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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MORE TALES FROM THE SEVERN AND THE DOVEFollowing my return from vacation in Dorset, it didn’t take me long to get back on the lower Severn. While I had been away there had been some quite heavy rain and so I was looking to make a trip to the river as soon as I could. On arrival, I wasn’t disappointed. There was a nice colour to the river, and combined with a water temperature of 17, I was certainly confident. Following a couple of blanks (as far as barbel are concerned) on the Severn below Worcester, I was keen to put a fish or two on the bank.
At 8.5 it was the biggest of the three Just gone 7.00 pm and I had my prayers answered when a fish of 7lb 3oz decided it couldn’t resist my home made boilie presented in mid-river. The rest of the evening saw a constant stream of big fish movement all over the river. In fact, at 9.30 pm, my diary entry read ‘No more fish as yet, but there are a lot of big fish crashing all over the river. I’m very hopeful’ Within half an hour a small fish of 4lb 10oz decided it too wanted to be caught. It did put up a fight though. Anyone would think he was destined for the pan the way it tried to avoid capture. The third fish of the trip came just before midnight. At 8lb 5oz, it was the biggest of the three. There had been another angler on the stretch and just before he went home he came and asked me if I had heard any funny noises in the peg I was fishing. He then proceeded to spook me with supernatural tales that would have done justice to the pen of R.L. Stine.
More alien encounters But the fears I experienced were far outweighed by the pull of the Severn barbel and so almost a week later I returned. After several dropped runs, of which I suspected chub, I finally caught a barbel right at the end of the session. At 7-7-8 it wasn’t a monster, but it’s always better to catch than not to. And it certainly put up a good fight. So not much excitement on the fishing front, but I did have an encounter with a former Soviet Union citizen! A few years ago any such encounter would definitely have been of the 007 type. But of course we live in a different political climate now. I’ve even been to Romania on a number of occasions, not to mention Moldova and Russia itself. And, of course, since the days of glasnost and perestroika*, the felling of the iron curtain has meant many former Soviet citizens have made their way to the UK to work, many of them doing seasonal labour in the fields. (* These words mean openness and restructuring, by the way).
The stretch I am fishing on the Severn is attached to farmland that has a number of Eastern Europeans working there. You can tell them by their dress; close your eyes, open them again, and you could be driving through the countryside of Suceava in North – Eastern Romania. So there I am, fishing, when I become aware of someone approaching me from behind. Looking round I was greeted with the words, spoken in very heavily accented English, ‘You catch big fish, You eat big fish?’ Thus began a conversation with a Latvian farm worker. Of course, the biggest obstacle to overcome was not the language (he spoke good English) but to explain to him why we return the fish! Like so many other people from outside our culture (and even some within), the idea of catch and release brings a smile to their faces. ‘You fish, you catch fish, you throw fish back?’ It was difficult for him to understand, but I did my best to explain the reasoning behind our apparent madness.
Back to the Dove Having not been on the Dove for a few weeks, a trip north on the A38 was beckoning, and that’s where I want to finish off this article. Arriving on another hot and sunny day, the air temperature was in the 20’s but the water temperature was 18. I know we’re a fussy lot us anglers. Don’t want it too hot, or too cold. Still, 18 was good enough for me, particularly as I was expecting it to be higher than that. As well as barbel having a lower point at which they generally don’t feed, the same is true of the opposite end of the temperature scale as well.
However, there was some ‘entertainment’ as far as the weather was concerned. The hot, balmy day was shattered on several occasions by rain that fell so severely that it literally bounced off the river’s surface. Thank goodness for my Brotel, although the intensity of the rain revealed that it does need re-proofing. Still, by the time I came to pack up, the rain had stopped, so that was something to be grateful for. Lower Severn barbel results table Lower Severn Sessions: 12
River Dove barbel results table Dove Sessions: 4
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Next week Pilgrim’s Progress is 100 articles old! Anyway, I was only thinking it would have been nice to celebrate the moment with a special edition, when I go and land a fish that enables me to do that. So join with me next week Thursday when I tell you about ‘THE BEST BARBEL I HAVE EVER CAUGHT!’ It’s not the biggest, but it’s the best! Tune in next week when all will be revealed. The Reverend Stewart R Bloor Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday! |
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