Gone fishin'

[Beefsteak 305]

I have just returned from a day out at my local water hole (No BIP not the boozer). I have been fishin' ,and I thought what an idea lets talk about the largest participation sport in the U.K. (probaly the world for that matter)

Any body else partake or is it just me?

[Frank 13]

Fishin' - no. haven't done that since I was at school.

Photography is my relaxation these days, as it has been for the last 25 or so years. Black and White man I am.

Partake? yes - mines a HP if you insist.

[bazza 71]

Yep I'm into fishing as much as possible.

Mainly in the sea though.

Nothin' better than a day out at sea in a small boat.

Baz

[Bip 88]

I could write a book about fishing, not the technical side of it though just my memories of the sport, where would you like me to begin?

If I was you I should get yourself comfy because this is going to be along trip down memory lane.

As a young boy of about nine or ten well somewhere about there I use to raid me mums pantry looking for oxo cubes, believe it or not I had at that time a fetish for them.

I would take one without me mums knowledge run out of the house with oxo cube secreted about my person out of sight of me mum and dad that’s if my dad wasn’t at work which at that time it seemed to me he always was, jump onto me bike and peddle like a mad dog to the black path that lead from Glaisdale drive down to the Wollaton Canel Bridge which in turn turned into The Old Coach road which if you follower to the completion lead you to the bottom of Russell Drive Wollaton just across the road from the now debunked police station or is it? I will have to check that out next time I’m passing, basically just down from the Wheelhouse Pub.

Sometimes on my way down the black path I would stop off at the railway bridge that the path crossed, if I was very lucky I would see a coal train either coming from Wollaton pit fully laden or going to the pit empty. There on that bridge I would peel back the silver foil on the oxo cube which by now was getting soft from the heat of the place I had hidden it and break a piece off with me teeth. After a while when said oxo cube got a little sodden with spit I would pop what was left into me mouth and such it until it melted like as if I was drinking gravy, Happy day’s!

On the odd occasion I wouldn’t stop off at the train bridge to devour the oxo cube but I would carry on down the path until I reached the canal bridge, if the weather was favourable there would be girls and boys mostly boys though jumping off said bridge into the murky waters of the canal. There were the odd occasions that I joined them in their frolics but they were few and far between, never really liked the look of said canal waters.

On leaving the bridge after I had eaten me oxo cube I would take a different route home, I would go along the Tow path that led me past the Wollaton pit with its tall chimneys with steam and smoke bellowing from them and the majestic head stocks standing so proud. There were if my memory serves me right several large basins on that stretch of the canal, which I believe they turned large coal barges in at some time in the past before the railway took away the coal.

Up until that time I was never interested in fishing even though as I peddled along the canal towpath on my way home there were many fishermen drowning maggots.

Also at that time there were roamers that there was a monster of a fish trapped in one of the basins, roamers had it that it was a large pike several feet long, capable of if a cat happened to fall in it could swallow in one, I never believe the tale.

When the canal was drained many years later to make way for the new estate which was planned to occupy the spot of the old Wollaton pit there was again roamers that a large six foot dead Pike was found to be in one of those basins.

My brother who was five years older than me one day asked me if I would like to go canal fishing with him, I said yes as one does, in for a penny in for a pound I suppose.

We got up early that day much earlier than I was use to but never the less I was quite looking forward to the adventure.

We set off, me on my push bike and him on a NSU moped.

As we were going along Glaisdale drive he grabbed hold of my bike seat at the back and twisted the throttle of said moped, we sped along Glaisdale drive at a speed I could never achieve with pedal power alone. It was a little disconcerting at the time and a little thrilling too to be going at such brake neck speed, it seemed to me as if we would break the sound barrier at any time.

In no time at all we reached the humped back canal bridge which at it’s peak narrowed more or less to a single road, it’s not there now along with the Wollaton Pit, it got demolished when the Roe Buck pub and the new estate was built.

We pushed our bikes along the tow path until we came to a spot where my brother had fished before. Me knowing nothing about fishing my brother set me up and said ‘give me a shout if you catch anything.

In seemed an eternity waiting for a bite, which I can tell you never came.

David my brother caught some fish though but as I recall only small Roach.

Time passed and David could see that this fishing lark wasn’t suiting me by the way I was starting to look for stones to throw at passing birds. He said would I like to have a go at spinning for pike, obviously by this time any distraction would do to relieve the boredom of watching a float in still water.

