Getting started

 There's little over eight weeks until the "traditional" fishing season resumes and I am going to set myself a challenge to fill this void before the flatlands are back in the ball game. With the very obvious exception of a Loch Awe pilgrimage, as a rule, I don't need to be out all night attempting to catch a fish. The one ritual that still remains from those early years is a mid-night start on June 15th/16th. Thus, that mid-night start remains the only night in a calendar year when I raise a glass to "Isaac", make the, symbolic, first cast and require a bed chair, rather than a seat, to see the session through!

I've got three afternoon/evening sessions booked (part of the rules during Covid lockdown) on the syndicate "specimen" venue. After talking it through with Bev, I'm committed to three sessions a week at this venue right up to June 15th. My hope is that I manage to tempt that "split cane thirty" but, realistically, I'll be happy to see a few fish in my landing net. It was George, the gamekeeper, who threw a spanner in the works, when he told me about the roach that are also present in this fishery. If, and it's a big "IF", two pounders are swimming around in these murky depths, I'll happily forgo a carp, or two, for such specimens. Going into the adventure with such a blank canvas, I can't see anything other than enjoyment as the learning process unfolds. I certainly have no divine right to catch "big" fish. Success will have been earned, I hope. The fact that work no longer impacts on my ability to present a baited hook is all very weird, but I'll quickly get used to it, I'm sure.

I nicked this promo image from a Nash  advert - can't see any issues arising from this?

Just before mid-day, Parcel Force delivered my latest toy. I'm now the proud owner of a Nash "Bushwhacker" baiting pole system. I feel sure that there are folk out there, in blog land, who don't agree with such items, a bit like bait boats? Me? If there was a helicopter bait delivery system, I'd use it. Progress ain't stopping just because I don't like it. I seek the adrenaline rush of doing battle with a fish using tackle that will provide maximum enjoyment. How I achieve the bite is an irrelevance; modern advancements? If I feel it's not for me, it's not mandatory that I use it  - so a very simple decision. I've chosen the baiting pole because it will allow me to use centre-pins and still place my baits accurately in the margins. As a by-product, when pike fishing. on the RMC,  I can also place a dead bait to where I want it whilst still using centre-pins and no chance of a rig ending up in the trees. In the intimate venues I favour, this stealthy approach can do nothing but enhance my chances of getting that bite I so desire. I'm already thinking about the perch fishing potential of such bait placement.

A thirty before 16th June might be pushing it a little too far but, I am hopeful of setting new PB figures for, at least, one species every year as I move forward. A big ask? It is a question that will only be answered by going out there and discovering if I'm good enough. It's almost like I've come full circle and am as silly as I was when embarking on this "big fish" adventure over forty years ago. Silly, perhaps? Naïve - never on your life. This time round I'm going in with my eyes fully open, but no less excited!

I'll get some photos of the kit, tomorrow, when I'm down at the fishery. Two carp rods fishing the margins and the Hardy "Palakona" Perfection Roach cast into open water. Even if nothing happens I will still have learned something?