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Showing posts from 2014

RIVER ITCHEN......

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Its been quite a while since i last posted as i have been exceptionally busy re-locating my warehouse closer to home and also building myself a new all singing all dancing office. This upheaval has cost me lots of fishing time, not to mention lots of money, but it does mean that my travelling time to and from the warehouse has been reduced  by 75% and also gives me a significantly smaller weekly diesel bill. All this means that i can now run my online  FISHING TACKLE  business more efficently, which also means i,ll have more time to go fishing. Wooohhooooo...... I did actually manage a few days fishing a couple of weeks ago as the other half had to go to Southampton on a training course for a few days and i tagged along to keep her company of an evening. Now obviously i would be free to spend the days doing whatever i fancied so after a little research and a few questions on certain Facebook pages i decided that i would have a little bash at fishing the Lower River Itchen for whateve

NEW PIKE SEASON MUSINGS........

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With the unofficial pike season just a couple of days away, although i won,t actually start to fish for them until the weather has cooled a bit more, i,ve been casting my mind back to the pike i,ve caught and the places i,ve fished for them over years. I,ve been fortunate enough to of caught some good fish in the past, but must admit that i havn,t been faring too well for a while now. My guess is because i,ve been too busy using my spare time setting up and expanding my tackle business,  WATERBOUY TACKLE      WATERBOUYS TACKLE on Facebook,   instead of being out in the cold fresh air hunting Esox. Another factor could also be that when i have been fishing there seems to of been a distinct lack of fish. Locally the waters that hold pike get hammered in the winter, not so much when its turned really cold, but i guess the public access fisheries always have been fished hard. The local rivers just seem devoid of any pike above 3lb in weight, but i have noticed an increase in 'foreign

A COUPLE OF VIDEOS...

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Just a couple of videos from Norfolk.

THE FUTURE OF ANGLING, MAYBE........

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Whilst in Norfolk i had been asked to take my nephew Jack for his first fishing trip. I have meant to take him fishing for quite a while now but whenever he comes down to Essex i always seem to be doing something else, poor planning is the excuse i,m going to use. Anyway as i was holidaying just 10 miles away from where he lives it was an ideal opportunity to take the wee lad for a couple hours dangling. I also took along Louis, Sharons god son, as he was also staying with us and wanted to come along. I wasn,t sure if i could handle 2 young lads and their multitude of " why's, what's that and i,m hungry's" but i survived the afternoon and even managed to catch them a few fish too. We headed to the weir pool on the River Bure at Coltishall as it was only 10 miles from Jacks home and i,d been informed by the chap in the tackle shop that this was a good place to try. Unfortunately there was nowhere left to fish as there was quite a few people down there already. No

WEYBOURNE BASS FISHING

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Seeing as we were staying a stones throw from the North Norfolk coast it would of been rude not to of wet a line for a few hours at least once whilst i was there. So thats what i did one evening while Sharon and her friend were happily quaffing Prosecco as the kids were playing with the bogs i sneakily loaded up the van with some gear headed towards the shingle beach at Weybourne, which screamed bass!!!!!! On my previous visit i had stopped and had a chat with a local husband and wife fishing team who knew the area quite well. They explained to me that the beach dropped off close in and was good for bass just a 20-30 yard lob out just past the shelf. When the weather was a lot wilder the following day when we visited you could actually see the start of the shelf as the waves pulled back. So armed with their advice still ringing in my ears and some fresh lugworm and ragworm from the local tackle shop in Sheringham i was back to hopefully winkle out a plump bass. I arrived at the

NORTH NORFOLK HOLIDAY..

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This time last month i was on holiday in Holt at the very top of Norfolk just a couple of miles from the beautiful North Norfolk coastline. Sharon and i had packed the dogs and usual paraphernalia, along with my fishing gear this time, into the new Green Goddess, Mercedes Vito van, hooked up the Crapavan of Love and pointed her in the direction of the land of the six toed marsh dwellers. It wasn,t too long before we were bumping up the pot holed track towards the farm that we would be staying on for the next week. Quite a nice farm it was too, set in pleasant surroundings just a couple of miles from the coast. With the caravan set-up and Sharon giving the inside a quick spruce up, it was time for me to go exploring. So with a little tourist map i found in the lobby of shower area on the site i grabbed Oscar and off we went for an hours drive along the coast looking for nice placing to visit later on in the week. Weybourne beach, on the left, with its beautiful cliffs and

LOW WATER DOG WALKING..

