Success

I caught a good fish!

Down at Riley's Pond on Friday last week, I caught a rather splendid seven and a half pound common carp, which is only about a half a pound short of the pond record.... and I have to say, it was an exciting time for me and the chap in this picture who held the fish for me......  he was as thrilled with this perfect specimen as I was!!

As a rule, during match days, any fish that weighs OVER five pounds is removed from this pond and placed into the bigger pond, so a fish of this size and in such good condition, seemingly never caught before, is VERY rare!

Suffice to say, as soon as this fish had gone back into the water, I packed up my gear and went home..... there wasn't going to be a better way to finish the day.

Weeks

Flying through space and time at a rapid rate of knots.

This week, Curiosity landed on Mars and presumably it landed on the Martian cat that was having a crap in the giant litter tray (or crater as we prefer to call it).

Oh dear..... and therein lies the power of the internet..... one minute I am happily tootling along writing a blog, and the next minute I am watching videos of ducks accompanied by techno music....

Sidetracked.....

Here's where I got up to:

Curiosity confirms that there was indeed in the not so distant past, life on Mars

Mars landing plan of Curiosity

And then I started looking at ducks, foxes, Olympics... a whole heap of other sidetracking things..... and that's my point really....

Where do these weeks go?

One minute I'm breathing a sigh of relief that I've survived another Saturday scrumdown at the pub.... then there's the tranquility of line-cleaning on a Sunday morning.  Monday I do a little afternoon evening shift and I have two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday.  This week, on Tuesday, I have absolutely no idea what I did with my day.....  oh wait, yes I remember, I've been researching glasswashers (of the mechanical kind, not the two pound an hour spotty kind) and how we might successfully lease or hire one that performs better than the one we already have.

Ok, so that's most of the week so far accounted for..... and yesterday......  I went fishing.... I fished a little bit of the canal near Elland and had a few perch and a nice bream - was very slow going, but I sat out in the sun and had a nice relaxing day - must do it again sometime - not only because my fridge now has the customary remnants of a pint of maggots in it!

And that's where weeks go.....  add into the mixer that this week I had vowed not to drink, and have so far managed to drink every single day...... plenty of  Facebook.... Olympics..... curry..... blog reading.... pogo playing..... the list goes on....

Fox takes a deep breath.......  waiting for a call from a man about a glasswasher and then..... a bit of gardening and a shift at the pub tonight.

Slugs

The downside of this cooler, wetter weather.... is slugs an snails!

My garden is always full of those slimy critters.... it's a veritable mucussy Mecca!

Went fishing today.... and yes, it was drizzling when I got there.... it rained a little bit heavier whilst I set up my fishing tackle..... and by about five o clock this afternoon it had passed.

I'm not the only one that's been suffering in these balmy days and nights of recent summeriness.... the fish have started to expire in my local fishing pond.... last count they'd lost about forty fish in the last couple of days..... it's not a pretty sight..... and I can tell you the smell of putrefying fish is none too pleasant either.

So, this morning when I set my fishing gear up and my umbrella and accidentally sat on my favourite fishing reel.... managing to bend the bail arm and simultaneously putting a hole in my fishing seat.....

Slugs..... bloody everywhere..... they crawl on everything around me, and each time I pick something up I find I am left with a slug on my pants or my hands..... they're disgusting creatures.  I look down at my cup of coffee and there's a slug on the lip of the cup.....  every sip of coffee thereafter is taken very, very carefully, through a gritted teeth filter!

The umbrella attracts hordes of mosquitoes that like to shelter from the rain with me.... and believe me, you don't want to mess with a Brighouse mosquito.... they're voracious!  After the mozzies, come the midges.... and they just seem to overwhelm you not with their bites, so much as sheer numbers!!  After an hour or two of that my skin feels like it's crawling with them.  I can still feel them now.... I have mosquito and midge paranoia!

So.... you'd probably be imagining that, putting up with all that, the reward would be some fish?  you'd largely be wrong on that score!!  I managed just five fish today... a couple of carp, a couple of tench and a solitary bream.  My poor mate John had just one tiny roach!

