Black Dyke bonus

 I'd already resigned myself to the fact that Friday would be my final session, before a return to work, so was absolutely delighted when a window of opportunity presented itself to get out on Sunday morning. I'd only got a couple of hours to play with, needing to be back home by 09.15 hrs, but much better than not going at all! Weekend fishing at the syndicate requires pre-booking and, obviously, the RMC was far too distant to be a consideration, thus my sights were set on a tiny side drain that joins Black Dyke just the other side of Sandwich. I left home at 05.20 hrs and had all three rods fishing before 06.15 hrs. Even though I was restricted by very tight time limits, I felt sure that my tactics, bait choice and presentation would put me in with a shout. 

Dawn broke, a beaver swam through the swim before noisily slapping the surface with its' tail just in case I'd missed it! My first Redwings of the autumn were seen and a steady stream of Lapwings left their roost and headed north to feed in Pegwell Bay, I presume? At 07.40 hrs the indicator, on the middle rod, dropped off and the alarm sounded as an unseen fish moved off with my sardine offering. A very spirited battle ensued before a tidy fish, of 7 lbs 6 oz, was drawn over the chord and into the landing net. As I was doing the self-takes a Raven flew over, croaking it's approval of the scene below; it was so good to be out and about. All too quickly, however, the clock indicated that it was time to pack up and head for home. 

I was on the drive with ten minutes to spare, so it had been a very successful trip all round. Once I'd roused Bev from her slumbers, I set about unloading the van. Two large flocks (250+ in total) of Redwings passed west overhead, as I was doing this then, whilst washing down the un-hooking mat and nets, a lone Fieldfare flew along the gardens before dropping down onto the stubble of Newlands Farm a couple of hundred metres to the south. I tried looking up the definition of "bonus" and was met with a cascade of money orientated definitions. My own perception of a bonus is something unexpected, beyond the norm, and this morning had it in abundance, yet I'm not a penny richer! Was it a bonus or am I just kidding myself? I know what I think!

My week's pike fishing

 It doesn't matter which section of the Royal Military Canal I wish to target, getting there from Thanet involves a great deal of fannying about, driving round the houses, due to the lack of a decent road network in this part of Kent. Even at the un-godly time when I leave home, it still requires a good hour to reach my destination, The syndicate fishery, on the other hand, is just over ten minutes away, early doors, and means I get an extra hour in kip should I choose this option. But what needs remembering is that I took time off work to catch pike, not get extended sleep periods, so these two venues were used to test my thought processes and angling techniques. The Royal Military Canal has a rich tradition of producing specimen pike whilst the syndicate is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I've got half an idea what I'm chasing in the RMC, the syndicate being an empty canvas awaiting my efforts in order to paint the picture. 

Monday 5th October - at 04.45bhrs I head off into the darkness for the first session of the week with the RMC being my preferred option. The first canal pike trip of the new season got away to a flier when a popped-up (Joey) Mackerel was taken within twenty minutes of my casting out. A nice little fish of about six pounds made its' way to the unhooking mat where I grabbed a quick photo (using the flash) before returning it to the water. Four more occurrences before I packed up at 10.00 hrs, no other fish hooked or landed. What I must also mention is that this was the only session of the week where I used monkeys on needles as my bite indication.

Tuesday 6th October - leaving home at the same time as yesterday, I returned to the canal to continue my quest. Bait options and presentation were much the same, although I covered quite a long section of the bank by leap frogging the rods at thirty minute intervals. If nothing else, it kept me active which is more than the pike did! I still had a great session which was mainly due to conversations with other folk who were also enjoying the facilities on offer. It was really nice to bump into local birder, and quality photographer, Brian Harper for the first time this year. A long chat about all sorts of subjects, I'm hopeful we'll meet again soon as this 20/21 pike project develops?

Wednesday 7th October - a session down at the syndicate was more to do with being able to get home early to allow Bev some free time than a realistic pursuit of "big" pike. An absolutely stunning sunrise and I'd now switched over to using "back-biter" alarms, as manufactured by my brother Simon, so spent some time getting images. Three times the line pulled from the clip. Twice it was eels and the third occasion came courtesy of a young Mute Swan - happy days!

Thursday 8th October - I've already described the utter joy of being down at the syndicate to witness that movement of hirundines across the surrounding marshes. Casting my baited hooks produced little more than eel trouble, the pike steadfastly refusing to play ball. If nothing else; I'm demonstrating a remarkable level of consistency? What is also becoming apparent is that the syndicate doesn't warrant a sustained effort if I'm serious about another twenty this coming winter.