Again I didn’t catch anything apart from the odd branch or weed from the opposite bank.

So you see my experiences with canal fishing isn’t very favourable, to start going again after all these years is a no no, I would rather bury my head in wet cement than to go canal fishing again.

Now sea fishing is another story……… !bored!

Bip.

[Beefsteak 305]

I do a lot of Sea fishing also .Last month we went to Cornwall and I got out for the afternoon, but I caught more species in that session than ever fishing off of Anglesea(including a 3 1/2 lb Black Sea Bream which tasted delicious

heres a picture of a small Bream I caught yesterday(note the maggot giving size comparison

I don't get as often as I would like (this was my first course fishing outing for two years)but now my college course has nearly finished I may get to go a bit more soon

[Bip 88]

It’s always baffled me why a fish should show interest in a hook dangling off a line at forty fathoms in the pitch dark and freezing cold…….

I have been sea fishing a number of times from Bridlington, all times while I worked for a living but not since I retired.

Drove up on all occasions in the early hours to catch the early morning tide at 6-30 or somewhere around that time.

On the third occasion I missed the M18 slip road off the M1 and found myself travelling an extra ten-mile to take the next exit off, basically doubling back on myself.

To this day I will never understand why I missed it because I use to travel up and down that stretch of the motorway at least three times a month going back and forth to Hull, it was like a second home to me.

I don’t know how many of you who has been sea fishing but IMO it is the must boring sport you can imagine.

First off it takes you three hours to get to the fishing grounds usually an old wreck from the Second World War in the mid North sea at forty fathoms depth laden with high explosives just waiting for the odd lead plumb weight to strike a high explosive shell in the right spot to blast you to kingdom come.

Forgot to mention while waiting to get to the fishing grounds or should that be mine fields one has nothing more to do than to listen to the captain twittering on about the last party he took out which consisted of twelve nuns and a church candle maker from Rochdale.

If you are very lucky to be first on the boat you grab a place down below where it is much warmer than it is up top and less noisier apart from the groan of the diesel engines and the smell of rotten fish mixed very cautiously with diesel vapours. If you’re very lucky you will manage to get your head down which is very unlikely though, unless you have taken a sleeping tablet washed down with a six pack of your favourite beer.

Once you get to you destination miles out and no land or wild life to be seen apart from the odd sea gull or puffin with a beak full of little fish making his way back to his/her burrow where if he’s/she’s lucky his/her mate is waiting, that’s if a fox hasn’t eaten her/him while sleeping.

Brace your selves here comes the interesting bit.

It’s a little hit and miss regarding what the weather will be like once out there, sometimes I’ve been out when it’s been dead calm, and others when there has been five foot swells or more.

In five-foot swells one is hanging on to the side of the boat and bracing oneself with ones legs and thighs so as not to fall over board.

All this while in the other hand you have a fishing rod, which has hundreds of feet of fishing line attached, and at the very end of the line there’s a two-pound lead weight.

Basically you, once your hooks and weight are down at the wreck site start to pull on your rod in a upward jerking motion until you feel something squirming on one of your hooks. Winding in as quick as you can before the little blighter can escape to freedom and to his mates you land the big bu99er or not which ever the case maybe.

The most I have ever caught was several Cod and a few Haddock most of which I had to throw back because they didn’t meet ECC regulation size.

The ones which I was allowed to keep made very nice eating albeit a little messy to gut and fillet.

I won’t bore you with the homeward trip, basically it’s the same as the outward one apart from you’re very cold hungry and pissed off with the whole days proceedings.

But one thing I will say it’s nice to be on dry land once again especially if you’re fishing trip was a rough one.

A word of warning for those of you who maybe thinking of taking one of these fishing trips while on holiday, be careful once back on dry land because, if your trip has been an unsteady one like many of mine has once you step onto dry land it will feel as if you have had several pints of Harvest pale, the feeling of unsteadiness will diminish after a while but if you like the feeling of dizziness you will have to wait until you get back to Nottingham because in Bridlington it’s a Harvest pale waist land.

Bip. not so unhappy person.

