All Our Yesterdays

dezza · Dec 4, 2009

And the times we were addressed as "Esquire".

I have been looking through the latest issue of the magazine: "Classic Angling". In it I notice an old advertisement from Allcock's Anglers Guide for the following:

""The Wallis Wizard", designed by F.W.K Wallis Esq., J.P. Perfect for roach and dace, but capable of dealing with large fish such as chub, bream, barbel, etc. Perfect balance and action. Fishing with one of these rods and roach tackle Mr. Wallis has hooked and landed salmon of 30lbs and 20 1/2 lbs. In reference to this rod, Mr. T.A. Waterhouse, the well known President of the Birmingham Angler's Association and Chairman of the Severn Fishery Board, wrote to us in July 1931: "The Wallis Wizard" rod has done some great work since I had it. Despite eight weeks under the doctor, counting from July 1st 1930, it has steered to the landing net 403 dace, 145 tench, 112 chub, 146 grayling, 25 carp, 42 trout, and a mixture of roach eels and perch. The best carp was barely 6 lbs, but I am only referring to the number of good class fish, viz., dace to 13 1/2oz, and chub to 3 3/4 lbs. 3 joint, whole cane butt, built cane joint and top, balanced wood handle, stained dark green, suction joints, special upright rings, agate butt and end rings, bronzed sliding winch fittings, wood button, partitioned bag, weight (approx.) 12 oz, 11 feet

55/6 with cork handle 61/6

For 73/- you could get the same model with a cork handle and agate rings throughout. It was also specially recommended as a bottom rod for use with stationary spool reels.

I assume a stationary spool reel was a fixed spool reel.

This rod was the forerunner of what we call "Avon Rods" today.

And have you considered that Allcocks used to market stuff called "Selecta" past in a tube for roach fishing! They claimed it was more attractive to roach than bread paste.

10d a tube.

Makes you think, don't it?

Graham Marsden · Dec 4, 2009

It makes me all the more appreciative of modern tackle.

dezza · Dec 4, 2009

What interests me particularly are the number of fish taken by Mr. Waterhouse in what appears to be a short time.

I assume that with the exception of the tench, they came from the River Severn.

I wonder if it would be possible to make mixed catches today like those mentioned in 1930?

I fear not.

Graham Whatmore · Dec 4, 2009

"And have you considered that Allcocks used to market stuff called "Selecta" past in a tube for roach fishing! They claimed it was more attractive to roach than bread paste.

10d a tube.

Makes you think, don't it? "

Yes it does Ron, it makes me think, how they also advocated fishing for roach with silkweek draped over the hook and fished under a weir

-

How the hell did they ever catch any fish in those days is probably a more pertinent question. :wh

Colin Brett · Dec 4, 2009

Graham Whatmore said:
Yes it does Ron, it makes me think, how they also advocated fishing for roach with silkweed draped over the hook and fished under a weir -

How the hell did they ever catch any fish in those days is probably a more pertinent question. :wh

Killer method when I was a lad.
Jesus Green weir on the Cam it was dynamite!!

dezza · Dec 4, 2009

Graham is quite right of course, no-one in his right mind would want to fish with an eleven foot rod that weighs 3/4 lb. Can you imagine how horrid that must be?

I have just weighed a MAP 17 footer that goes just 8 oz, that's almost 1/2 the weight of the Wizard at 11 foot!!

It really doesn't bare thinking of.

Old PJ must have arms like Popeye!!

Graham Whatmore · Dec 4, 2009

I have bought this week a Shakespeare Mach III 15 foot rod and thats as light as a feather, it weighs a mere 205 gms with the 13/17ft version weighing in at 275 gms at 17ft, changed days eh! The reels weigh more than the rods these days.

dezza · Dec 4, 2009

Colin Brett said:
Killer method when I was a lad.
Jesus Green weir on the Cam it was dynamite!!

