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He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops.
Pilgrim’s Progress – read it everyThursday!
Cast Out The Old…..Reel In The New
It’s that time of the year again, when we reflect on the past andlook to the future. And that’s exactly what I want to do in thisweek’s Pilgrim’s Progress, as I take a personal look at the year thathas gone by, and to look ahead to what 2002 has in store. Or atleast, to say what I would like it have in store for me.
Rain, rain and more rain
The first four months of 2001 were, to put it bluntly, verydifficult. The extreme rainfall meant that the rivers were not alwaysin good condition, which I suppose is a bit of an understatement.Also the fact that the banks were like one big over-saturated spongemeant that the rivers were back over the top again following theslightest downpour.
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And then the dreaded disease
Then, of course, the terrible scourge of the Foot and Mouthdisease kicked in from the middle of February. For those of us whoeither weren’t around, or were too young when the last nation-wideepidemic hit the country, little did we realise just what seriousimplications lay ahead for our angling.
It was mid-April before I got to fish a water of my choice, asopposed to fishing somewhere just because it was open. A local poolopened its doors and I responded by buying a season ticket. Fishingfor carp I had a good run of doubles. It was nice to get back amongstsome decent fish at last.
A run of Personal Bests
I also had a couple of week-long sessions after bream in Suffolkduring the late spring and early summer period. I had never fished aconcentrated spell for the species. In fact, my personal best breamwas only in the 4 lb bracket. During my sessions in East Anglia I wasto beat that fish many times, catching a number of 9’s, eventuallysetting my first new personal best of the year with a fish of 9lb2oz.
My excursions into Suffolk also produced the second personal bestof 2001, with a 6lb 14oz tench, which was the best fish by one ounce,of a brace of 6’s. As I’ve only been specimen hunting a few yearsthere’s certainly room for improvement as far as PB’s are concerned.But I was very pleased with both the bream and tench that were theproducts of my long journeys across country.
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One by one other waters began to open up as the Foot and Mouthvery slowly came under control. By the time the river season opened,although lots of venues were closed, there were a few open forbusiness as usual. My river season got off to a very slow start, butreally kicked off at the end of July when I started to fish the RiverDove in Derbyshire.
Onto the rivers and more PB’s
The area I fished produced my third personal best fish of theyear, a 10lb 10oz barbel. This was one of the targets I had dreamedof reaching for a couple of seasons. I had come close on a number ofoccasions, and already had several 9’s under my belt. But thesatisfaction of landing that first double-figure barbel was indeed atremendous achievement, as far as my own personal satisfaction wasconcerned.
I then went on to catch two further Dove barbel doubles, both fishweighing in at 10lb 3oz. Caught from the same area, they were twoseparate fish. The three Dove doubles were caught within the space ofthree weeks. The difficult start to the year by now seemed like adistant nightmare. I felt like the football team who lose their firsthalf a dozen games of the season, but then go on to win the league.
And now for 2002
Regarding my plans for 2002, I don’t want to set too many thingsin stone. After all, angling is all about enjoyment and I don’t wantto restrict my own pleasure by putting myself in a straitjacket ofspecifics. I like the flexibility to be able to switch my venue orspecies targets at will.
However, having said that, there is one species that willdefinitely feature in my plans during the year ahead. I’m talkingabout bream. I would like to catch my first double. Already I’mlooking ahead to the spring time onwards and have a number of watersthat I’m considering. These range from Lancashire in the north toBerkshire in the south, with venues in Cheshire, Oxfordshire,Shropshire and Warwickshire in between.
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The truth is I need to live to be about 1000 years old toaccomplish everything I want to in angling. But as for the specificsof how my angling will work out during 2002, all I can really say is- watch this space. Or at least, tune in every Thursday toFISHINGmagic, to be more precise.
I will also do some barbel fishing though once June comes. I’lldefinitely be looking to add some more doubles to my tally. And alsofrom rivers other than the Dove. In fact I’d love to catch a Temedouble. And I’m convinced the lower Severn will turn up a real biggiefor me at some point. Then there’s the perch, roach,tench……..there I go. I told you I need to live to a ripe old agedidn’t I?
