The late Jack Hargreaves, one of the best-known and, in my eyes, most authentic of all countrymen, once passed on some invaluable wisdom. As a lad, Jack would go walking with his grandfather. During one walk, ‘The Old Man’, as he called him, sat Jack down under a tree. Jack asked him what they were going to do. “Nothing,” said The Old Man. “Nothing at all. We won’t move, we won’t speak, whisper or even cough.” Jack asked him why. “Because if we sit here for an hour, we’ll see something we have never, ever seen before.” It is one of angling’s most potent attractions that it involves long hours of sitting more or less motionless. Once you’ve banged in your rod rests, rattled through your box, assembled everything, you’ll finally reach the stage when everything goes quiet. And then, gradually, everything around you comes to life. For me, this opportunity to watch the wildlife as it goes about its daily business is easily as important as the name on the fishery gate. What I catch ranks equal first, but I’m never truly happy catching big fish in some grot-hole of a pit. Birdwatching has always been a passion of mine and, I notice, for a great many FISHINGmagic members. My childhood was spent on the River Stour and woodland ponds of Dorset then, later, on the banks of the River Deben in Suffolk, with a pair of binoculars glued to my eye sockets. I’d either be looking down at the fish or up at the birds. I’ve had kingfishers perched on my rod, a chaffinch perched on my head, had a water rail so close I could have touched it, ignored the buzzers to get a better look at a short-eared owl and stopped fishing altogether to watch a barn owl hunting the Welland High Bank. This little robin sneaked up on my baitbox a couple of weeks ago as I fished for roach. Every time I turned to face him, camera to eye, he flitted away, so I feigned disinterest while pointing my digital camera in the general direction, and got lucky. Izaac Walton urged his pupils to “Practise to be quiet” and the more I practise, the luckier I get, in every respect. So much so that, every time I have sat completely motionless and soundless for an hour, Jack’s grandad’s prediction has been proven correct. |
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