#4 Marooned

No preamble again, straight in with the rod shots?

Alresford, Old number 5? Always thought of Alresford as an away water, even if only about 3 miles down the road. I remember my first trip there, old number 24. Shanus had been delegated live bait catching, either had  a few stickle backs from the  burnt down Church pond or his dad had let what else he had go in the fish pond. Bait was frozen in  a lump corn or some decaying old frozen gudgeon. I do remember trying to entice  a carp  with one of the gudgeon.

I 'd have been on the trout pellet paste or blackeyes here.

This must be Frating Bottom Pond, subtle difference  being homemade pepper pot monkeys not Gardner readymades.

This was from Frating Top pond, after a night on the Bottom Pond with Lobkin. Taken fair and square on half a rudd.

Ardleigh when the perch were the secret squirrel match target. Would have been 1st  day any method and I was whisked away having only just got in from being on the piss in Lord Lite's rush to get to the outfalls. These would have been on waggler and sprayed and sticky magged maggot..Lord Lite and Goozagig had drain pipe feeders. The perch a good 3+

This one came on feedered maggot a boat row across the ressie. They might be my Hutchie 12 footers

Old man dropped me off at Alresford in a right pea souper. Only fish of the day this big old fecker on half a herring and the full fly rod ensemble. My favoured snide rod tactic whilst I carped .

Marooned once more at Abberton this time, Old man's taillights disappearing up the hill when I realised all my dead baits were in his car still. Lobkin had two massive makkies. I had feck all, he had this 20.

A better day baitwise, one of our autumn jaunts to the Ton..no snag bars for us, simple laccie band over the rod and Optonic in a big blow.

Stalked this one out of the Ski Pit from the Tip Pit end. Had been lurking in the weed for a day or so, dropped  a bait on it's head and it took it like a chub takes a slug. Bish  bosh..

Match Pit in winter, my spiritual home.

Not sure how I had planned to land a fish over that ice...

#3 Reap what you sow

 I have started this without seeing where I got to  yesterday so I'll launch straight into the known.

Most unusually shaped Match Pit carp. And a Mitchell on the Fibatube. Most of them werer grown on wildie types, up to 12lb max. Then some dumb feck stocked it with infected mirrors.

Paddy (Rory Mcellroy) Carlin with a lump from the Reeds.

We piked as well, this one I had twice (Keith)

Second time when the whole pit had frozen over. There will be a bike somewhere...we had another big freeze, the savage  wind keeping a small fringe off the Road bank ice free. I biked over, crippled by the cold. It took an age to get two rods in and I was so cold I was sick so I wound them back in and went home.

Warmer days in the Hot Spot, apricot maples. Look at the keks on that. I had 5 fish that evening

Winter again and the 12 ft parallel butt Conoflex's. Three flasks. Note the missing scales, a Dave mirror. As trolled just now on good ol' Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210772079926465&set=o.283227841733684&type=

Not the biggest Frating fish but the best barnet I ever had. A stone's throwaway from the Tartan House where Lord Lite, later of Thorrington strutted about in his perm and wearing that ghastly lip slug.

.

Yes that lip slug. Perm long gone. Cos he ain't got no hair. that's why he always wears a hat.

My work is done for the night!

#3 Reap what you sow

 I have started this without seeing where I got to  yesterday so I'll launch straight into the known.

Most unusually shaped Match Pit carp. And a Mitchell on the Fibatube. Most of them werer grown on Wilie types, up to 12lb max. Then some dumb feck stocked it with infected mirrors.

Paddy (Rory Mcellroy) Carlin with a lump from the Reeds.

We piked as well, this one I had twice (Keith)

Second time when the whole pit had frozen over. There will be a bike somewhere...we had another big freeze, the savage  wind keeping a small fringe off the Road bank ice free. I biked over, crippled by the cold. It took an age to get two rods in and I was so cold I was sick so I wound them back in and went home.

Warmer days in the Hot Spot, apricot maples. Look at the keks on that. I had 5 fish that evening

Winter again and the 12 ft parallel butt Conoflex's. Three flasks. Note the missing scales, a Dave mirror. As trolled just now on good ol' Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210772079926465&set=o.283227841733684&type=

Not the biggest Frating fish but the best Barney I ever had. A stone's throwaway from the Tartan House where Lord Lite, later of Thorrington strutted about in his perm and wearing that ghastly lip slug.

.

Yes that lip slug. Perm long gone. Cos he ain't got no hair. that's why he always wears a hat.

My work is done for the night!

#2 Come on you Old Feckers

Lord Lite of Thorrington couldn't wait to pick up on this idea and even had the brazen  cheek to ask what he should call it, Old Feckers natch. Which he shamelessly nicked as well.Worth it mainly so far for pictures of his hideous lip slug and perm. Keep em coming!

Seeing that first picture on  of me on the Colne got me thinking about rods. I can't remember the first rod I fished with but I did have a tiny thing with  a tiny reel that I dreamt of fishing with and even made a rod out of a garden cane and wire rings. Never used that either.  At that time tank Ariel rods were still being used. don't remember what we used to fish with for the frogs, we did though use branches, with nylon to hand for the rudd on Rectory Road pond,. mostly cos we had to leg it when the owner saw us, he had  a shot gun and he did fire it at us.