Best buys of 2001
One of my best fishing related purchases during the last year wasthe acquisition of an LED headtorch. As one who does a lot of nightfishing I’m sure that on my own I was probably sustaining a number ofjobs at Duracell. However, I am now able to operate for hundreds ofhours without a battery change. (I’m sounding like a Christmas toy).There are now many different brands in the market place, they allseem to get good reviews. I bought a Lucido though, and can recommendit with confidence to anyone.
By the way, if you do night fishing, particularly at the end ofthe year, switch your headlamp on and off a few times while you’reout at the water’s edge. Then, if there are any Turner prize judgesaround, you never know, you may win the first prize of £ 20,000.
After many years of taking advantage of Mrs Sedge’s good nature Ifinally got round to buying a freezer exclusively for my fishingbait. If you’ve got the space then they are a definite ‘must-have’.It’s the type of purchase that I now think to myself, ‘how did I evermanage without it?’. And you don’t have to shell out big buckseither. I picked mine up for about £ 80 from Curry’s.
At the time of writing the bait freezer is full. A quickexamination of its contents revealed 20 pints of maggots, 3 pints ofcasters, too many litres of hemp to measure, several large freezerbags of broken bread ready for mixing with water for chubbing,several loaves, boilies, a couple of balls of cheese paste, tigernuts, and a selection of deadbaits such as chub, perch, roach andsardines. Now there’s no excuse for running out of bait is there?
Another good buy during 2001 was a digital camera which has nowbecome another one of those indispensable items. It certainly comesin useful when putting articles such as Pilgrim’s Progress together.But as I also print off selected photos for my yearly albums, it isgreat for that too. One can take as many shots as you like and thenchoose which ones to print and which to delete.
With no film or processing costs, other than the photo papershould you choose to print off a photograph, it’s actually a verycost effective piece of equipment. I bought the camera fromFISHINGmagic’s own Graham Marsden, so maybe some of his magic waspassed on with it, because it was the time the camera swapped ownersthat I caught my three personal best’s.
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Pilgrim’s Progress
I’ve been pleasantly surprised, and certainly very encouraged, inhow my angling writing has been received during the past year. Aswell as web sites such as FISHINGmagic I’ve been writing for paperpublications. The last year has seen me ‘signed up’ by BAA to writean article in the quarterly newsletter, as well as a page longarticle in the Sheffield based monthly, the Angling Star, and a halfpage in the recently released Midland Angler, where I do a run downof BAA news and views.
I’ve certainly enjoyed every minute of my new found ‘career’. I’vealso appreciated the feedback that I’ve been getting. I’veparticularly enjoyed the opportunities to help beginners, whether byanswering technical type questions, putting them on to productiveswims, or just by being a general encouragement as they launch outinto this great pastime of angling.
Angling has been very good to me. Not in the sense that I’ve madelots of money from it or anything like that. But in the context thatthe pleasure I have received has been immeasurable. And because ofthat I want to give something back. We all have different roles toplay. For some it may be getting involved in the politics of angling.For others it may be organising introduction to angling courses. Butfor me the joys of seeing others encouraged by what I write hasenabled me to avoid the ‘square peg in a round hole scenario’. Itruly feel as if I’ve found my niche.
As Christmas now seems like adistant memory, it’s time to get back to reality. By now most of ushave probably returned to work. But never mind, there’s alwaysFISHINGmagic to cheer you up. Next week Pilgrim’s Progress retires.
No, I’m not leaving the scene. Youwon’t get rid of me that easily. What I mean is next week is PPnumber 65. Does that mean I get my free bus pass? Anyway, I’ll beback as usual, and the title of next Thursday’s offering is ‘Awinter barbel in Derbyshire, a confused bream in Staffordshire, andchasing the ladies in Shropshire’.
What on earth have I been up to?The first two are pretty much self explanatory, but the third? Have Ibeen womanising in Wem, gallavanting in Gretton or flirting inFarlow? Why not tune in next week and find out? See you then.
The Reverend Stewart R Bloor
Sedgley International Christian Ministries
PO Box 1216, Dudley. DY3 1GW.
Telephone : 01384 – 828033
Web site : www.sicm.org
e-mail : missionscentre@sicm.org
