All quiet

 Not too much to report since the PAC meeting last Monday. I did manage another visit to the RMC, on Thursday, but nothing apart from a dropped run to report from an angling perspective. It was, however, a very pleasant session due, in no small part, to a guy, called Rob, who made the effort to come and chat with me. He told me that he follows my blog and have an awful lot in common. Wow, he is a Watford lad who has lived in Kent for forty years. He fished on the Tring complex during the 1970's - early 80's and is, now, also a fellow member of C&DAA . We probably spent the best part of an hour chatting on the bankside before he needed to get on his way; a very nice encounter completely out of the blue. It was whilst we were chatting that a Great White Egret appeared and I attempted to grab a few images despite the very low light levels. Thankfully the camera kit is far more talented than the bloke holding it and I did get something worthy of sharing?

The images are really grainy, but the auto ISO setting has to be credited
for obtaining anything under these light conditions.

There has been a desire to get my freezer stocked with Herrings, yet the local fishmongers have not been able to provide me with a supply. The PAC meeting had given me a heads-up about an alternative supplier and, on Friday, I found myself purchasing some superb, freshly landed, Herrings directly from the skipper of a local fishing boat. Almost a stone of bait, for a "tenner", what's not to like? I dyed them red, yellow and green, plus leaving a few in their natural colouration before being placed into bags and into the freezer. Whilst by the boat a crazy conversation ensued. I was placing my bait within a shopping bag when a lady asked how I prepared the Herrings for eating? It was a very weird exchange as I attempted to explain that I hadn't purchased the Herrings for the table but, instead, they were Pike baits! I'm not overly convinced that she truly grasped my response -" bait?"

I stumbled across this sad Pike in a tiny side drain.
It appears to be blind in the left eye, plus has a few marks on the head which are
consistent with bad un-hooking techniques?

The desire to continue to chase "big" Pike ensures that, even when I'm unable to get to the bankside, my thought processes still revolve around this single goal. Therefore, early this afternoon, I took a stroll around the flatlands to check out the state of Black Dyke and a few of the side drains. It was a very useful outing and, as a result, I will be back at silly o'clock tomorrow morning. The weather forecast isn't too brilliant for next week and Bev & I have a hospital appointment for Wednesday, so it might well be next Thursday before I can get back to the RMC again? 

Grey Heron 

Flatlands Kingfisher

There's a couple of projects which will require me to put some considerable effort into, if I am to do them full justice. One is a slide show/presentation for the PAC gang, the other is the John Roberts Memorial Pike match which will take place at the Wingham Syndicate main lake.(4th Jan 2025). Plenty of ideas, just need some fine tuning before they're fully up to speed.