A few Rudd and a Turtle Dove

Just thought I'd write a quick update on the fishing in this corner of East Kent recently. I decide to give the syndicate a rest for a while, partly to allow the huge amount of weed floating around to settle somewhere, but mostly just to have a break. The football has had me up late most weekends, so a 3:30 alarm on a Sunday morning doesn't appeal particularly. I have however been to a different venue on our CDAA ticket to try and target the big Rudd. Ive had some success with fish to 1lb 10oz, but not quite managed the 2lb target yet. A 3lb fish is a definite possibility, but a one in a million fish perhaps, so I'll start with a 2.

1lb 8oz of Gold

1lb 10oz of even Golder.

Shortly before Dad passed away, he bought himself a 600mm telephoto lens for his Eos 90D, he was already ill at this stage and never managed to take a single photo with it. I promised him that I would, so here is the beginning of that promise taking shape. I was sat in my flat minding my own business when i heard the unmistakable '"cooing" of a Turtle Dove in the old Oak at the bottom of my garden, thankfully I had the camera stuff nearby. My mum is keen to get out and take some wildlife photos as well, so hopefully we will find some more subjects to photograph.

Hopefully there will be many more chances to photograph these birds, I absolutely love them. 

The syndicate is calling me back, so It wont be long before I go back after the Tench, then the Eels, then it will be Perch time, so some more stuff to blog about!

Tight lines,

Benno.

Fathers Day

 Normally on Fathers Day, dad and I would have met up on the riverbank somewhere before sun rise and then spent the morning fishing and chatting together. Catching a fish was never important, just being there together. Obviously this year that wasn't to be, he definitely wouldn't have wanted me to sit around moping though, he would have wanted me to go and get after those tench again, so that's what I did. I made sure to spend some time reminiscing about the good times we spent together and even took a bottle of (nonalcoholic) beer to raise to the old man.

Cheers dad x

I wasn't going to mess about this time, I went armed with a trio of Greys 2lb barbel rods and Shimano reels loaded with 12lb mainline, no more messing about with perch rigs. Their time will come, it's too weedy to fish light enough for them to work efficiently at the moment. There were only two reasonable spots available to fish in my chosen swim, the same two as last time strangely enough. One in a rare clear spot and one on top of a gravel bar. 10 hours drifted by in the dappled sunlight under the trees before anything happened, a screaming run from the rod fishing the top of the gravel bar took me completely by surprise and resulted in a cracking fish of 7lb 1oz. I had absolutely no confidence in that rod, having never hooked a fish off of one of the bars in this lake. Shows you what i know!

Magic.

This place has got right under my skin

All in all a wonderful way to spend a day reminiscing about the old man and a cracking fish to finish things off as well. Take your kids fishing if you can, they will remember those times for all of their lives. I know I do. 

Tight Lines,

Benno.

Thoughts on ledgering for Perch

I am well aware that the title of this post has no relevance to the tench fishing project in which I am currently involved, it is however faintly connected. As promised, a visit to the syndicate on Sunday morning was called for, armed with my two newly refurbished glass fibre MKiv's, it took me a good couple of hours to locate a some spots on which to present a bait properly, although the whole place is like a giant egg box of gravel bars, the fish don't seem to venture to the tops of the bars, they like grubbing around in the silt and the thick weed either side of the gravel. The fish finder is invaluable in this situation as you can cast it around without causing too much disturbance to the water and roughly locate the weed-free areas before fine tuning the distances with a marker float. One absolute screamer of a take at 07:30am resulted in a very old fishing rod being bent double whilst trying to stop a fairly small tench from completely burying itself in the weed, the fish was eventually landed successfully but a lesson was well learned, theres a time and a place for vintage fishing gear, and that time and place is not in a weed choked gravel pit with the potential of hooking an 11lb tench (or a 55lb carp for that matter!)

5lb 8oz. I was lucky to get this fish in on those old elastic bands.

