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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!

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Tuesday 23 June 2020

A Minestrone post

For those visitors who are at a loss, as to the relevance of my choice of post title, might I suggest a tap on Google search, entering the code 10 CC ? It will all become obvious after such an enquiry has been made. To the rest of us "old'ns" no such explanation is required and I'll continue with this offering. Benno and I returned for another session down on the tidal Stour, Sunday, yet still feel we're clutching at straws with our approach and tactics. The only fish, a very small bream, came to my, quiver-tipped, offering of bread flake. We gave it a good five hours and continue to exchange ideas about how we are to progress the challenge. Understanding the tides is but a, very, small aspect in a much bigger picture.  Bait presentation and bite indication have already proven to be areas where there is much room for improvement. There will be many more flaws to iron out before we finish this caper, that's for sure. It wasn't a wasted effort, by any means, and I managed to grab a couple of shots of the huge adult Beaver that is present along this section of the river. Despite steady boat traffic, paddle boards and kayak activity, the first sighting was at 18.10 hrs, in blazing sunshine, as it came powering down the centre of the river. I obtained my photo, some ninety minutes later, as it headed back upstream, swimming much closer to the opposite bank, still in broad daylight.


So to the next bit of this rambling concoction. Revisiting old photo files to see what might have been overlooked?  Well; this has been rather an eye opening journey with some very interesting lessons for me. Birds which had been dismissed as wheatears, now subjected to scrutiny that reveals yes, they are indeed wheatears, but not the species with which I'm familiar. Because, to me, identification really doesn't matter, a jot, I will continue to enjoy the experience of looking at all creatures which cross my path uncluttered by such nonsense. 




The current pan-species/bio blitzing craze is something to which I am as far alienated as is humanly possible. In the year 2020, how are Victorian collector mentalities allowed to prevail within these technologically advanced times? Those same guys who pin invertebrates to data tagged cards then pull out the most advanced camera kit to show, in intimate detail,  the subtleties of the id criteria required for a positive record to be claimed. Why the need to photograph a corpse? Stick the creature in the fridge then take those same images of a living entity before releasing back from whence it came. Can't do that because I'd have a gap in my collection! Might just as well promote egg collecting and erecting statues to celebrate The Slave Trade while they're at it!



Now on to a really weird scenario. Fujifilm SIS were in contact, via the Royal Mail, to all us guys/gals, currently enjoying, oops! sorry, I mean enduring this enforced "furlough" caper. Basically it was to keep us updated and to ask if those it involved would be prepared to exchange holiday entitlement to ensure 100% wages continued to be payed as the Government support started to subside. The parting line being something about your manager getting in touch before 6th July. I'd already spoken with Bev about the fact that this might be a possibility and that "Minge" (my mate Eric, fifteen years my junior, but still thinks he's in control) was the only one at Fuji with my number. Just gone 19.00 hrs, yesterday, and "ping" goes the phone with a message from guess who? I hadn't even opened it, instead walking into the living room to show Bev this crazy message about wanting to use holiday entitlement! Wrong, it was even better than that! 
I don't have the vocabulary to be as pathetic as this whinging 6' 5" excuse of a man. There's a baby seagull fallen down my chimney. "I've rung the RSPCA and they haven't replied. What should I do?" I immediately rang him back, saying that I'd drive over to his place and get it sorted, which I did. The first time I've had the chance to meet his wife, Kim, and took full opportunity of the situation by asking if she was hoping for some type of medal, verging sainthood, for putting up with the useless twat. My parting shot was "you owe me one!" Job's a good'n! Watch this space once we get back to work.

Happy days! The Minge presenting me with a factory IPICs award worth 
enough money to purchase three Nash Siren R3's. No wonder he's my mate?

So now we're close to the finish of this jumble sale of a post. What the f*ck were those Burnley fans thinking when they decided to get a banner "White lives matter Burnley" towed behind a light aircraft over the Manchester City stadium? It amounts to blatant racism and incitement, nothing better. If they'd really wanted to make a statement and incur support for an alternative theme then "All lives matter" would have been the way forward, certainly more likely to win approval than this, seriously misjudged and odious, prank. What the Burnley captain, Ben Mee, had to say about this outrageous stunt is well worth watching. Click here







8 comments:

  1. Dylan your Tidal stour quest will be more difficult than any non tidal river, Over 10 miles of open river with no sluices, wild tidal flow and level fluctuations, limited feeding spells, target fish location......., the list goes on, then there's preparation,presentation, bait etc., etc., These wild river fish migrate up and down river in numbers throughout the year, I target several stretches and prebait over a couple of weeks as they are not seeing "anglers" baits like pellet and boilies. When and IF it comes good you can be surprised at what can turn up... One thing you will find is a shed full of bream at some locations early and late doors!!.. Not everyone's cup of tea! (albeit some are proper slabs!)
    Have fun on your tidal journey maybe our paths will cross this summer, I seldom see many other anglers on the tidal, but that is part of the attraction for me as well . On the subject of salinity it all depends on size of tide and natural flow but coarse fish can be caught right up into Sandwich, and on the larger tides pushes up just beyond sandwich according to Hydrology info I gleaned from google. Take care Phil

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    Replies
    1. Hi Phil,
      Many thanks for this thought provoking comment. Benno and I are not so proud, nor unwilling, to listen to any advice which is on offer. Right from the off we knew that we were involved in a major project which would push our boundaries beyond anything we've experienced previously. We've no time scale, or targets, just a desire to discover, for ourselves, what can be caught from the tidal reaches of the lovely Kentish river.
      If our paths do cross, you'll have to introduce yourself, as I don't have the first idea what you look like!
      Take care & tight lines - Dylan

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  2. Sorry Dylan, but I fail to see how having "Black Lives Matter" plastered everywhere is OK, but someone saying "White Lives Matter" isn't OK.

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  3. Derek, this is the internet age of 'post truths'. There now exist an absolute intolerance of anything not fashionably decreed to be the way we must think, say or admit to having done fifty years ago or more.
    I mean, the fact we are old is enough to qualify for external (well for as long the battery in the phone holds out) damnation.
    Remember, no matter if you've done a thousand good deeds, it only takes one slip of the tongue and you are condemned forever more as a reincarnation of Genghis Khan or Vlad the Impaler.
    Actions speak louder than words! Not these days. Words have the upper hand in all cases.

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  4. Well I can understand all that Dylan and at no stage in my life have I ever been racist, so I haven't any skeletons there to hide from. However, two points - while I respect and agree with the basics of the BLM movement and what they stand for, I draw the line at their trying to erase some of our British history, and two, I support the equal idea that people should also be able to say "White lives Matter" without being dammed as racist.

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  5. Er, it was me Ric not Dylan who replied to your comment Derek.

    To be fair, it's easier sometimes to go with the flow. I do it all the time. I just make sure I can get out of the water in case I drown.

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  6. Gawd, so you did Ric., senility kicking in I guess.

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  7. Ric/Derek,

    Many thanks for this exchange, despite Derek's inability to see who's actually responding to his opinions. I made my post, due to the fact that our Premier League must be the greatest advert for ethnic, religious, cultural diversity that is to be seen anywhere around the western world. Knowing that this stunt was perpetrated by some right wing idiots, it has no place in modern society? Yes, Derek< of course "white lives matter", and there is very little to be said which can offer an alternative sentiment.
    My issues lie with the morons who decided to fly that plane over Man City's stadium as the players, staff and officials had taken the knee in respect of George Floyd and the BLM campaign. If that banner had read "White lives matter too!" there is nothing offensive in the message and everyone would align with the thought processes involved with the stunt.

    Take care - Dyl

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