Find any weirpool with roach and you will catch loads of them on silkweed. Old Tag Barnes was an expert with the weed. He once took a 40 lb catch of roach at Topcliffe Mill Weirpool on the River Swale.

slime monster · Dec 4, 2009

My waterfall into the garden pond gets some form of springy green weed growing on the outlet sides ,definitely not blanket weed and it is inhabited by red worms that look similar to red garden worms but thinner ,these vary in size up to about 40mm.
I did wonder if maybe this was the reason fish are supposedly attracted to this weed.

dezza · Dec 5, 2009

slime monster said:
My waterfall into the garden pond gets some form of springy green weed growing on the outlet sides ,definitely not blanket weed and it is inhabited by red worms that look similar to red garden worms but thinner ,these vary in size up to about 40mm.
I did wonder if maybe this was the reason fish are supposedly attracted to this weed.

One of the reasons, but I think the main reason is that fish like a certain amount of veg., just like we do. I even think that true predatory fish eat water plants from time to time. I have lost count of the many trout I have caught with silk weed and grasses in their gut.

Both cats and dogs eat grass, and the big predatory cats like lions, leopard etc, eat the stomach contents of the various species of antelope they kill before the flesh.

And lets face it, we all know how roach and other species of Cyprinids are attracted to bread. Bread is the processed form of wheat seeds.

thagamest1 · Dec 5, 2009

Spanish Pete

I seem to be following Ron everywhere... I grew up on the Chesterfield canal at Worksop and there was a section fed by a lock weir which dropped about 4 ft. I had read about silkweed and knew that it must not be handled so, used to remove the stuff in skeins and then wound the hook through some and trotted it from where the aforesaid weir came back into the canal and ran it under and along the towpath bank opposite ( no more than 12 feet away ). This caused considerable derision from passing pals etc ! However, I started catching quality roach and some chub from virtually under peoples feet and, tunes changed. It was absolutely proven that you could not handle the stuff, it had to be pristine and I have no idea why. I would love to try this again somewhere suitable as it took good roach from an overfished and unlikely spot. For the info.of relative locals, this was the "short pond" at the bottom of Sandy Lane on the Shireoaks road. Hasta luego and buen navidad

Fred Bonney · Dec 5, 2009

I think SM has hit the nail on the head ,it's what's in the weed rather than the weed.

slime monster · Dec 5, 2009

Ron The Hat Clay said:
And lets face it, we all know how roach and other species of Cyprinids are attracted to bread. Bread is the processed form of wheat seeds.

Ron i have not used wheat as bait and believe it or not have never given a thought to the link between bread and wheat as far as bait is concerned .....interesting!

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} · Dec 5, 2009

Ron The Hat Clay said:
Find any weirpool with roach and you will catch loads of them on silkweed. Old Tag Barnes was an expert with the weed. He once took a 40 lb catch of roach at Topcliffe Mill Weirpool on the River Swale.

What exactly do you mean by expert Ron? I mean what did he do that other anglers with less expertise didn't when fishing silkweed?

I've watched barbel sitting below a weir sill on the Royalty and waiting for the brown decaying silkweed to break away and flow over the weir. The same barbel completely ignored any number and variety of my baits that were slipped onto the sill by way of experiment. Preoccupation I guess?

dezza · Dec 5, 2009

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} said:
What exactly do you mean by expert Ron? I mean what did he do that other anglers with less expertise didn't when fishing silkweed?

I've watched barbel sitting below a weir sill on the Royalty and waiting for the brown decaying silkweed to break away and flow over the weir. The same barbel completely ignored any number and variety of my baits that were slipped onto the sill by way of experiment. Preoccupation I guess?

Old Tag caught a hell of a lot of fish with silkweed. I even seem to remember that he caught barbel on silkweed

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the term: "expert" because quiet simply there are no experts in angling. The term "enthusiast" is a better one.

Preoccupation is for real, and many have I seen the times when fish have been totally pre-occupied with one item of food. Trout are particuarly susceptable to becoming pre-occupied.