 As I was fishing with lobworms coupled with small pva bags of chopped worm dried out in krill ground bait, I was more than half expecting a visit from a perch or two, it took until 2pm before they found me, but find me they did. Three perfect perch bites, beautiful slow rise on the long drop swingers, all three missed. Did they feel the resistance of the rig, or perhaps the line drag or even the weight of the swingers? Were they just small perch? Could I have done anything better? This may well be a problem familiar to some. I imagine anyone who has fished a place where live baits are banned or lure fishing feels futile in the vast emptiness of a 44 acre pit will have probably missed as many perch bites as they have connected with. I am genuinely interested to hear from anyone who feels like they have come up with a method of long range ledger fishing for perch which has a better than 50/50 hook-rate without deep hooking the fish. The obvious answer otherwise is just to make the hook links two feet long, but this means that the fish can swallow the bait before you ever get so much as a bleep from the alarms. People will often say things to me like "it’s the change in resistance that puts them off, not the actual resistance", now this sounds good in theory, but in my opinion, I’m not convinced. A perch knows what a natural bait feels like when it picks it up from the bottom of a lake and is more than happy to drop anything that doesn’t feel quite right. Last season I played around with using light braided mainline with two meters of light fluorocarbon as a leader, free running rigs and a 12" hook length, the braid helped a lot because it wants to float, as opposed to mono which lays on the bottom and creates a lot more drag, this coupled with a tinfoil swinger did start to notice an increase in hook-ups, but not consistent enough to be satisfying. All of the writing on the subject seems to say the same thing, perch hate resistance and will drop a bait if it doesn’t feel right, so just use live-baits and they will smash in to them with enthusiasm... believe me, if I was allowed to, that’s exactly what I’d be doing too, but the rules are the rules and I shall enjoy the challenge of trying to solve the puzzle in front of me. 

My PB at 3:14, caught from our local river in a big flood 

 As far as I'm aware, theres never been a genuine 4lb perch caught from the syndicate, theres been rumours, but no photos or evidence. My good friend Andy Larkins has definitely caught a 3:14 and my very first fish on trying for them was 3:11, followed by a number of other 3s and big 2s, so a 4 is a realistic target, especially seeing as Andy and I are the only two people silly enough to try and target them.

The biggest I’ve managed from the syndicate so far at 3:11 

 Please leave me a comment if you have any thoughts on baits, rigs or indication for the Perch, or anything else that I might have missed for that matter. I did give prawns a go, thinking that the heavier bait would negate some of the unnatural weight of the rig, but they didn’t seem to be interested in them. I wont be targeting perch specifically until the autumn, but that doesn't stop my brain from thinking about them all of the time. 

 Tight lines, 

 Benno.

A bit of an update

Since my last blog offering, life has very much got in the way of my fishing career. Being self employed, it's important that I make hay whilst the sun shines and the sun has been shining brightly in my little plumbing world. I have managed a couple of trips down to the syndicate, unfortunately, the tench spawned early this year due to the sudden increase in water temperature caused by the tropical spell of sunshine we had in May, this coupled with the explosion of weed growth and natural food availability has made the fishing even more tricky. I did manage to land a couple of tench, the best of which being a 6lb 8oz male fish, but alas, nothing which troubled the 10lb target I’ve set myself down there. The 7lber I had caught in the first blog has been the biggest so far this season. 

6lb 8oz of syndicate tench

I've been able to drop in for some short sessions with the float rod on one of our club waters and have managed to land a couple of tench, the biggest one going just over 5lb, the size of the fish isn’t really relevant if you can catch them on a centerpin and a float rod. With that in mind, I’m heading back down the syndicate tomorrow armed with two glass fibre Bruce and Walker MKiv’s and one split cane Bruce and Walker MKiv, believe it or not, the glass fibre rods are mine and have just been resto-modded with Fuji reel seats, the split cane is of course Dads, I’ve teamed the split cane up with a JW Youngs Rolling Pin to try and at least make it look like I’m using an appropriate vintage reel, his other two split canes are so worn out in the handles that I’ve had to drop them off at the rod builders for some new cork. Don’t worry, I won’t get Fuji reel seats put on them, I’ll carry on with the old rings. 

5lb of gold on the pin

As you probably know already, photography was a huge passion of Dads, I can remember him sitting for hours by the Valerian plants outside the house trying to get shots of the hummingbird hawk moths, I’ve been doing the same recently, but with an IPhone instead of a digital camera, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty pleased with the results, just gutted that I can’t show him. 

Hopefully I’ll have something else to write about after tomorrows outing, I’m going for an all-natural bait approach, low resistance rigs and bite indication with a view to potentially hooking the perch, eels, tench, carp or anything else that likes a juicy worm… Tufties are a distinct possibility as well (as is a blank!) 

Tight lines,

Benno.

Mile 26!! I've done a marathon!

 You know when you have a really good idea, and then you have to do it? Yes… well I seem to do that a lot! My most recent idea involved me running/ walking a mile a day in May in memory of my dad and Bev, in the hopes of raising some money for Cancer Research UK and the Bowel Babe fund.

