BRYANS ANGLE

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 ou...

 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 ...

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.....