In the Colne picture I was using  a more sophisticated hollow glass rod, the give away white section above the sheet cork handle indicating it was probably a Woolworths rod, one of a series of slightly better ones I had. But that was a while after I had come back from the shit hole. I do remember being given a solid cane rod with a solid glass tip which I couldn't bear to be seen with, However one trip to Horsey Mill and a lovely roach and I stated to use it. Probably the rod I used at the shithole, for dace and gudgeon in the feeder stream, fishing off  a foot rest on the weir slope and memorably 23 big perch between  me and Stuart Robinson off a bridge on the Chelmer, redolent of pig farm and the big sewage plant. I stayed up in Stockport with Stuart, we fished Roman Lakes in Marple and a truly dreadful polluted canal.

This blog will jump about a bit, lots of albums have been mixed up but nothing really before early Match pit days so there will be a lots of preamble about other shining times but no pics. Unless the Old Feckers find some.



This album really starts when we  had the Match Pit carp a bit sussed, sussed in that we were moving away from the old standard size 2 Goldstrikes  stuffed with sweet corn and blasted way out, initially for me on those 8 or 9 foot solid glass white spinning rods of the time. Rods now Fibatube blanks. 10 or 11 foot I think. I had no camera for a while so courtesy of Shanus or Lord Lite and their 126 format pics

Match Pit common (natch). Road bank. Very noisy with big tucks and  a conveyor belt just yards away. Gas board jacket, waders and a poxy little net.

Pump Pit 9.04. My biggest fish at the time. On crust from the Sandbank and I Had to go in up to my neck to free it from weed. Note the CPOAC LUNKER HUNTERS holdall and nearly Dave size keep net.

Shanus with a upper double from the Tip Pit. Picture by my brother. Specially commissioned.

Classic back garden shot with two browuies from Ardliegh close seasoon in those day so we were up top our knackers in the water from 1st of April, and as it warmed the boats. Don't know how many years I  blagged  a junior ticket for.... And as for buying a second 8 fish limit ticket..

Ardliegh later hit the headlines for it's roach stocks,.My biggest from there this 1.12 on feedered maggot. I spy a Cardinal 155 on that rod. I had been to the pub for more fags as my rollies couldn't cope with the rain, after the row across and walk in waders 3 pints in the Wooden Fender went down a treat. Won't surprise the Old Feckers to know I still use that Eustace bag though the mice have had a go at the strap.

We were on boilies and particles by now, bigger net, still a bike and what the fuck hair. Match Pit reeds. The bikes were important. Firstly to get there, Dedham or very occasionally Layer  our maximum rides. Secondly to ride round when some one had  a run. Some times we went home (me to refill my 3 flasks) so we left behind might have to patrol the still fishing rods. You knew when one was away as the dog walkers would be transfixed by the indicators sliding up and down the needles.

Winter was no barrier to us carping.Still got the Avon scales and Stuart box. Out towards the island, seafood boilies. 2pm run almost guaranteed. No Skeetex yet though. Set boxes not Lafumas still, and of course Dave had a 50 gallon Riva box

Wine o'clock so toodle pip..

#1 Early days, early ways

I can't remember my first fish but there must have been one. Some kept diaries, and now most keep blogs. Some had photos, most now have Google Photos or the I-Cloud. 

The header? Some reprobates back in the day (1982 or1983). Winter (mostly) carp fishing in

Somme like mud. The Match Pit, Wivenhoe which must have been good to draw the Alresford boys along away from their Pit.

This is the oldest picture I have found but there must be some older somewhere. So it's not my first fish. it's a dace, from the River Colne off Sheepen Road in Colchester. A CAPS water . They don't see a need to hold any river stretches anymore.  Very sad

Some of the far bank cover swims were proper aquariums. Accessed over a large sewer or gas main that you had to inch over. Worth it though.

Would have been somewhere about 1975 or 76. Back from the borstal type school I had been sent to for 2 years. Flares, big, Doc Martins, big. Hair biggish. Must have been a stalwart U's fan by then , loving the night games with 14,000 packed into Layer Road, changing ends at half-time.

Was fishing with my father and pictures were by my grandad on his trusty Zenit which he passed to me as my first camera. Grandad was an allotment holder, a skilled  tool maker and could have been something big in the Union.

What are my jumbled photoless early memories?

Sticklebacks in jars from the  Common in Kenilworth and much later down the road on  the Leam, perch and  a proper crayfish. Stopping for flask tea and banana bread by the famous Arsley Lake. Being marooned on Blicklng and catching 23  tiny, perfect rudd from the green warm water. I can still smell them today. Fishing for frogs over the Back. Eels and flounder from the  Eel ponds. Sticklebacks (again) and big rudd from Alresford Church. Gudgeon and later bigger things from Dedham, that 8 mile bike ride. First time on the Sandbank, wind down before striking.

More, much much more to come.