As anglers, we are often in a privilege position of being able to get closer to nature than your average joe public. Part of the pleasure I get from fishing, is the wonderful wildlife and the beautiful countryside we are able to experience.
A couple of seasons ago whilst fishing the Middle Trent, I was blessed each evening with the sight of the ghostly figure of a barn owl hunting low over the meadows, often just a few feet away.
The kingfisher seems to be increasing in numbers and now appears everytime I go fishing. Usually the first sign is the piping call and then the flash of irridescent blue as they fly by. I've not been lucky enough yet to have one land on the end of my fishing rod, but I've had the spectacular view of them diving for fish close by.
On one particular stretch of the Trent, there are a colony of sandmartins nesting in the riverbank (I wonder what's happened to them this year with the river in unseasonly high flood). Early in the season last year the sandmartins where skimming over the water as they usually do, when a sudden commotion caught my eye. A falcon of some kind had swooped out of the trees and taken a bird in mid-air. All that was left was the odd feather floating past my position in the water.
Fishing gives us the chance to escape from the stressful world of work and everyday life into another, better world of the countryside, nature and wildlife.
Like me, I'm sure there are many of you out there who have experienced some wonderful and sometimes strange views that nature has to offer.
Yes, there is definitely more to fishing than just catching fish.
A couple of seasons ago whilst fishing the Middle Trent, I was blessed each evening with the sight of the ghostly figure of a barn owl hunting low over the meadows, often just a few feet away.
The kingfisher seems to be increasing in numbers and now appears everytime I go fishing. Usually the first sign is the piping call and then the flash of irridescent blue as they fly by. I've not been lucky enough yet to have one land on the end of my fishing rod, but I've had the spectacular view of them diving for fish close by.
On one particular stretch of the Trent, there are a colony of sandmartins nesting in the riverbank (I wonder what's happened to them this year with the river in unseasonly high flood). Early in the season last year the sandmartins where skimming over the water as they usually do, when a sudden commotion caught my eye. A falcon of some kind had swooped out of the trees and taken a bird in mid-air. All that was left was the odd feather floating past my position in the water.
Fishing gives us the chance to escape from the stressful world of work and everyday life into another, better world of the countryside, nature and wildlife.
Like me, I'm sure there are many of you out there who have experienced some wonderful and sometimes strange views that nature has to offer.
Yes, there is definitely more to fishing than just catching fish.