Sandy has several publishing projects on the go and has decided to enhance her desk top publishing skills to speed the process up and to save every penny of revenue that the Recollections series generates for Angling Heritage.
We started off staying with her brother just outside Stourbridge at the weekend. Having recently joined the White Swan Piscatorials, I used this opportunity to fish the River Teme at Branscombe Bridge for barbel.
The day was sunny and hot, and the water looked about 18" below the normal level which would make the fishing difficult, but it was just great to have a day outside.
I had been told by Trefor West that the first two fields were overgrown but the third field was grassland and so a bit easier. He was spot on. The banks were very overgrown with just a few places where one could fish from. I dropped in these for my usual 20 minutes or so without success, then moved to the third field. I had a suprise in the one swim; I had just settled when a wasp flew down and stung me on the hand. There was no warning, he didn't even settle, just bang and "ouch". I looked around for a sign of a nest and could see nothing, and there were no others about so I carried on. Five minutes later I was stung on top of my head. This lead to a prompt move.
The bees seem angry at the moment too; Sandy was walking the dog last week and was attacked by a swarm. Both she and the dog were shaken up and I had to pull the stings out when she got home.
When I reached the third field, there were several places to fish and at last I started to catch a few chub between 2 and 4lb, but couldn't catch a barbel but was hampered by several swimmers, dogs fetching sticks, and the sheep which kept coming to the river for a drink. There was also a pump abstracting water to spreay on the fields, so lots of excuses (none very good really).
On the Tuesday we had our course which finished early so I decided to fish the Bristol Avon at Lacock as we were staying at the Hotel linked to Bowood House, about 4 miles away. We had a great stay at an excellent hotel, and in the grouds was the lake where Martin Bowler caught his 30lb pike on "Catching the Impossible" and where the boathouse is next to the lake where he was tench fishing. However, this is season ticket only and you can buy day tickets for Lacock so I decided to have 2 to 3 hours there in the evening. It was windy with rain squalls which wasn't the best of conditions, but what the heck. I did my usual spot hopping, initially without any joy, but when I crossed over from the Abbey field I immediately caught a small chub of about 2lb. I then settled in a swim opposite some trees and rolled my meat underneath. The rod whipped over and I had to grab it before it disappeared. I had to hold the fish to prevent it running under a tree and was rewarded with a 10lb 2oz barbel, my first from this river, followed by a 4lb chub. Great sport. I had also taken Derrick Davenport's Grey's rod and Mitchell reel to use from the shop stock so this must have brought me some of his skills. What a great evening despite the horrible weather.