Friday 9th October - back down to the RMC for my final session of the holiday period. I'd changed over to my Duncan Kay's and had decided on another area of the canal. My preparation couldn't have gone any better with baits coloured and flavoured with fish oils and Predator Plus. I was down there for 05.30 hrs, baits in position before 06.15 hrs - it's quite a trek so the barrow is essential. At 07.05 hrs a back biter announces a take and I'm in! The rods are soft and very forgiving, this fish giving a good account of itself, yet never really testing the gear beyond what I'd consider normal. As the fish rolled on the surface I thought eight pounds-ish! When I got it to the net I was thinking "double" only for the scales to reveal its' true weight at 14 lbs 8 oz! Brilliant - what a way to finish the holiday sessions.

There is an awful lot being said about mental health and well being during this Covid pandemic. That fish, laying on my un-hooking mat, summed up everything about why angling is such a fundamental part of "normality" in my little world.  I remained on the bank, soaking up the atmosphere, reliving my moment of glory, until it was time to call it a day and head off back home. Pushing the barrow back to the van was a breeze with that fish in the bag!

Moody skies and hirundines

 Just back home after my latest session; this one down at the local syndicate fishery. It won't take the IQ of Boris Johnson to glean, from the lack of recent posts, that things ain't going quite to plan. I'm going to do an angling summary of the whole week tomorrow, or Saturday? What I want to write about is the absolute privilege of being in the right place, at the right time, to witness a large scale movement of hirundines as I have this morning. 

It was a dull, blustery morning, heavy clouds and the ever present threat of rain which was the backdrop to the spectacle. There was no dawn, as such, it just got less dark. It wasn't until after 08.00 hrs that the odd chink in the clouds allowed any signs of brightness to emanate from the eastern horizon. I'd played around with the camera, attempting to capture the mood of the morning when, at 08.40 hrs, a flurry of Swallows came skimming over the lake, headed west. This was the precursor to the main event. Over the next ninety minutes, I watched a substantial movement of House Martins and Swallows, all heading steadily westwards on a broad front across the adjacent marshes.  By 10.00 hrs it was almost over, just a few stragglers moving in a more southerly direction before, by 10.15 hrs, it ceased. I make no claim that these figures are exact, just my estimation of the numbers involved. 700 House Martin, 250 Swallow and 1 Sand Martin (that is exactly how many of them I managed to id!). Although not tablets of stone, the behaviour of the two main species was rather interesting as the Swallows tended to skim the lake and fields whilst the House Martins were much happier flying into the brisk wind at a greater altitude. No evidence of feeding activity, just a very deliberate movement both west, then south, as I've already mentioned. 

Other bits of note included a Common Buzzard doing a very good impression of its' Rough-legged cousin by hovering over a raised bank for some five, or so, minutes. So glad I had my bins to hand. A couple of Chiffchaffs were associating with a mixed tit flock, as was a lone Goldcrest. Just as I was packing up a Green Sandpiper dropped in, doing a quick circuit of the lake, before heading back off towards Richborough. All in all a very pleasurable session in which luck played a far greater role than any skill on my part!

All quiet, but here's hoping

 A very low key sort of day, with Debbie bringing Emily and Harry over to visit Nanny & Grand-dad for the first time in ages. It was great to spend some quality time with our family,  the two kids having gotten negative Covid results after being sent home from school a week ago, showing symptoms of a cold! Still, I have to accept that reopening schools must be a priority and teacher health cannot be compromised by their pupils. Another sign of these crazy times. Garden vis mig was very different from yesterday, with just 17 Song Thrushes noted, the highlights being single Lapwing and Grey Wagtail - what a difference a day makes!

I'd taken a quick trip down to see Camo, this morning, just to grab a couple of packs of blueys, to add to my bait options as I return to the mini pike hunt. On Monday I'm off down to the RMC for my first session of the season, hoping to get three out of five trips next week to the venue. The other two will be at the syndicate where I'm still unsure of the potential of the pike fishing, I've certainly not seen anything to convince me that I'm chasing "big" pike there. With five sessions equating to around twenty five hours, maximum, angling time, I'm hoping at least one double visits the landing net before I have to go back to work. The weather forecast seems to be changing by the hour, so any plans will have to be very flexible, adapting to whatever twists and turns the conditions throw up. I've got some new "back-biter" alarms coming, courtesy of brother Simon, who makes these items in his man cave back in Aston Clinton. It would seem that tomorrow will be the final time I use the Siren R3's, with monkeys on needles, as my bite indication system when using fixed spool reels. Only when using centrepins are they (monkey climbers) a vital part of the bite registration kit using the dead bait techniques I employ. I will make a conscious effort to get some images of the various rigs and tackle items that I use over the coming week. Hopefully I'll achieve a modicum of success and be able to use my blogging to explain some of the thought processes behind my approach to targeting pike in these venues. Obviously this will be fully dependant upon me catching a few, otherwise there is absolutely no point in saying anything about techniques which are not doing the business - any fool can blank without assistance from me!

