The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.*** - Gastrophilanthropists and Grim Discoveries

Stupidly I decided to watch the news yesterday, the first time in a month or so now. The lockdown clearly not happening in many parts of the country particular London where some of the scenes were frankly quite staggering, a pre pandemic public picnic on stanozolol.

Mixed messages from the Government and clickbait media hasn't helped, it's all gone a bit Pete Tong hasn't it. Luckily I've resisted the temptation to get on social media, common sense me thinks, especially with ones keyboard bashing temper tendances.

Now talking about not good, fishing is still be off limits which ain't ideal for ones wellbeing usually, but I've had a good week thus far, a new small stream and small river set-up purchased, line loaded, quiver bent.

A TFG centrepin and an 8ft Darent Valley which has an ultra-slim blank looks just the ticket for those small waterways I love to fish. Both for under 90 quid which I though was pretty good. I like centre-pins with a knurled knob because in the field with some other pins I've got you need to carry a screw driver which is easy to forget until you need it.

So with the fat harbouring Zander topped up with a belly filler every couple or three days for ones water fix, the swim well and truly primed and ready for when the draw bridge is raised.  The canal at the moment literally alive when the suns out, it helps that water levels are low, the clarity clear.

Carp in numbers, not huge ones, but they are so easy to spot, backs out of the water, bow waves created. I won't bore you, but the fry and also the roach shoals are quite staggering really, even the Wife seemed impressed and usually her eyes glaze over with anything fish or fishing related.

Tadpoles in their thousands throughout the 2 miles length we walked. Their path often hindered by the marginal branches, reeds and leaves. They soon figure it out though and get on their way, where exactly are they all going to anyway ? Still a nice sight to see, the fish no doubt will get fat because of all the food that is coming their way.

Now during this lockdown something hit home, an angling acquaintance once told me his life's ambition was to retire to a town or village with a river running through it. I really am spoilt with the waters available to me, 5 minutes by car I can be on the canal, small river, stream or brook, 10 minutes I can be driving down the banks of the Warwickshire Avon.

Fingers crossed that a new WBAS syndicate stretch of the Warwickshire Avon comes to fruition, if so it will be cracker, seeking solitude as a fisherman is where my allegiances lie, this will deliver that, with a chance of a barbel too.

I'm not bothered particularly with fish of specimen size. The location and setting trumps that, if I don't see anyone else, a thumbs up from me, this will be that sort of venue, only the like-minded in attendance not a full car-park.

One thing I will do this coming new season will be to fish with worms, so I've started a wormery to breed and fatten my own. A small compost caddy, coir lined, some topsoil and we are all ready to go, just need worms now to call it home and some potato peelings to get it started.

Now a message from someone out of the blue was a bit of an eye-opener, a skull and other human remains, yes you heard right, a skull have be found at one of my club waters.

The area where the grim discovery was made, is very well known to me, not only having fished opposite it quite a few times last season but also I found the injured kingfisher a stones through away from it.

I'll be keeping an eye on the local press to see how the case progresses, this looks like one for 'Frost'

Sam turned 9 Saturday, he is eager to get back fishing too. No fishing related presents this time, a cabin bed that despite saying it would take around 3 hours to assemble, it actually took over twice that.

Still the tunes were blasting, the elderly neighbours wondering what the heck was going on, I quite enjoyed it. So his new bed sorted, some redecoration and the Jeremy Wade canvas print now pride of place on his wall next to his big plush Zander which now has somewhere to call home.

I thought having a birthday without his friends to celebrate with it would upset him. But no we had a good day overall. Some lego building, a nice walk out fish spotting, a wayward armed octopus that you connect to the hosepipe kept them occupied in the 23 degree heat.

A Chinese take-away as a belly filler and afterwards Facetime with Nanny Brenda and Grandad with the lighting of the Colin the Caterpillar cake.

Even the balloons he didn't think he would get was waiting for him after his bath, balloons I'd not seen before, the Wife doing good yet again, we knew he had day when he asked to go to bed without any promoting, he was battered.

So as ones hair gets bedraggled, the beard now past the itch, I'm surprised I've managed to keep these ramblings going on for so long.

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.*** - Food Banks and Foot Wabblers

What a lovely few days it's been, some local family walks have been a welcome tonic to the drudgery that can set in during the weekend for me when the lockdown hits home and fishing is a forgotten pastime.

Still, fingers crossed the BoJo announcement Sunday may well bring welcome news for maybe a relaxation of the rules. Being able to meet with immediate family not in the vulnerable category will be most welcome, the kids need their hair cutting and the Sister-In-Law is a hairdresser. 

The Weber has had it's work cutout this week, just when it thinks it will have a rest, the charcoal chimney has been loaded up again and another load of lumpwood given a firelighter up the jacksie .

There is something very therapeutic about fire and this decent lumpwood unlike the supermarket rubbish doesn't taint next doors ivory tummy huggers.

Now talking of theraputic Blackwell Rum has certainly been a welcome tonic having had quite a busy time of it as work (WFH). I'm not a fan of overly sweet rums and this is more to my palate.

Straight it's a very smooth rum with vanilla & caramel flavors, followed by toasted marshmallow and a natural spice finish. Whiskey hasn't had a look-in since I've discovered the sugarcane snifter.

The river was very low indeed, in-fact almost devoid of fish life but it showed where the deeper sections were and also where there were swims full of snags.

But I know here a drop of water transforms this watercourse, a river seemingly baron, now full of things ready to suck a maggot, swallow a worm. It's a stretch where I caught my first Warwickshire trout and having fished it plenty of times now, I've never seen another angler.

That's just how I like it.

