David Craine
Senior Member & Supporter
Well, I just had mine, (or one of them )
Could not get out on Monday or Tuesday this week, so Wednesday it had to be, I was not overly optomistic as there had been a hard frost on Tuesday night, and Wed was very bright and sunny, plus the river was at or below nsl according to the EA.
So still with great anticipation I packed my gear, and with it being October and chilly of an evening I packed the trusty Kelly kettle , knowing that a very hot drink can brighten up the coldest evening.. planning to stay until about 9 or 10pm, I set off at noon, arriving at 1.15pm. parked and walked the 1/4 mile to my chosen swim, only one other angler on the length, he had had nowt.
Looking at the river it was below nsl, and very clear, the sun was really bright in the sky.... not the best conditions... I eagerly tackled up, mixed a light feeder mix,and planned to use maggots which had proved themselves in similar conditions in the past... then discovered I had left the feeders at home. The river is too wide to lose feed, so I searched around the piles of flood debris and found some plastic drinks bottles.Good for feeders, I went to get my trusty Leatherman to cut the bottles up.....and discovered I had left it at home with the feeders... I managed to fashion 4 feeders using a piece of hacksaw blade I normally used to cut grooves in Pellets.. luckily I had some lead strip in my bits box, so fashioning open ended feeders with plastic and insulation tape...the feeders were OK and finished.
Next I found that 1/2 pint of maggots had managed to escape into the bottom of my bait bucket, luckily it is maggot proof so they were collected, re-housed and I sat back having cast in and waited to see what was going to happen, in short, nothing,
As the afternoon wore on It started to get cooler, so I decided a cuppa would not go amiss, boiled up the Kelly, and discovered I had left my insulated mug at home. plenty of tea and soup, no mug (only me)
I always put sweet corn into a screw topped plastic container , so I put the corn into a plastic bag, and made tea in the container....it ... went quite soft when the hot water as poured in, but managed to keep its shape enough for a brew.
As the evening drew on, I had not had a bite, not even a twitch,just one eel ,foulhooked in the vent, so at about 7pm I decided to call it a day,as I packed up, a lone Salmon decided to splash about right in front of me, in less than 12" of water . As I walked back to the car .The moonlight was so bright and clear it was like day....just as well, because as I was walking, the strap on my rucksack decided to break, causing me to loose my footing on the slippery grass, even though I had a head torch, It went out as I rolled down the grassy slope coming to a gentle stop inches short of a muddy patch of bank.I collected my gear in the moonlight, located my headtorch, managed to get it working, tied the straps together on my rucksack and walked back to the car
Anyway.... all I can say is that I hope the eel was feeling better than I was, if a little sore.
Just as icing on the cake it started to rain .
Whats your worst day ?
Dave
Could not get out on Monday or Tuesday this week, so Wednesday it had to be, I was not overly optomistic as there had been a hard frost on Tuesday night, and Wed was very bright and sunny, plus the river was at or below nsl according to the EA.
So still with great anticipation I packed my gear, and with it being October and chilly of an evening I packed the trusty Kelly kettle , knowing that a very hot drink can brighten up the coldest evening.. planning to stay until about 9 or 10pm, I set off at noon, arriving at 1.15pm. parked and walked the 1/4 mile to my chosen swim, only one other angler on the length, he had had nowt.
Looking at the river it was below nsl, and very clear, the sun was really bright in the sky.... not the best conditions... I eagerly tackled up, mixed a light feeder mix,and planned to use maggots which had proved themselves in similar conditions in the past... then discovered I had left the feeders at home. The river is too wide to lose feed, so I searched around the piles of flood debris and found some plastic drinks bottles.Good for feeders, I went to get my trusty Leatherman to cut the bottles up.....and discovered I had left it at home with the feeders... I managed to fashion 4 feeders using a piece of hacksaw blade I normally used to cut grooves in Pellets.. luckily I had some lead strip in my bits box, so fashioning open ended feeders with plastic and insulation tape...the feeders were OK and finished.
Next I found that 1/2 pint of maggots had managed to escape into the bottom of my bait bucket, luckily it is maggot proof so they were collected, re-housed and I sat back having cast in and waited to see what was going to happen, in short, nothing,
As the afternoon wore on It started to get cooler, so I decided a cuppa would not go amiss, boiled up the Kelly, and discovered I had left my insulated mug at home. plenty of tea and soup, no mug (only me)
I always put sweet corn into a screw topped plastic container , so I put the corn into a plastic bag, and made tea in the container....it ... went quite soft when the hot water as poured in, but managed to keep its shape enough for a brew.
As the evening drew on, I had not had a bite, not even a twitch,just one eel ,foulhooked in the vent, so at about 7pm I decided to call it a day,as I packed up, a lone Salmon decided to splash about right in front of me, in less than 12" of water . As I walked back to the car .The moonlight was so bright and clear it was like day....just as well, because as I was walking, the strap on my rucksack decided to break, causing me to loose my footing on the slippery grass, even though I had a head torch, It went out as I rolled down the grassy slope coming to a gentle stop inches short of a muddy patch of bank.I collected my gear in the moonlight, located my headtorch, managed to get it working, tied the straps together on my rucksack and walked back to the car
Anyway.... all I can say is that I hope the eel was feeling better than I was, if a little sore.
Just as icing on the cake it started to rain .
Whats your worst day ?
Dave
) Anyway, the lad I was looking after was barely able to contain his excitement, so a swim was quickly chosen, the straps and stakes we had purchased to anchor his wheelchair well and truly in place were in position, rods cast out, and we settled in to await our first bite. 