[mick2me 3,033]

www.hartleyfamily.org.uk

[Beefsteak 305]

Orange Peel Turner Your views are duly noted and taken onboard. (I bet the passengers on your trips out wished you hadn't been )

There is nothing better than the wind in your hair (if you have any) to blow the old cobwebs away, and a couple of cans of something alcoholic even at 6.30 in the morning is great to keep the cold out .Our skippers are dab hands with the frying pan and a good bacon /sausage butty also does the trick

I cant speak for you Den but we always catch something edible on our outings Gurnard makes exellent eating as does Pollack, Coalfish and Ling all regularly caught off of Anglesea by yours truely

[Bip 88]

Footnote to my story is I forgot to mention the odd person who doesn’t have sea legs who for the whole trip, which can be twelve hours or more, is being constantly sick either over board or in a bucket below.

In my experience it’s better if he/she is sick over board, strangely enough I have found that the catch is better if one of the party are sick, it’s a bit like when shark fishing, before you do the captain or one of his crew with throw a trail of chopped up fish and fish blood over board, I believe the technical term is ‘to lay a chum trail’ which in turn attracts the sharks from miles around.

I have never seen any sharks in the north Atlantic but I bet there is some just patiently waiting for the careless drunken punter on one of these deep sea-fishing trips to fall over board dragged down to Davie Jones locker by the lead weight on the end of his fishing line.

Bip.

[Beefsteak 305]

Come on you fellow fishermen/woman don't let him defeat you with his negative attitude.Lets have some positive stories (either course or sea) to stop BiP moaning all the time

[Caz 25]

It will take a lot of imagination to stop Bip moaning BF

[Beefsteak 305]

Never a truer word said in jest

[bazza 71]

I used to do quite a bit of fishing in Wollaton park lake many years ago.

Excellent Bream and Tench there.

There was a small boathouse then with a rowboat that would take two at a squeeze.

I was fishing from the bank one day while some bloke was in the boat fishing for pike.

He hooked into what must have been a fair sized fish cos it proceeded to drag him all over the lake.

I must have witnessed this for abot 20 minutes or so but I had to go so I never did find out if he got it in or not.

Baz

[Beefsteak 305]

My dad (being a Beeston lad) used to fish there regularly.He told me a tale about sometime around the end of the war when there was a prisoner of war camp there guarded by Yanks ,anyway the tale was about a couple of yanks throwing hand grenades into the lake to try and get some fish to suppliment their rations, anyway one of them blew a great hole in the bottom of the lake and nearly drained it.It still leaks to this day that is why a stream runs in but there is no out flow stream any more.

[mick2me 3,033]

Where does the stream run in from, and where did it used to go?

[Beefsteak 305]

If my memory serves me correctly (not been there for at least 30 years) it comes in through the woods to the north side and used to flow out near the boat shed

[Beefsteak 305]

I seem to remember crossing a dry ditch as a kid down there it used to flow into the tuttle brook?

[bazza 71]

I first fished there about 45+ years ago but I don't remember any stream.

The history of the lake as far as I know is that it was a man made lake as part of the original landscaping for Wollaton Hall estate.

Dunno how true this is.

baz

[Beefsteak 305]

I don't know how true my dads story was but Im'e pretty sure I remember the little stream flowing in (it was no more than a dribble)

[Bip 88]

The boathouse is still there but boat not.

I have cycled around said lake, jogged around when much fitter than I am now and of cause walked around, but in all those circuits I can’t recall a stream entering or leaving the lake. Seen the odd stag up to his antlers in mud in the rutting season and the odd swan with fisherman line around it’s neck but no stream….as you approach the lake from the coffee/snack shop there is a ditch with a bridge crossing it, sometimes when it been raining for several days or weeks that said ditch fills up with water giving the impression of a stream, Just a thought.

Bip.

[Beefsteak 305]

That could be it BIP as I said its at least 30 years since I was down by the lake

[bazza 71]

I remember that now Puck.

I'll check it out when I'm round that way in August.

Baz

[Beefsteak 305]

Just on my way to do a bit now (Pier fishing off LLandudno) Lovely day I thought lets go over to the sea.Its SWMBO birthday so im'e taking the family out (No matter how hard I try I can't justify it to myself either)

[Beefsteak 305]

Just got back with nothing to show but a suntan .Did have fish and chips from a chippy though but get this £5.50 to take away. Pie and chips twice £4.00 each £13.50 for a take away chippy meal your avin a laf!!! LOL

[Caz 25]

We pay AU $6.90 for a piece of fish in our local takeaway & the minimum chips is about AU$3, so AU $9.90 how does that compare,it's too early in the morning for me to convert