A Time Away From Fishing

Assuming that I have any regular readers they will, no doubt, be wondering where I've been since November when I last posted. Perhaps some thought I had got bored with posting or maybe some were of the opinion that I was too much of a girl to brave the winter weather but in actual fact my absence was for much more dire reasons than either of these. A serious family crisis hit me in November, just after my last post, and I was forced to forget the fishing for a while and concentrate on other things much more important. That crisis, compounded with about five years of what was probably excessive work stress, took its toll on me and although things began to get back to normal in the new year it was too late to save me from a fall and I found myself in what I can only describe as a very dark and lonely place, accompanied only by a box of anti-depressants and a sick note, somewhere I never want to go again.

So why am I posting now? Well its not a fishing report because although some time off work has brought me slowly and steadily back into the light, to put it bluntly I haven't been fishing. But while I may have been in no state to fish, part of my therapy has still been fishing or rather thinking, planning and writing about fishing. Having taken the opportunity of three months off work to sort all my gear, fix rods and tie new rigs I then decided that this site needed a twin. Enter 'A Sea Angler's Reference Book', designed to provide a host of information that anglers from this part of the country will find useful. I eventually intend to provide step-by-step instructions in everything from rod building to reading tides but currently I only have the Galleries and the Minimum Fish Sizes up and running. Keep an eye on it though as I'm keeping up a steady pace and I have an awful lot of material for the site - another 6 to 9 months should have it finished!

At the same time I was asked to look into setting up a Sea Fishing forum for a number of my old friends from the Seafishing.org website as they had been the victims of a round of banning by the administrator. After a little work 'The Sea Angler's Clubroom' went live on February 3rd and has been busy ever since. Anybody that fancies a chat can register for free and currently myself and my pal Stuartdv (who helps with the moderation) haven't needed to pass more than an occasional eye over it due to the fact that it seems to have nurtured a friendly atmosphere. Long may it stay that way.

One final part of my therapy was to do something I have been doing since I was a lad and have never grown out of; go tackle recovering at a local mark. As lads myself and my schoolmates would trudge about in the mud around a local mark to recover leads and tackle that we simply couldn't afford to buy but these days I really just do it for the fun of getting something for free. A couple of hours of slipping about in the mud gained me a good pile of leads (I have never paid money for a sea fishing lead in my life) and did the environment and the reputation of our pastime a favour by removing hundreds of yards of lost line. If you look at the picture to the left you can see the complete haul.

So that's it really, probably not what anyone was expecting. I suppose what I am trying to get across is that actually fishing is not by any means the be all and end all of this pastime, there is so much enjoyment to be had from the activities surrounding it and those activities in themselves can almost become pastimes in their own right. Roll on the Bass Season ...... the dog is back!

Fishing Report: 4th November 07 - River Colne, Essex

Despite a terrible return fish-wise on the long hike to the spot on the River Stour the previous day, I decided on a short session on a local mark using some of the Stour Ragworm that were currently lodging in my bait tanks. The sight of the gulls working the previous day had turned my mind back on the subject of Bass and I thought there might be the odd one or two to be had from my home patch. I had noticed that the water was clear when I had visited the previous evening to get fresh water for the Ragworm in the bait tanks, so rather than use the standard beach casting gear I decided to have a go with my 3lb tc Carp Rod and fixed spool and fish light-line tactics the same as I would in the summer. As I had plenty of it, bait would be bunches of head-hooked Ragworm fished on a "popped-up" 3/0 hook, in an attempt to avoid the attentions of the local crab population.

When I arrived at my chosen spot at about 4:30pm, four hours before high tide, the water was flat calm and the weather was clear. Despite the fact that I had summer tackle with me it was obvious that it wasn't summer and as the sun started to drop in the sky the temperature dropped with it! The river had taken on a distinct winter feel to it and after quickly setting up and casting out I settled back to watch the rod top with the sunset in the background and listen to the river's "winter song"; the calls of the flocks of Brent Geese which echo across the river valley, letting us anglers know that it is time to put summer methods aside and prepare for the winter gales and the Codling.

The first recognisable bite came about half an hour later and resulted in a tiny Schoolie which was only just about bigger than the bait. It was followed about ten minutes later by it's twin brother and I began to think that a lively evening was on the cards. Just as I was getting used to the idea of a fun night with the baby Bass the firework display started on Mersea Island and for about forty-five minutes the fishing died as various rockets exploded in the sky and bangs echoed across the creek, causing great upset amongst the Geese and the flocks of waders.

By the time the fireworks died down the fish seemed to have been well and truly put off and the initial flood of the tide up to the rocks I fish from, when the best chance of a sizable fish is to be had, was already over; my opportunity had gone and the atmosphere had been spoilt by the fireworks. I fished on until about 7pm managing another small Schoolie and a small Whiting before finally the chill started to get to my feet and I decided it was time to call it night and headed home for a very welcome plateful of Sunday dinner.