11 Saturday Mar 2017
Posted in Fallon's Angler quarterly, Photography and video
Tags
angling, fenlans, fens, film, fishing, john, norfolk, pike, press, richardson, terriers, two, woodcuts
Art and the art of angling, I consider this to be a partnership that sits comfortably side by side, just like the landscape and the angler. Here is a new film where I find John Richardson a life-long angler and artist in his West Norfolk studio carving and then printing on his Victorian press, while the Fenland landscape dominates throughout.
24 Wednesday Dec 2014
Posted in Tackle
01 Monday Dec 2014
A glorious seasonal celebration of copper, bronze, tin, silver and some gimp wire as the tuesday swim photographer warms up for christmas with a collection of vintage spoons.
20 Monday Oct 2014
Posted in Pike
Tags
The tuesday swim tries to steer away from the ‘catch report’ style of blogging and keep close to the perimeter fence when it comes to writing about angling. On the outskirts I tend to find something to write about or photograph, rather than attempting to hit the mainstream.
Yesterday was a long over-due fishing trip with a very old friend from my Shoreditch days back in the early nineties. To be fishing with Tony again was as ever good fun, a chance to catch up and to talk endlessly on the subject of fishing. The last time we fished together was six years ago for salmon on the Alness in the North-East of Scotland. Today we were in search of pike and the outcome was quite successful, in fact it was probably one of our most prolific trips ever. Yes we took some mug shots holding some of the better pike (we caught nine in total) but the real joy was spending time with an old friend on a wind swept autumnal day in Sussex. Tony even thought he might snare a pike using his fly rod, perhaps he thought we were back on the Alness. By five the light was dropping as was the wind, so I picked up my camera when the lake took on a new and quiet personality…
13 Monday Jan 2014
Posted in Pike
I awoke Sunday morning to find a frost for the first time on the grass in the rear garden, the cars out the front of the house were frozen in a white cloak. It was 7.30 am and still dark so if I left fairly promptly I could be fishing in Epping forest by 8.30am. I only had three mackerel tails for bait in the freezer but I was eager to get out so I headed for Wake Valley Pond with my meagre bait supply. This Epping Pond is a water I have never fished but walked past many times before thinking it looked ‘fishey’.
In the end I was the only one there, no dog walkers, cylists or fishermen, it was a blissful cold and quiet morning and I was alone. Sometimes when the scene is this tranquil catching is not that high on the agenda so after an hour I left to look at some of the other Epping forest ponds. I drove around to Goldings but that pond was frozen over and clogged with weed so I headed home content but not before dropping in to look at Hollow Ponds which in hindsight was a mistake. The lake looked lifeless with its banks worn bare from the many visiting feet, not a place I shall try for a pike. Saying that, something suggested to me that lurking in this lake could be a forgotten soul, a lost thirty perhaps?
30 Monday Dec 2013
Posted in Pike
For the traditionalist angler a pike on Boxing day is a nice way to end the years fishing. This year I was in Sutton Coldfield so a good choice of venue for a pike was the rather sinister sounding water of Blackroot set in the grounds of Sutton Park. The lake is actually quite beautiful but as I was to find, quite a busy place on a Boxing day morning.
I fished from the dam end wall where just one other angler was fishing for carp and pike. The morning was very foggy but by the time I had arrived it was lifting which was a shame as the sun soon followed making my chance of a pike a little less likely. Behind my swim was the concrete footprint of the old changing rooms that would have accommodated the brave swimmers that took the cold Boxing day water in the past.
With just a few hours to fish esox did not pay a visit but it was worth the effort to get out in the crisp still air.
15 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in Pike
This last Saturday afternoon I found myself passing a fishmongers on the Lower Clapton Road, on a whim I popped in and bought twelve sprats for a pound.
Today I put aside a couple of hours in Epping forest armed with my sprats and a rod. Autumn is still present in the forest, the leaves although fallen still lay golden orange on the ground. And after an hour a 7-8lber came my way from a suspended sprat under a Gazette float. Angling can be simple…sometimes.
11 Wednesday Dec 2013
Posted in Pike
Two weeks ago I spent a few days with friends and family in Stiffkey, North Norfolk, about half a mile from the coast. We wanted to see off the last days of Autumn and escape London for the weekend. The thought of an unfamiliar place excites any anglers with the prospect of a new fishing opportunity. To me, Norfolk suggests one thing…pike, and with a little research I was sure I would be able to find some fishing close to Stiffkey on one of the numerous local rivers.
My first port of call was the internet which took me around in circles and ended up (in the case of pike) at venues such as Blickling Hall, this was all fine but too far for me to travel, I wanted something local. Then I put a post up on a fishing forum, my quest for local knowledge must surely be answered? Well not really although I did receive a few helpful private messages but again all located too far away.
Finally I phoned some tackle shops in Norfolk and again the same few venues were mentioned, surely North Norfolk has a network of drains and small rivers with a head of pike? One tackle shop owner was surprised I didn’t want to try for the carp on one of the local commercials.
On my arrival in Norfolk (with some tackle in the boot of the car) I did make some enquiries at the local fishmongers who guided me towards a couple of promising spots and put onto a lad who worked in the greengrocer who was a keen piker and knew all about the local area. With haste to my stride I crossed the High Street to the greengrocer and asked for “Mark”, only to discover he was on holiday in Romania hunting wild boar!
What is the moral of this tale? Local knowledge still reigns supreme whenever you want to un-cover the unusual, the surprising or discover the un-publishable. The internet has a habit of regurgitating the same information time and time again but written from slightly different perspectives. If you require ‘local knowledge’ make sure he hasn’t buggered off to Romania for the weeks holiday!
I shall return though, for one it is a beautiful part of Britain and I have since heard of a story about some pike on a certain small river in North Norfolk, quite remote and the pike are mainly un-fished for. Now that is exciting and for now a secret.
30 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Pike
The theme of pike in October continues although with all of this mild weather I personally don’t consider the pike season has really started for 2013. There’s a pile of seasoned logs awaiting the first cold snap but mother natures seems to be un-hurried this year. I tend to have the date of November 5th as a traditional starting point for me, it is a time when I often go down to Sussex for Bonfire night and grab a few hours for pike before the fireworks begin.
A recent visit to Spitalfields Antique market found me rifling through some old copies of BOP (Boys Own Paper) and the copy below which caught my eye for obvious reasons…pike! BOP really conjures up the past from my childhood although I think the BOP stopped being published by the time I was looking for advice on fishing, camping, astronomy, which first motorbike to buy or improving your slot car performance!
Inside BOP is a picture of a monster pike that would inspire boys to dream of large pike and their potential capture. In reality a capture very rarely happened because these creatures are quite scarce. And secondly, pike tackle in the 1960’s and 70’s was generally fairly crude and an added expense to a young boys fishing armoury, so short cuts were made. If such a pike was hooked it was inevitably never landed. This led way to many boy’s pike stories that ended in lost giants due to snapped lines, un-twisted traces, jamming reels, broken rods, straightened trebles or landing nets that were simply too small.
Boredom would get boys out on their bikes in the middle of winter in search of their dreams sparked by publication such as the BOP, with a collection of botched together pike gear, some hope and a sprinkling of patience.
01 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Pike
Tags
Non-anglers probably don’t realise that certain months of the year are affiliated with some species of fish. October has the pike and the first day of the month is the start of the traditional pike fishing season. In truth this is something that fisherman have invented over time as a pike needs to feed all year round, but as the water temperature drops in autumn the pike will feed more often and the chance of large fat esox is more likely…one hopes.
