 km. This was Blue Origin's second human spaceflight and garnered widespread attention because among the crew was Star Trek actor William Shatner, a guest of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. 

“That’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before," 

Shatner said upon landing in the bell-end crew capsule. 

"Everybody in the world needs to do this."

Talk about lazy marketing, but then I suppose it got some air time didn't it, hence this post. I'm sure magic mushrooms and some VR glasses would be just as life changing for a fraction of the cost. 

A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital revolution or reach escape velocity.

So the powerful rocket gets the phallic capsule above the earths atmosphere, the rocket fizzles out and then it falls to earth rather uneventfully. 

It seems rather silly to get excited about a slightly half-arsed flight lasting a 10 minutes with no real payoff when there are giant frickin' spaceships getting ready to fly into actual space and do actual cool sh*t. 

What was supposed to be a 'competition' in private space from the other billionaires Branson and Elon Musk to me they are all a rather large damp squib.

But, But, But, I think this very short step to escaping planet earth or maybe inroads to harnessing energy sources outside of our own atmosphere should be encouraged especially when the now 8 billion population is only headed one way, and that is UP...

If I had that sort of dosh, I'd probably do the same, we cannot get all sanctimonious over it I say. Now I wonder if the space tourists got to see the volcano and its river of lava on the way down ?

Now talking of damp squibs my Warwickshire Avon barbel attempts of late have been very fruitless indeed but then apart from a few days when the river was up and coloured, let's be honest the conditions haven't been brilliant to target them. 

I hate wasting bait so with a a couple of pints of maggots in the fridge that were on the turn, I fancied visiting a swim that has been kind to me in the past where roach are in numbers. At least they can offer bites in these conditions where other species are less likely to be interested.  

They are in good shoals here hence why here is also a good area to target pike, and that is why I'd also have a deadbait out to try and also intercept a pike. 

It's one of those areas on the Warwickshire Avon fish where you can almost guarantee a bite and considering those have been scarce for me of late, at least a blank can be avoided.  

So simple tactics I'd ball in some groundbait mixed with maggots at dawn and then fish a waggler over the top and catapult half a pouch full of maggots from time to time.So simple tactics I'd ball in some groundbait mixed with maggots at dawn and then fish a waggler over the top and catapult half a pouch full of maggots from time to time.

The roach here are always in good nick despite the predators that hand around here.

The bleak shoals can be quite incredible as well so when fishing the float you need to get the bait down through the water column as quickly as possible. 

I've never really targeted the perch in angler but the way they attack the bleak when they are up on the surface layers are fantastic to watch.

There are some really nice looking slabs to catch here as well but the water is still ridiculously clear so I didn't think they would show and I was correct in my assumption despite the half decent depth the swim I fished was.

Now it was raining when I left the house at 6.50am. Ten minutes later I'm unloading the gear heading over to the swim in almost dark.

A very cloudy morning indeed and very damp but with the sun about to rise in half an hour there was no need to rush to start fishing for the roach.

The smelt went out to my right and I mixed the groundbait bankside and fed some balls and left it settle for half an hour.

I couldn't see the float to be fair however the larger pike float close in was much easier to see, 

I even had a chair for this session but I do need to slow down the weekends as ok, I know I'm sat on my backside most of the week but come Friday, Saturday and Sunday I hardly have my feet up at all.

The early start was worth it having dragged myself away from two rather warm plump pillows the pike float had some interest literally within 15 minutes of getting the smelt out. A confident bite with the float disappearing from view I tightened the drag and tightened up to the circle hook. I felt solid resistance and a decent pike was on. 

A couple of powerful runs and at one stage it launched clear of the water and tail walked whilst shaking its head at the same time. It was soon in the net though and I rested it up before taking a snap and weighing it. A rather large head but still relatively lean but still a double going 10lb 6oz in the scales.

No more action when I put the deadbait out again but the roach kept on coming as did the bleak which as one stage must have been 1000's strong with the maggots being hovered up as soon as they hit the water. Even the float was being attacked at one stage. None of the bigger roach showed but that was understandable considering how clear it still is. An enjoyable session nonetheless and another ticked off this month to add to the growing number. 

Warwickshire Avon - Nephelococcygia and Nestitherapy

A small window of opportunity had to be grasped with two hands....

I love this spur of the minute sessions though, those sessions that actually go to plan for once because you see I fancied a Warwickshire Avon Zander and to cut a long story short I actually caught one !!!! 

Yes really, which after a string of mediocre sessions was most welcome indeed. 

After the fishing in the morning me and the rabble went in to Stratford-Upon-Avon with Sam on his bike and us for a stroll during a pint at the Dirty Duck I still had fishing on my mind.

So when we got back I had a couple of hours before I had to make tracks so I hot footed it to an area that is not only deep but also has some cover. More a trek then Sam would be up for hence why I was here on my tod. 

A dropped run within ten minutes at least there were fish in the swim. I can tell Zander bites though and ten minutes later after messing around with the bait for a while a confident bite ensued.

I tightened up to the size 1 Sakuma 440 circle hook and knew it was hooked nicely after the first run. Zander can fight if they want too and this one didn't like that it was hooked.

And I could see it trying to shake the hook in the clear water. The swim was around 12 or 13 feet deep so Zander are top dog in these sort of areas where it's dark and sluggish. It was eventually landed and I had a lovely looking Zed in the landing net showing off its summer colours. 

How can you not like Zander when they look as good as this one did. Not a massive fish going 6lb on the scales but most welcome all the same. I even left before dusk because one fish would do and I left happy. From door to door in an hour and a half, the Wife hadn't even realised I left. One of these sessions where it did go to plan for once.