Friday 24th August 2018 - Much more to report!

Where do I start? Well, with the mullet, i suppose. I went to the Broadwater with Duncan, only to discover that i had taken an empty rod-tube! So, i was a spectator. My mate, Tommy, was also there (he is ALWAYS there), and I watched as he and Dunc covered hundreds of mullet with every conceivable fly. As on Dunc's previous visit, they were touching fish continually, and sometimes hooking one, but despite the occasional follow, the mullet were not taking the flies. I went again a day or two later, taking a light spinning rod, some tiny Mepps and Droppen spoons, and worms. i had exactly the same experience with baited and unbaited spoons, touching fish continually, but never actually hooking one, and never having a genuine take. So I'll leave them alone for a while! Following the rotten auction results mentioned in my last post, Trout and Salmon Magazine asked me to do an article on book prices. Initially I refused, but on reflection I decided that it would not do any harm to write about individual authors and their books, together with a price guide. So here is what I came up with - It is good discipline to have to fit everything into a half-page: [caption id="attachment_1868" align="alignleft" width="679"] The Angler's Bookshelf - Sidney Spencer[/caption] Pondering on who to discuss next, I delved into Richard Waddington's books on salmon earlier this week. The British Library Catalogue says that Waddington was also the author of Teach Yourself Fishing by "Tom Rodway." I had my doubts about this, as Waddington was a wealthy toff, an expert on salmon and grouse, but hardly interested in the bream and pike that occupied Rodway. Anyway, to make my point I compared the two author's writing on salmon, and one point of difference was that Waddington always insisted on playing a salmon until it was on its side, then hand-tailing it; whereas the only method of landing a salmon mentioned by Rodway was the gaff. There is a point to all this! We have had a drizzly week and the river, while remaining clear, has livened up a little. Determined to have a cast, but still troubled with my shoulder, this afternoon I decided to take my everyday trout rod (5-weight with a floating line, 6lb leader) to look for a sewin. I fished a team of three flies for an hour, catching about twenty yellow-fins but nary a sea-trout. Then, at the tail of the second pool, as I was about to pack up, a salmon took my middle dropper, right under the rod-tip. I was on a fairly high bank, without a landing net, but the fish had plenty of room to run, and there were few snags (apart from the other two flies on the cast!) Waddington's words rang in my ears - "Once the fish is on its side it is beaten and easy to tail by hand." Well, of course, he was quite right, and it was. A nice 8lb fish, not very fresh but still a salmon! On a #12 fly - I suppose you might call it a pearly-bodied Wickhams spider. No trout fishing at all, though I did winkle out a 3lb sea-trout on a Rapala on a small flood a few days ago. It is turning out to be a mushroom year - every time I venture out I come home with something. We've had a good lot of field mushrooms this year - so many that I have invested in a dehydrator - the first batch of mushrooms and tomatoes went in this evening. [caption id="attachment_1872" align="alignleft" width="178"] Rico[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1873" align="alignleft" width="300"] Produce of field and garden, destined for the dehydrator[/caption]       [caption id="attachment_1871" align="alignleft" width="300"] 8lb salmon on size 12 Wickhams spider[/caption]