I can do that, no problem, I thought to myself as I typed my name into the “sign up here” box! I don’t know why I had so much self-confidence, I haven’t run more than about 50 meters since 1996. Anyway, I clicked the button, and for the whole of this month I have somehow managed to do this challenge.

 My legs are aching, I’ve cried more that I ever thought I would, at one point I think I hit “the wall”, but on the 26^th May I passed a very significant milestone for me. Mile 26, the Marathon mile. (Yes, I know that an actual marathon is 26.2 miles, but 26 is close enough for me.)

 

Mile 26 was always going to be significant for me because dad ran 3 marathons in his life, and one of those was when he was 46, the age that I am now. And although it has taken me 26 days, and not 4 hours and 20 minutes, I think he might still be proud of me for getting this far.

 

Marathon man in action!

I am not a natural runner, by any stretch of the imagination, but knowing that I’ve been doing this challenge in memory of my dad, and feeling like he’s been at my side a lot of the time has motivated me to keep going, along with such kind words, support and donations from so many of you, so thank you.

Like most of the UK, we are mid heatwave here in sunny Kent, and the 26^th May was like standing in an oven, so I concluded that running an entire mile, even in the evening was a bit dangerous! Instead, I thought that, in honour of my dad and his love of birding, I would do a birdwatching mile to see how many birds I could see and hear on my mile… I think dad would have approved.

So once the air was of a slightly less sizzling temperature I set off for my mile.

 

One of our resident pigeons.

Before I’d stepped out of the gate, I was greeted by two plump wood pigeons and a collared dove, as well as the parliament of rooks who live in the trees behind my house.

I had wanted to see some spectacular bird of prey, the buzzards had been circling over the garden all day, or maybe the barn owls that hunt across the fields, but I had no luck with that. However, I did see lots of swallows darting around over the fields, a pheasant, blackbirds, jackdaws, a song thrush, a robin and a few crows.

I knew that there were more birds around me that I could hear and not see, and Benno had told me about an app called Merlin, which you can put on your phone, and it records and identifies birdsong. Although we both spent years with dad wandering through wild places, our knowledge of birdsong is not a patch on his.

So, even though he would probably not have approved, I used the app to see what else was around me, and it added a wren and a dunnock to my little list. I was quite pleased that I hadn’t missed too much.

I know that these apps are not always accurate, and they are nowhere near as good as my dad’s well-trained ears, but it seemed to work for these purposes, and I am learning a lot about the different bird songs through using it.

So, as I plod on through the last few miles of this 31-mile challenge, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me and sent kind messages about my dad. We have raised over £1000 so far for Cancer Research UK and the Bowel Babe Fund. If you would like to add to that total, this is the link. (Click here.)

Benno and I are still trying to work out how to reply to comments on here, we are so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to write them, we read them all.

In other news:

 

Leeds Castle

Aside from running, Evelyn and I have also been busy visiting places and getting out in nature as much as we can. A recent trip to Leeds Castle was pretty spectacular. There were plenty of birds across the whole estate, and Evelyn made friends with the ducks! She also loved the falconry and has decided that’s what she wants to do for her birthday this year.

 

The Red/Black Kite who lives at Leeds Castle

Egyptian Goose on the wall at Leeds Castle

Making friends with the ducks

We also had a wander around Goodnestone Park Gardens, with lunch (and strawberry ice cream), where we found newts and tadpoles, beautiful flowers and a Green-Veined White butterfly.

 

Goodnestone Park Gardens

Green Veined White butterfly... I think.

And of course, Evelyn has been busy in the garden and at farm school, growing vegetables and hanging out with baby goats and enormous alpacas. What a life!

 

Alpacas at the farm! 

The moth trap has been on overnight, so I am about to empty it with her. I am intrigued to see what we have caught… I may be asking you all lots of moth related questions, once I’ve finished the 31 miles, that is! Thanks for reading.

 

Sarah and Evelyn.

 

The Curse Of The Woolly Jumper.

First of all, I'd like to say a genuine and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the kind words about our Dad, both on the blog and in real life, it means everything to us that he meant so much to so many people. 

 

The fish are just a bonus when the world looks like this.

It's a good job Dad taught me to stop and appreciate nature whilst fishing,
 if it was solely about catching fish, I'd be a miserable sod fishing this place!