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} · Dec 5, 2009

Ron The Hat Clay said:
Old Tag caught a hell of a lot of fish with silkweed. I even seem to remember that he caught barbel on silkweed

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the term: "expert" because quiet simply there are no experts in angling. The term "enthusiast" is a better one.

Preoccupation is for real, and many have I seen the times when fish have been totally pre-occupied with one item of food. Trout are particuarly susceptable to becoming pre-occupied.

I just wondered whether the great man did something unique Ron. Often just a very simple tactic or nuance seems to set the best anglers apart.

The barbel I watched on the Avon were very definitely set on feeding exclusively on these little dreadlocks of brown and seemingly rotten weed that were breaking away from the hanging fronds and sliipping over the weir sill. It could be that there was something else within the detritous that was appealing to them. They would track the grains of corn, maggots and bits of luncheon meat i dropped in as they went over the sill, but turn away before taking them. I often read how barbel are amongst the dimmest of our river fish, yet the ones I used to encounter on the Royalty were as sharp as razors.

Anyone who knows the fishery will know what I mean by the 'chain' at the head of the Parlour pool. Throw a bait above the chain and they would attack it immediately, anything beyond that chain and they'd completely ignore it. It goes without saying that it was pretty much impossible to present a hook-bait above the chain.

dezza · Dec 6, 2009

Thanks for calling Tag Barnes "great".

He was truly the best all-round angler I ever knew. And to be brutally honest he could fish **** Walker's pants off any time, well perhaps not with the fly rod.

But he was no slouch at that either.

I was one of last people to have fished with him - at Lakeside in Nottinghamshire for trout.

---------- Post added at 00:55 ---------- Previous post was at 00:48 ----------

If I remember right, the best chapter on silkweed fishing is in Edward Ensom's (Faddist) book on Roach Fishing. It's a book I have been after for some time.

You never touch silkweed with your fingers, You pull the hook, about a 16 if you are after roach, through a patch of fresh green silkweed next to the weir, and then let the tackle trot downstream.

Fred Bonney · Dec 6, 2009

Take your pick Ron

Edward Ensom - roach manual - AbeBooks

I have the book, silkweed is in a section about baits generally. Iknew I heard about the insects in the weed somewhere!
There is a whole chapter on hempseed though.

dezza · Dec 6, 2009

Thanks Fred

flightliner · Dec 6, 2009

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} said:
I just wondered whether the great man did something unique Ron. Often just a very simple tactic or nuance seems to set the best anglers apart.

The barbel I watched on the Avon were very definitely set on feeding exclusively on these little dreadlocks of brown and seemingly rotten weed that were breaking away from the hanging fronds and sliipping over the weir sill. It could be that there was something else within the detritous that was appealing to them. They would track the grains of corn, maggots and bits of luncheon meat i dropped in as they went over the sill, but turn away before taking them. I often read how barbel are amongst the dimmest of our river fish, yet the ones I used to encounter on the Royalty were as sharp as razors.

thknows e Parlour pool. Throw a bait above the chain and they would attack ie fishery will know what I mean by the 'chain' at the head of thAnyone who t immediately, anything beyond that chain and they'd completely ignore it. It goes without saying that it was pretty much impossible to present a hook-bait above the chain.

chris, several years ago i was on holiday in Bournemouth and i had a few hours to kill while my wife went shopping- i headed off to the Royalty but being hungry i bought a bag off chips before heading for the river.I saved about half and later found myself looking down into the parlour pool, below me were several huge barbel that became very interested in the chips and took them with abandon, regarding the chain , there were two anglers completely ignoring it and were casting up to the head of the pool - what would have been thier fate if a bailiff had seen them transgressing the fishery rules.

Ron, the finest wier in our region to take roach on silkweed is the one on the little river Bain near Conningsby in Lincolnshire,

i fished it many times and if there was a hint of rain -low pressure,and it was dull and overcast you could leave any other bait at home.The roach just loved it-- good uns too!.

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