BRYANS ANGLE

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....

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 ...

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...

 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 ...

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.....

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...

On Monday eve i decided i fancied having a fish for bass at a local mark only a couple of miles from where i live. Unfortunately the water was going to be at its lowest point but i thought i,d give it a go anyway as it had been a nice day and how better to end it than sitting on the rocks overlooking the river as the sun went down. With some nice ragworm picked up from Trev the baitman, short notice but he still helped me out, of i set with one rod, bucket and tackle vest. Oh, and Oscar in tow.  After a 10 minute walk i stopped at the area that i wanted to fish and set up a single hook rig with a light lead and chucked it out as far as possible. Baited with ragworm the idea was that the lead would roll along with the flow and settle either in a dip in the river bed or on a patch of rough ground. Both areas that are likely to attract fish at some point. Over the few hours i was there i fished long, mid and short ranges but only had a few rattles which didn,t result in any fish o...