Butterflies are certainly active now, the Anthocharis Cardamines or orange tip seem to be all over the place especially the canal towpaths. They are bugger to capture on camera, in-fact the white ones in general, they certainly seem the most active.

I've managed to capture quite a few species now, in-fact the nature reserve down the road is well known for a huge variety.

So back to ones water fix after giving a young angler and non-member a friendly talking to whilst doing my bailiff duties as a club member., the Zander swim I've been feeding on this stretch  haven't had it so good.

He packed up and went away without much issue and given a few pointers on how to join the club and why he should be fishing. The CRT have closed the waters after all.

The carp seem very active indeed, because the water levels is very low now on this stretch their backs out the water is a dead give away. In-fact you can spot their movements a good distance away now they are that obvious.

I've never seen the water so clear here, that could well be an issue when eventually I can target the Zander again. The lack of boats moving about has meant the silt has stayed put and the clarity clear enough to see the bottom even in the boat track.

I've said recently I'm amazed at the fish shoals around at the minute, in-fact Zander have so much food in this 2 miles stretch there was no need for ones food bank.

Now this clearing clarity is ideal for the carp for sure but I like to fish for Zander when there is no visibility at all, turbid the better for me when I'm targeting them.

I'm hoping this Zed I've been feeding up has got enough cover to stay put giving me sufficient time to get a deadbait in-front of it. 7 or 8 times I've fed it now and we are talking  3 or 4 medium smelt or a 5 or 6 small roach. I'm hoping I get to see it's bulging belly before anyone else.

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.*** - Whiskerine and Whithersoever

7 weeks in to lock-down now surprisingly it doesn't feel 'that' long, the fact I've not been fishing in that time hasn't quite hit home yet I feel. I'd have probably amassed another 20 odd sessions up till now and banked quite a few more canal Zander. 

Ones hair bedraggled, stubble now beyond the itch. 

Sill we've still be getting out locally for that water fix. A secret weeded up pool discovered after a search on Google Earth with fishing platforms in situ, to be fair apart from tadpoles nothing topped, no fish movement. 

We'd also explored a couple of streams too which were adjacent to the footpath, but sadly they looked entirely fishless, the stretch going from a static foot deep to more or less dried up. 

Now there is no denying I like a drink or two and in these times when I'm working from home I could easily slip and find myself falling down that slippery slope.

I've not got to drive in the morning, heck I could even have a lie in, put I've resisted and kept off it during the week and got back on it the weekend. 

As someone who lived in South Africa for two and a half years as a kid I remember vividly how inventive the population were in even more surreal apartheid times ( I'll have to try and find some of the fishing pictures). 

So four weeks into lockdown and without a rotisserie chicken in sight, South Africans are reconnecting with their kitchens.

But it’s not demand for humble ingredients such as potatoes, garlic or onions that is rising exponentially, but rather pineapples.

This is probably not because homebound South Africans have a hankering for a Southeast Asian-inspired stir-fry or even a (deeply underrated) Hawaiian pizza. Rather, the right combination of pineapple, sugar and yeast can result in an alcoholic brew with a kick something consumers are craving amid prohibition.

 

With the ban on alcohol forcing South Africans to get creative, some savvy South Africans noticed that a Spar outlet had budged them towards a simple solution that many have been trying at home during the prohibition-style period, pineapple beer you can brew at home. 

Having arranged a variety of essential ingredients in an eye-catching display, with yeast, sugar and pineapples placed in a spiralling tower at the entrance to one of their stores, the major retailer gave a nod and a wink to South Africa’s thirsty.

On the the first day of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in March, the Johannesburg fresh produce market sold 10,000 pineapples or so. 

On April 6 and 7th a few days ahead of the Easter weekend, 60,000 pineapples were sold, soon after than, up to 90,000.

With liquor stores gated shut and the transportation of alcohol increasingly prohibited, South Africans have been having a tough time getting their hands on the stuff.

However, there is nothing stopping you from brewing your own beer at home.

Pineapple beer brewing is actually an incredibly rewarding process , the fruit contains a minimal number of kilojoules and is utterly packed with vitamins, making it a fairly guilt-free beverage to get a little but on with. 

The tropical fruit also contains enzymes, which assist in breaking down proteins. In this way, pineapples contribute to digestion. Pineapples also relieve arthritis, boost your immune system and build stronger bones.

Of course, in order to ensure that the brew ferments, you’ll need to add a ton of sugar, so perhaps don’t go around telling everyone that you’ve discovered the solution to the beer gut.

So if it ever happened here, give this a go

The recipe is dead dimple, but it might take a bit of patience as you wait for the concoction to ferment. The simple ingredients, as neatly (and conspicuously) advertised by Spar, are pineapples, sugar and yeast, as well as water. The yeast is actually not essential, although adding it will speed up the fermentation process.

In order to get the process going, simply follow these instructions. Peel all three pineapples and cut them up. Do not throw away the peels. Cut the peels into small pieces and combine with the pineapple pieces. Place the pineapple pieces and peel into a 9litre bucket. 

Add the sugar.,fill the bucket to the top with water, then add the yeast ans use a muslin cloth to cover the top. Let it stand for about two days until you can see froth.

It’s recommended that you don’t let the concoction sit for longer than two days, and you can speed up the fermentation by adding more sugar to the batch. 

And voila, you have a Bheki Cele-proof solution to your dry month.

Anyway back to the fishing apart from doing my bailiff duties on the Zander swim stretch I've been feeding and chucking a fisherman and non-member off, I've a wormey to get started. After losing an unstoppable fish during the storms and floods I want to fish with worms more come the new river season.

 Sam will turn 9 Saturday, so I've his cabin bed to build. At least I've something to keep me from straying off that path I'm trying my hardest to stay on, still music consumed in large quantities is keeping me sane thus far.