Poor do!

What are slugs for?

Smoking

This hot weather is too much!

Imagine if you would, a film named "Some like it quite warm" and you'll be somewhere near my thoughts.

I need variety.

Too much sun makes everyone go crazy.

For some reason it also brings out the boy racers and motorbikes that see the sun as an excuse for tear-arsing past my house.

I've spent the entire day, out in the garden, surrounded by a positive plethora of piscatorial paraphernalia!

I've washed and oiled, tidied and reorganised, unpacked and re-stowed all my worldly tackle!

Rods, reels, bait, weights, floats, hooks, cloths, wheels, handles, nets, boxes, bags, tubs, sticks, arms, heads, catapults, wallets, tubes, tools, they've all been spread round the grassy area I laughingly refer to as a "lawn", like an explosion in a fishing tackle factory!

And so, just like when I fish, it would appear that one side of me has seen more of the sun today than the other.....  my right arm's slightly singed and tingling and a bit crimson, and the left hand side is fine..... no doubt I also have "sunglasses" lines round my panda eyes and lines where the arms have gone over my ears!!  This is what happens when you sit for too long in the sun without actually thinking about being sat in the sun!!

I spent the final hour or two of the afternoon reading a book and nodding off, safe in the knowledge that both arms were being equally toasted, and that my next fishing trip will be quite pleasantly organised - it's so much easier when everything is where it should be.... Part of the "art" of fishing is that once you get sat down and fishing, you should have everything readily to hand without getting up and stomping up and down the bank looking for this or that, or indeed the other!!

So I've got a red neck.... a red arm..... some tidy fishing gear..... and a shed with a roof......

On the subject of "the shed" - as is so often the case, when I asked my friend, John, to come and help me fix the roof.... it soon became apparent that:

a) The floor fell out of the shed!

b) Half the back fell off the shed!

c) Lots of other bits fell off the shed!

Thanks to John we managed to get it all done..... we put a new lower frame into the shed, a new floor, a new panel at the back, a new frame for the roof, new felt on the roof, and some extra bracing and structural suppor..... it's good to go, and we put a little base down to raise the shed off the floor so it doesn't sit in it's own pool of piss, quietly rotting away any more!

Don't get me started on "shed envy"! (caution contains gratuitous shed shots)

Poorly shed......

Poorlier shed.... John surveying the rotten floor - shed on side propped up :(

Shed on the mend!

Shed looking better!

Shed best!

s.... h.... o.... pp.... i.... n.... g!

I like shopping, I do!

Rare as it is for "real" men to feel the need or desire for retail therapy.... I have a hankering for more stuff!

I like gadgets and kitchen implements (not appliances).  I like gizmos and fishing tackle.  I even like shopping for fruit and vegetables!

I HATE shopping for clothes.  I don't like shopping for cars, for birthday presents, christmas presents or mobile phones.  Thank heavens for internet shopping where these items are concerned.

This brings me on to the subject of our trip to the Sculpture Park, yesterday....  My cousin and aunt, who both live in Canadia both loved the Sculpture Park when I took them there and gave them a Foxified guided tour - I'm no expert but I've been a few times and I know nice paths to the L:ongsight Gallery and back again, taking in my favourite pieces along the way - and I like to send them something from there whenever I visit.....

So, shopping at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.....

I wanted something relating to the Miro exhibition to send to Canadia....  a card or some postcards perhaps.... alas, there were none on sale.... not a single Miro product that weighed less than a fridge magnet (a pointless item if ever there was one - except perhaps the magnetic poetry set and the magnetic ransom note set) and nothing much less fragile than glassware and china cups..... a poor show, and I left the gift shop without spending a proverbial penny!

What a shame.

And now, I've been given a green light to buy myself some fishing tackle.... so that's a bonus and scratches the itch that needs an unresoved scratching from yesterday.  for the record, I'm buying some Guru X-Safe spare elastic and tubes; Korum bait stops; Korum baiting needle; three new spools of Drennan Series 7 monofilament (4.6lb; 5.6lb; 6.9lb); and some Guru four inch method hair rigs (size 14 to 9lb line) - great stuff.