  Since Dad left us, I’ve managed eight trips down to my local syndicate water, first a couple of quick morning sessions after the elusive, but sizeable perch that live there, then a switch over to do six day sessions for the tench. I’ve only done one previous spring season on this lake fishing for the tench, and from what I remember, and my diary entries, I caught fish pretty much every time I cast a line into the water. This season has been very, very different. The perch fishing almost went completely by the wayside this year as I was busy either looking after dad, or helping to organise the funeral and everything that goes with that, so it was decided that I’d skip that and go straight after the tench, easy right? Important to note at this point that I have been wearing my dad’s favourite fishing jumper on every single occasion, not entirely sure why, it just makes me feel like he’s still with me. When I look back at all of the really big or really special fish that I’ve caught in my life, he was always the one who slid the net under them for me, followed by a fist bump and a big smile, I know that he can’t do that for me anymore, but this jumper is the next best thing. I have become convinced that the old man has been jinxing me via the jumper, purely because he thinks it's funny.

As I sat by that lake yesterday morning, I was six days into this seasons efforts after these tench without so much as a bleep from any of my alarms, so it was a most welcome surprise when my right-hand Delkim sprang into life at 12pm, after a nerve-wracking fight, legs shaking, I managed to slide the net under the first tench of the season, I finally broke the jinx. Not a huge tench by the standards of this place, but it means a hell of a lot to me. You can tell that Dad didn't take that photo, he would have told me to sort my hands out and get my fingers out of the picture. 

7lb 2oz of most welcome gravel pit tench.

I know people will blame the slow fishing this year on the never-ending easterly winds, the cold nights, the clear water, the lack of weed cover etc etc, but it’s definitely this jumper. I am going to continue to wear it still, no matter what. I'll keep updating the blog as the season goes on, I'm already thinking about targeting the unknown population of eels in there.

I have one last thing to say at this point,

I’m really going to miss that soppy old sod. 

Benno. 

Keep on keeping on

Early morning sunrise

It’s been almost two months since I lost my dad, and life has been a whirlwind of admin, funeral arrangements, house clearing, mine and Benno’s birthdays, and my usual life of parenting three children, mixed with a generous helping of grief and a lot of tears.

There have been many days when I have wanted to hide away from it all, to stay in bed under the duvet and pretend that none of this was happening, but I know that wouldn’t really have helped me, even though it was extremely tempting.

Growing up as Dylan’s daughter, and also being a qualified eco-therapist, (someone who helps people to connect with nature for therapeutic healing… yes, my dad did roll his eyes at this!) I know only too well the healing power of connecting with the natural world, even in the darkest of times. And so, over the past 8 weeks, I have sought out as much connection with nature as I possibly could in the brief moments between all of the relentless jobs.

There is something about being in nature that soothes my soul, and I am lucky to live in a rural village surrounded by wildlife. Even as I am typing this, I can hear an entire dawn chorus outside my window, and I think there is a mouse on the doorstep!

 I am very conscious that my knowledge of the wildlife that surrounds me is nowhere near as encyclopaedic as my dad’s, but that doesn’t seem to take away my enjoyment of looking at it and being immersed in the natural world. So, I thought I would share with you a few images of things that Evelyn and I have seen and done so far this spring. (Evelyn is my daughter, Dylan’s granddaughter. She is 12 and attends a local farm school where she spends all of her time outdoors in nature.) All of these images are taken on my phone, I have yet to learn to use dad’s camera.

Seven-spot ladybird on Evelyn's jumper

A collared dove in our apple tree

Spring lambs

Cherry blossom

Peacock butterfly under the cherry trees

Peanut thief! We watch him for hours.

Evelyn in her happy place, growing flowers and vegetables.

Whilst clearing the house, Benno and I have rediscovered all of dad’s notebooks, dating right back to 1992, which are full of meticulous records and lists of the birds, moths and fish that he had encountered each year. It’s really lovely to have his handwritten notes and thoughts on life in hard copy, it feels like a little part of him is still here.

Occasionally he would also add little annotated illustrations, and yesterday I got a bit lost in some of the notebooks, and I thought you might like to see a few of these tiny drawings.

 

To end my first official blog post, I wanted to share with you that I have embarked on a challenge that is completely out of my comfort zone. I am running/ jogging 31 miles in May (a mile a day) to raise money for The Bowel Babe bowel cancer research fund, and Cancer research UK, in memory of my dad.

I will be very honest here, running is definitely not my thing and so this is a huge challenge for me. I have been to the running shop to get myself some proper shoes for this momentous event, which seem to be helping me and my knees so far, and I have managed to raise a massive £591 already, which I am so pleased about. If anyone would like to donate this is the link. Click here.

I will of course keep you updated on progress as the month goes on.

Thank you for reading my first official blog post, I hope you have enjoyed it. 

Sarah and Evelyn.