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Two weekends ago i took the dogs for a nice walk locally at Paglesham on the River Roach. This is a favourite walk of mine as there ,s a lot of wildlife to see and its quite remote so i can let the boys of their leads and let them run riot. And run riot they did too........ The tide was out when we got there which was a shame as Harry loves to have a swim about, but that didn,t deter him as he was off straight across the mud to the channel followed hot on his heels by Oscar. Boy did they get covered in glorious sticky, stinky Essex estuary mud, they loved it.... It was a bit overcast and windy when we arrived there which was ideal as far as i was concerned as i,m not a lover of being out in the extreme sun that we have been getting. But shortly after our arrival the clouds disappeared and out came the sun to boil my brain cell.  I,m always a bit wary when i,m walking the dogs in the real heat and sun as they run constantly and it concerns me that they might wear themselves out a

COUNTRY PARK BEAUTY

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 I managed to finish a little job an hour earlier than expected earlier in the week and ended up with a little free time on my hands as i couldn,t start the next job for a while. Sitting in my van i racked my brains as to what i could do with this spare, and very rare, hour. I was too far from Waterbouy Towers to pop back there, too far from a local town to grab a coffee, and too far from any friends who i can drop in on for a chin wag. What to do thought i........  Eureka....... A local country park was only a couple minutes drive away so i decided to pop in there for a nice leisurely stroll around the lake that resides in the middle of the grounds. Once parked up, and after having paid £3 for the pleasure, i walked along the gravel pathway and down the hill towards the lake. I walked along the trail beneath the canopy of mature trees, which fortunately sheltered me from the light shower of rain that had just started, and then rounded a corner at the end and looked straight

THAMES BARGE

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On one of my recent walks with my dogs i watched as this beautiful Thames Barge slowly sail up the local River Crouch. The video doesn,t really show how tall the sails actually are....

BIRTHDAY FISHING....

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It was my birthday a couple of Sundays ago and as a treat i thought i,d spend the day fishing the local River Chelmer for whatever happened to take  my bait. My trusty John Wilson Avon Rover rod, a light lure rod and all the associated tackle was loaded into the van saturday evening for an early start. Unfortunately the weather report was not too good as heavy rain was forecast for the morning so instead of the crack off dawn start i was originally planning, i opted for a more leisure get out of bed when i wake up approach. This actually worked in my favour as i managed to miss most of the rain, only most though as i,ll explain later. After a nice bacon sandwich for breakfast i surveyed the sky outside and saw not a cloud in sight, so much for the weather forecast. On with my boots, a quick drive to the local shop to stock up on water and a bit of nosh for later and i was speeding round the country lanes, well maybe more like ambling round the lanes as my old escort van has seen bett

DECISIONS DECISIONS...........

I love fishing... I love water... I love all things fish related..... And there lies the problems for me. I can never make up my mind what or how i want to spend my free time. I drift between different fishing principles constantly. I can never decide if i want to take my kayak out for a paddle or maybe my aluminium dinghy out on the broads for some predator fishing, or my fibreglass dory out on the estuary for some bass fishing. Should i grab my sea rod and go fishing for bass and flatfish, or maybe my float rod and catch some rudd and roach. I could take the big kit and camp up for the night in hope of a carp, or throw a little bag over my shoulder and a light rod in my hand and go ultra light lure fishing on a river. Or should i make a packed lunch and take the dogs for a good walk along one of the nearby rivers. I really do struggle to make up my mind sometimes. I,ve always liked fishing, ever since i was a kid and used to pester my Dad to take me with him. He took me and tau

WALKING, WALKING AND SOME MORE WALKING

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 I havn,t been able to get any fishing in for the past couple of weeks as work and other commitments have been getting in the way. The closest i,ve got to actually fishing is walking the dogs along the River Crouch at Creeksea on Walleasea Island. It was well worth it though as walking along this river reminds me how beautiful the Essex countryside can be.  This beautiful old building greets you as you drive onto Wallasea Island. I,m guessing it was used by shellfish catchers in years gone by. Remnants of an old boat in one of the little creeks. Looking along the Creek towards Creeksea on the opposite bank. Oscar surveying the area whilst sitting on a lrge tree section that someone has placed for a seat. I,ve taken a few videos here as well, just messing about with my phone to be honest but the videos have come out pretty good i think. Harry having a swim and Oscar having a paddle. For some reason we can,t get Oscar to swim voluntarily  

ADDER ATTACK UPDATE

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Just a little follow up to a post i did a couple of weeks ago about my dog being bitten by an adder whilst out walking locally. After a few trips to the vets and various injections and tablets, Harry is now pretty much back to normal, barking at the neighborhood dogs letting them know who's boss and fetching you his blanket whenever you come in through the front door. We,ve taken him on a few walks now and although he gets a little out of puff he still loves it. We also took the pair of them to The Blackwater Country Show last sunday which was a nice few hours out and they both loved it, saying hello to other dogs, getting made a fuss of by strangers and having little tasters of our bacon rolls and ice creams. What more can a dog ask for.......... I,d like to say thank you to all that wished Harry a speedy recovery and keep those eyes peeled.....

FLOAT FISHING FUN

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Earlier this week i managed to finish work earlier than usual and rather than just go homw and sit in fromnt of the tv as i usually i opted to grab a couple of hours fishing on the way home. The only problem was i couldn,t make up my mind what i actually wanted to fish for. After being deep in thought for at least 60 seconds i decided that i,d fish for nothing in particular but give myself a chance to catch anything that swims by, and the best way of targeting nothing and everything is the humble float. I grabbed my float rod, necessary float fishing paraphernalia, a tin of sweetcorn, some hemp and some pellets and drove home with an aim of fishing a water just up the road from where i live. Upon arriving at the water i was pleasantly surprised to only see one other person fishing, i think it might of been due to the football, which was great as i had a pick of all the best areas to fish. I took a slow walk around the lake and finally found a lot of bubbling and a few rolls in a nice