Garden vis mig and more

Up early, with no plans to go fishing this weekend, I knew that there were some jobs which Bev and I wanted doing, so had agreed that today would see us get them out of the way. As it happens, we did all that we wanted, and more, without too much fuss and job's a good'n! So first thing this morning after the ritual coffee making, I was outside on the patio tidying up the hedgehog feeding station (click here if you wish to see more) immediately aware that there were Song Thrushes moving overhead. By the time I'd fed the aviary and topped up the garden feeders I'd already counted 30+ birds moving in a southerly direction. Time to grab the binos and see what else was happening. The skies were dark and menacing, rain was constantly threatening but the birds were on the move. I couldn't stand outside all day, as I've already explained, but I tried to make the most of the situation. I ended the day recording 170+ Song Thrush moving S through to WSW, 40 Chaffinch W, 11 Siskin E, 1 Rook S, 3 Cormorant 2N/1E, 1 Swallow N and topped it off with a Short-eared Owl WSW at 09.59 hrs. Birds around the garden were 135+ House Sparrow, 17 Collared Dove, 375+ Feral Rock Doves feeding on stubble beyond the garden hedge and a tantalisingly brief Lesser Whitethroat showing features of an Eastern origin? The local Sparrowhawks were incredibly active around the area, I have no idea how many individuals were involved, but recorded them on seventeen occasions during the time outdoors. 

As dusk approached, the skies started to darken and more heavy cloud built along the western horizon, I rattled off a few shots towards the south, where there was still a few gaps in the cloud. Could tonight be the one when I record my first Redwing of the autumn  - naked noc migging! I'll have the study door wide open, awaiting the nightly visits from my spiny mates.

One of the regular customers at our "Al Fresco" feeding station

Should know better

 "When the wind's in the East - the fish bite least" How many times have I used this phrase to others when explaining a lack of angling action. Storm Alex was forecast well in advance; the wind strength and direction wasn't going to be anything other than a raging gale straight from our EU neighbours, directly across the Channel from Thanet. So why did I bother going out this morning? Because I could is about the sum of it! Fortunately I managed to get the brolly up before the really heavy rain began, around 06.15 hrs, and remained in its' shelter for the entire session, packing up at 10.30 hrs with nothing to show for my effort. I got absolutely drenched barrowing my kit back to the van, just a couple of hundred yards away. Will I ever learn?  

My CK Stakeout Mk II brolly. Cheap as chips, but certainly served me well today

Apart from the resident water fowl there was very little else of note. A single Goldcrest and Chiffchaff with a roving flock of Long-tailed Tits plus I recorded 17 Swallows battling into the gale (2, 4, 7, 2 & 2) which was rather crazy under the conditions. The lone Great Crested Grebe came by to have a look at the idiot under the umbrella, so I pointed the long lens and rattled off a few shots ISO 1600 1/500th sec, resulting in useable, if somewhat grainy, images.

A start

It was little after 05.30 hrs that I headed off, into the drizzling darkness, for my first session of the 20/21 pike season. I arrived at a deserted syndicate fishery and quickly set up camp. The brolly being priority due to the forecast. Although it did rain on and off for much of my stay, I remained relatively warm and dry, and rather enjoyed this first outing. 

I suppose that not blanking was ultimately my goal, but when I said mini pike challenge? Two bites registered, one pike landed - possibly three pounds? A nicely marked little fish and very welcome under the circumstances but, not quite what I'm after. But a pike is a pike and there is no known method for targeting bigger specimens which won't also appeal to the smaller inhabitants of the fishery.

Off the mark!

A decent array of birds to keep me occupied whilst awaiting the alarms to sound. Two Common Buzzards, Hobby, three Sparrowhawks, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Water Rail, several Song Thrushes, a lone Great Crested Grebe and, best of all, a day hunting Barn Owl. Back down there tomorrow, with the forecast for gale force easterlies and heavy rain. I'd thought about the RMC, but that's as far as it got. At least I'm close to the van and home down at the syndicate water, so packing up quickly won't mean a long drive home in soaking wet clobber.