I can only imagine the state of coldness that the above list will have left you all feeling!

Itch scratched!

Bee

Bee to the Gee to the R.I.P!  The Bee Gees have finally become a Bee Gee..... after brother Robin suffled off this mortal coil.... it's a shame and it reminds us all that none of us are getting any younger......

Must... watch.... tele... vision!!

A Walking Dead marathon this evening as Dawn decides she wants to make a break for the end of season wrap party..... we're currently on our fourth episode this evening!!  It's great and all but when you've already seen them, the desire is not quite so strong as the first time through......

I'm motivated to get to the end because I've just gotten hold of the entire 20 episode run of the Danish version of "The Killing" (Forbrydelsen) and that's going to be next on the turntable!!

Started the day short of breath.....  I've got one of those really weak, pathetic, peffy, coughs..... like it's too tight to really bellow out but I can manage a little half hearted affair like someone trying not to cough in the middle of the snooker finals at Sheffield Crucible!!

Finished the day with just as much of an annoying cough and still short of breath.

In the mean-time, I've done a bit of fishing..... stir fried a bit of dinner (unrelated to the fishing)...... and I've watched TV.  That's it.

the fishing was awful today.... this morning it was too cold.... then it was too bright..... then it was too hot..... then I went home......  a bream of about a pound and a half was the highlight of my session despite the unleashing of a new mix of groundbait containing hemp seed, various other seeds and maize..... and some strawberry flavoured sweetcorn!!  I was tempted to scoff it myself.

Anyhoo......

Little chore to run tomorrow and probably going to the Sculpture Park on Wednesday so lots to look forward to.... might even get me grass cut..... 

Curses!

Believe it or not, I've spent the day plagued by fairies!

I went fishing (of course) - and although I spent a totally fruitless morning and early afternoon on Brookfoot pond.... with not a single bite to show for it..... AND the whole pond is covered in blue green algae which is collecting in turquoise shimmering pockets around the marginal areas.... it's hideously beautiful and tantalisingly toxic.

There is another pond as part of the complex down at Brookfoot and I believe it was paid for by a generous legacy from a dear old departed club member.... hence it is now know as Riley's Pond after Tony Riley.  I decided, at about three o clock this afternoon to head on over to Riley's and give it a go..... nothing to lose.

Well it was hard going..... I fished and worked at it and fed the fish and tried different depths and weights and floats and baits.......  Eventually I found the fish up near the surface - a notoriously difficult place to catch them - and I settled into a nice routine catching lots of small roach and rudd.

As the afternoon wore on, the whole thing became much more predictable and easier to work..... but then the annual event that I ALWAYS dread.... occurred.......

Fairies!

Thousands of them!

I think they come from the catkins blossoms on the trees..... This time every year they go mad.... it happens in one big week long burst and they float unassumingly through the air.... land on the water..... wrap themselves around the line..... get wound up into the reel and into the eyes of the rod creating sticking spots where the line won't flow freely and eventually causing the line to tangle.....

...which it did!

.... several times!!

I think I'm supposed to say "I don't believe in fairies" ( times one million) and they'll all die painfully and never trouble me again!

Despite the fairies, I fished till about a quarter past eight this evening and had a string of 5 lovely tench to finish with.  Superb stuff.

Fish on Friday

Hooray for bad weather......  You don't hear me saying that very often.

Today was SO windy and grey......  when I decided to go fishing, I was even doubting my own judgement.

When I got to the pond there was only one other guy fishing right down the other end of the pond, and although a few more showed up over the course of the day, it was quiet.... QUIET I tells ya!

The wind was howling from left to right, along the pond, so I sat at the right hand end (my limited watercraft tells me to fish at the windy side.... instead of seeking shelter ot the other end of the pond)......  Duly seated, kitted and fishing.... the wind howled on.

