Bev and I have enjoyed a superb weekend - it's extremely comforting when money is of no consequence! No, I haven't just won the lottery - an insurance policy has matured and released a nice few quid. Bev's got her new motor (a six grand birthday present - how generous am I?) and tomorrow afternoon I am headed to Essex to meet with Lee Morris to collect my new (old) rod - the second B James & Son (1957) Mk IV split cane! Anarchy awaits - look at me! The local carp "fashionista's" have a new kid on the block - yep! I too can catch carp but don't need the over-hyped kit that is on display for all to see. If a Mk IV was good enough for Dick Walker it's plenty good enough for me, two are even better. That carp challenge awaits and I'm right up for it - a split cane 30 before September?
Of course I'm dreaming - but what point to life if dreams ( Go on, hit that link - be brave and listen to what Jonathan Livingstone Seagull has to offer?) are unattainable? Dear Father we dream we dream, while we may!
Who am I?
- Dylan Wrathall
- An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!
Dyl, it's good when one doesn't have to worry (too much) about money. I paid off my mortgage more than ten years ago, which calmed my nerves somewhat. The type of two bed job I live in, currently rent out for around £1300/ month.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of paying that while bringing up kids would have done me in.
Some dream of living where I do (for the schools). At those prices, it looks closer to a nightmare.
But to fishing and rods.
Lets hope that dream of a big Carp comes true. Floating crust, surely.
Richie - fear not old mate! My mortgage worries are not, yet, over - but there is light at the end of the tunnel and retirement isn't too far beyond. Funny thing is I actually enjoy going to work - the buzz of the shop floor and the constant, politically incorrect, banter is what makes getting up in the morning so much more bearable. Having a strong family ethic helps - my grandchildren are my driving force, the reason why I continue to push myself. Benno and Sarah-Jayne are so much more a part of my life than they were when they were growing up - I was too busy chasing big fish/twitching. Funny how things pan out?
ReplyDeleteA thirty pound carp on a floating crust - the very stuff of dreams. Not sure that I'll ever find myself in such a situation, but am always open to suggestion. Just being able to demonstrate my utter contempt for the modern carp fishing scene will do for me. Two split cane, Mk IV's, Mitchell 300's and a bucketful of particles - I will be anarchic heaven! No one needs to cast to the horizon when carp feed in the margins. The Mid Kent fisheries, along the Stour Valley, will provide me with all the entertainment I desire - there are some big noises fishing these venues. - Dyl
Dyl, to fit in with the traditional sense of Carp fishing, the particles ought to be be sweet corn.
ReplyDeleteRich,
DeleteWhat's wrong with chick peas, broad beans or maples - I was using all of these in the 80's! I obviously don't have knowledge of what other stuff was going on - Fred J speaks of using soaked maize for carp whilst holidaying in America (1970?) and Rod Hutchinson writes about total preoccupation when fishing over hemp at Redmire. Sweetcorn will be given a try, but at present, the chick peas have it! - Dyl
Dyl, I gave up trying to be a Carp angler in 1980, so those exotic particles passed me by.
ReplyDeleteRich,
DeleteI have no desire to become a carp angler - I want to be an angler who, at present, chooses to fish for carp, in a manner that allows individual choice and expression - not corporate logo'd hype and methodology. I've never seen a thirty pound carp on the bank, yet I know that my experiences with other species, and lesser carp, will ensure that I won't be a gibbering mess when "that" fish picks up my baited hook. - Dyl