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The moon & the sledgehammer

27 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by The tuesday swim in Carp, The Lea Valley

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Tags

55, cardinal, carp, carping, dexter, fishing, glass, Hardy, iv, lea, mark, moon, old, petley, phases, river, rod, school, skool

Last summer  I spent the day with author and angler, Dexter Petley, searching out river Lea carp. After many emails sent back and forth from his base camp in Normandy, Dexter finally made it to London while promoting his new book – Love, Madness, Fishing after a thirty year absence. It turned out to be a memorable day (Dexter writes about it in Fallons Angler issue 9) success came in the shape of a large Lea common. I was happy that it was Dexter that caught the near twenty, he only had one chance while I could return anytime, I felt it was the only outcome. What stood out  that day was Dexter’s boyish excitement and confidence in catching a carp, gifted by the fact we had a new moon, perhaps his whispy grey hair and talk of moon phases  captured me, spellbound in some form of carp wizardry? It was a great day, the new moon cast its spell and I became a moon child.

Almost one year on and the river season has commenced, I have been keeping a close eye on the river but the carp have disappeared, perhaps the dry spring sent the carp to deeper more oxygenated waters? On opening day I met with friends Garrett and Tony for a traditional 16th and despite many bream feeding on our groundbait our carp baits only spooked the twitchy bream, the carp were merely ghosts.

So last Saturday we entered a new lunar phase, I woke feeling half-hearted about getting up but the celestial pull took me to the river at a respectable 8.00 am, if the carp were enchanted then hopefully they were still under a spell. I arrived at a usual spot and looked into the river, below were three large carp, boisterous in their swagger as they pushed their way around the swim searching for food, it was the first carp I had seen in a while, their tails in the air, the moon had switched them on, they danced on moonbeams. River carping is not easy but sometimes it all drops into place, it did last year with Dexter and today it looked hopeful. I lowered a bait just one foot from the bank, I felt the line and watched the rod tip, thirty seconds passed and then wham, like a sledgehammer hitting the rod, the tip pulled down as the carp headed downstream, for five knee trembling minutes I fought the carp and finally landed a common, probably just under the twenty pound mark, just like Dexter’s common from last year. The wizardry of carp fishing strikes again!

Extract from Love Madness Fishing by Dexter Petley – Caught by the River

09 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

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Tags

dexter, fishing, love, madness, petley

Possibly the best bit of writing I have read for a long time by Mr Dexter Petley…

extract from Love Madness Fishing – Caught by the River.

Dexter Petley

Words on Water – Radio Four

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

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BBC, caught, dexter, four, On, petley, radio, river, water, words

Following on from yesterdays post about authors and fishing (quite by accident) is a programme on Radio Four – Words on Water featuring John Andrews, Luke Jennings, Dexter Petley, Chris Yates and others. This is a great insight angling writers and what drives them to write, best you listen to it rather than read my clumsy scribbles!

And Caught by the River has just published another letter from Arcadia this morning featuring Dexter Petley. Read here.

Caught by the River presents…

20 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

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Tags

andrews, bill, brewery, brick, by, caught, dexter, drumond, eastend, john, lane, mason, petley, river, rough, taylor, the, trade, truman

An introduction to Caught by the River, with a Q&A session will take place at Rough Trade East, ‘Dray Walk’, Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL, tomorrow evening at 6.30 (Sept 21st).

Those attending and chatting about CBTR include the proprietors, Jeff, Robin and Andrew, along with John Andrews and Bill Drumond.

Rumours have it that real ale will be served later at Mason & Taylor concluding in a raucous east end knees up… DJ’s verses the old Joanna!

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