I managed to set everything up so nicely today that my float managed to stay totally stationary despite the gusty waves.....  I had a really nice depth set up and was registering lovely bites.... lift bites, drop bites.....  great stuff.  I made my own groundbait today with pellets and liquidised bread steeped in water and it was working really well with a good mix of fish.

By two o' clock this afternoon I'd caught dozens of fish.....  lots of roach (some quite small) that topped out at about a one pound weight.  I had three tench, one of which weighed about a pound and a half.  I had three or four skimmers (baby silver bream) toppin up at half a pound and a host of gudgeon (which are never worth weighing!).

Then the wind dropped..... the sun came out..... it rained..... and the fishing went..... rubbish.

Good day though and I'm glad I went out when I could quite easily have stayed in and challenged another computer to some monopoly instead!

This little video made me smile.... for no apparent reason other than it's funny..... and although she wants to be mad at people for suggesting it...... she can't manage it!  Laugh it up!

Gone fishin'

Been down to Riley's Pond today for a little fishing session.....

It's the first time this year that I've been fishing and it took a fair bit of absent minded organisation to get all my tackle together..... my tackle bag (check reel.... check hooklengths..... check floats..... check little tackle box) all good...........  small amount of frozen sweetcorn......bucket of skrettings soaked and flavoured...... bait bag with buckets and containers...... rods.... landing net.... chair..... trolley (wheels two of; handle; base)...... flask.... sandwiches..... sweets...... hat...... licence.... membership..... coffee (in a jar - to make up with the flask of hot water - saves me washing the flask out every time I use it)......

Ok.... check the traffic.... motorway at a standstill..... wait..... Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold.....

Traffic all moving.... off to Rastrick for my maggots.......  one pint of mixed (white;bronze;red) and a bit of sawdust....... two pounds sixty and off we go down to Brookfoot past the Red Rooster (great boozer)..... through the gate...... park up... assemble trolley ..... load everything on...... walk down to the pond........

What the.... it would appear that my favourite fishing spot has fallen into the pond..... never mind.....  I use the next one along.......

Set up all my gear.... landing net.... chair...... fishing rod..... reel..... thread everything up......  float adapter..... quick change bead...... hooklength..... attach a float..... check the weighting..... check the depth.......

FISHING!

Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold........

Well it was VERY slow..... I did catch a nice 5lb mirror carp and a little tench of about half a pound but the rest were all tiddlers (roach and gudgeon) and not many of them at that!  But still, it's great to be sitting outdoors.... even if it does rain a bit..... and the wind blows a bit......

OUTDOORS!

A lovely way to spend a day (apart from all those bloody people everywhere - it's like a sodding social club down at that pond sometimes - they ought to make a rule.... if you're not fishing then piss off!).

Introduction...

Rain, meet Manflu.... Manflu, this is rain.....

Now if I can only persuade them how good they are for each other they might just get it on and piss off into the sunset and leave me the hell alone!

A quick walk round the garden this morning reveals that the last week of continuous rain has rendered my normally slow growing lawn into a veritable green jungle.  Too wet to cut and too long to be of much use to anyone.

My daffodils have just about given up the ghost but my tulips are all starting to come out.... it's truly amazing how much this rain has brought things on in the past week....  I know the gardens really did need it.

I suppose I can thank small mercies in that I've been stuck inside brooding and stewing with a fevered brow and the weather really has not done anything that would suggest I could have been doing anything else but watching films anyway.....  I certainly wouldn't be walking or fishing in THIS stuff, or at least that's what I keep telling myself, knowing full well that I've done both in much worse!

I took a quick drive down Grimescar Road today which is a little back road through a lovely bluebell wood, and I always like to have a look at this time of year..... the sheer quantity of bluebells there does not and in this case DID not disappoint - a real local highlight.  I've even got some "bells" coming out in the garden although I'm inclined to think they are the foreign invaders - probably Spanish - and should be composted really but they add some colour for now!!

So, if this rain would just do one.... and I could shake the tail end of this man flu.... I might actually manage to get out of the house..... do some gardening..... get back onto shanks's pony...... and catch a few fish!

Give us a break, please.