Thanks Fred,
Some interesting bemusing's I thought...
the river is the distillation of the landscape
on pike fishing, something resembling a small canary
its not failure we fear but perfection
old tackle tells a story about forgotten anglers
its fun and hard with very little reward most of the time
blood knots author, my writings about why we fish not how we fish
etc.
Seen as I'm in a melancholy mood...
On reflection, at first it was a simple case of trying something different after witnessing an older boys success fishing a local mill pond, it just had to be experienced, for what ever it was.
The thought of angling for fish was as an intriguing and challenging concept that might satisfy my boyish curiosity and a test of my own abilities and potential. A simple and rudimentary concept of fulfilling my natural instincts with the thought of catching and holding a real live wet scaly creature in my hand to marvel at for a few moments, with few tools, was just wonderfully irresistible. The capture for admire not keep, the first captivating experience of bringing a fish into our dry alien world to lay gently in my young hand would be a "look what I can do" moment to remember for sure. I was right, but that first experience quickly grew into a lifetime of never ending personal challenges in the pursuit of wary and elusive water dwelling finned creatures of different types. Like myself, most anglers, who have fished since childhood will still yearn for old times and reflect nostalgically on days of learning and first time life experiences, but will have also inevitably learned of our planet and the other wonderful wildlife inhabitants along the way as we sit patiently at the waters edge, as well as new ways to catch and outwit fish such as the nature of them and our pastime.
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The Pigeon bridge brook, (next to Rother Valley country park) for many years had existed in an underground culvert has been restored to its natural form as an open stream that flows through the area. I also recently heard of a stream (a Don tributary?) going through a culvert in the middle of Rotherham City centre is said to be uncovered later next year.