Splashing about in the lake

Had a lovely family picnic today to celebrate my birthday. No good for fishing - after all this hot weather the fish are struggling, and in no mood to take a fly.

But we did have some fun doing a spot of training with the duck dummy I bought at the Game Fair recently.

Skye showed how it was done, and Bracken picked up the idea very quickly, bringing the plastic mallard back in fine style.

And then we ate loads of cake. Can't think of a nicer way to spend a birthday!

Fly tying

After plucking those pheasants the other day, I decided to put the tail feathers to good use. Before we know it, it'll be time for fishing again - and I just about used up my stock of goldhead nymphs last year.

So I dug my fly-tying kit out of the cupboard and got started. The tube of superglue had dried up, and I'd forgotten the patterns. This one took me most of the evening, and I'm not really happy with it.

With a bit of luck, now I've got all the gear together and reminded myself how it works, I'll speed up a bit. I hope so, or I'll still be tying when the season starts!

Fishing with Emma

Oops! We were on the Anton near Stockbridge and had been fishing for all of 10 minutes when I heard a heard a bit of a squeal from upstream. Emma had stepped off a fishing platform into the mud and reeds, and gone in to her waist! Luckily we had some spare clothing and wellies, but the fish were in a sulk all day and weren't the slightest bit interested in our flies.

Eventually we gave up and drove into Stockbridge to visit the excellent Robinson's butchers - where I was served by James Quinn who featured on the cover of our January 2004 issue! Amazingly, he told me that you can't buy Sporting Shooter in Stockbridge - there's only one newsagent, and they have some misguided 'ethical' policy about not stocking 'gun magazines'.

We didn't leave empty handed - no fish, but a big bag of Robinson's delicious pork sausages!

Fly line trick

It seems an old dog can learn new tricks. Yesterday I went over to Ian Colclough's Weybridge Guns & Tackle to buy a handful of gold-head nymphs. As you do, I ended up spending a small fortune on a new reel and line. Ian helpfully offered to put the backing and line on for me, then showed me a trick that's so obvious I can't believe I hadn't heard it before.

When you first strip the line of the reel and start fishing, it lands in tight spring-like coils at your feet. After an hour or two, the line has relaxed a bit, making it much easier to handle and less likely to tangle.

The answer: tuck the rod under your arm and give the line a bit of a stretch. Starting at one end, take hold of a yard or so of line between your hands and give it a gentle tug, feeling the natural stretch in the line. Move the line along and do the same with the next yard, and the next, until you reach the end. Look down at your feet, and there's the line lying in gentle curves, not those tight coils. Now there's no excuse for not making the perfect cast!

Another tip Ian gave me: that stretch is the mark of a healthy fly line. When it loses its stretch, it's time to buy a new one.

Ian's advice reminded me why I still visit my local gun & tackle shop, rather than scrabbling round the internet for the lowest possible price.

Rabbits, rifles, Berettas and more

Whew! What a week that was. I've been rabbit stalking and lamping with Terry Le Chem...

Tried out the new Beretta SV10 Perennia at West London Shooting School...

And taken Chloe Finch from the Countryside Alliance to learn rifle shooting with Ian Spicer of Red Deer Outdoors, at the British Sporting Rifle Club at Bisley...

Along the way, I came across some terrific bushcraft items by Neil Andrews (who cooks a mean venison stir-fry, and will shortly be instructing on some new bushcraft courses at Cowdray in Sussex)...

And I discovered Schultz & Larsen rifles, which I'd never encountered before, and discovered they're really rather good (here's Ian Spicer firing one)...

So to relax this weekend, I went fishing and caught my first fish of the year – two trout which are now in the fridge being turned into trout gravadlax, a cunning recipe borrowed from Mark Gilchrist (you'll find it in the June issue of Sporting Shooter)...

...just one little hiccough – today I discovered some lowlife has cloned my bank card, and is currently living it up in Canada at my expense! The bank has frozen my account, so that's put paid to his fun. It also has the unfortunate side-effect that I can't use my bank account either. Hmm.

Red-nosed Salter's £200 perch

OK he's a politician, and a Labour one at that, but how could you not warm to MP Martin Salter? Not only does he treat the antis with the contempt they deserve, he's also happy to make a fool of himself in aid of a good cause, and promote fishing at the same time - sponsored by the All Party Parliamentary Group to catch a fish on Red Nose Day, he raised £200 for Comic Relief by catching this 2lb 12oz perch (none of that foreign kg nonsense) on a tributary of his local River Kennet near Aldermaston. Could we have some more politicans like him please?!

Pike fishing on the Mole

Caught up with my brother Nigel today, fishing on the River Mole at Downside, near Cobham. He had been at it since dawn, but we joined him an hour before sunset. It was a cold day - the frost on the bank had never thawed completely, despite the sunshine, and as the sun sank behind the trees the temperature plummeted.

He was fishing a deadbait - a Waitrose sardine - with a treble hook on a wire trace, with a big red float above. As we watched, the float bobbed, then set off upstream. Nigel waited - apparently the pike was turning the bait in its mouth, so it could swallow it head first...

Then he struck, and the fight was on. This was a smallish pike of just a few pounds. Nigel carefully removed the treble hook with forceps, and slid the pike back into the river.

Just as it was getting dark, Nigel hooked this monster - a 15-pounder. He explained that like many predators, the big pike prefer to feed at twilight - either dawn or dusk. The smaller pike have to make do with feeding during daylight hours.

Just look at those jaws!

Fishing the Garry

Lots of fish jumping, but they're not taking.

Pike attack

11092008010, originally uploaded by james.marchington.

A couple of posts back I mentioned that I'd been fishing the River Anton in Hampshire the other day. That post was made from my mobile phone by the riverbank (is there a word for a techno-showoff, or is that just 'saddo'?)

What I wasn't able to post at the time was this pic of a small grayling, which Emma hooked. As she reeled it in, a large pike came out of the reeds - spotting what looked like an easy meal - and grabbed it!

The pike soon realised its mistake and let go - leaving the grayling with these nasty gashes down its side. It was virtually dead by the time Emma got it to the bank, and it quickly died. Another almost identical fish I caught later was returned unharmed to the water and swam off strongly.

Where's he been?

Two weeks go by and not a peep out of James? Yup, I've been to the land beyond mobile phones, broadband internet and skinny cappucino with an extra shot - the west coast of the Isle of Skye. It was fabulous to get away from all the daily bull and concentrate on the stuff that really matters - spinning for mackerel off the rocks, stalking rabbits, walking the hills for grouse (surely there must be one here somewhere?!), and even a few hours flyfishing for salmon (almost as scarce as the grouse).

Here are a few pictorial highlights. More on my flickr page. I'll add some more detailed posts once I've cleared the logjam in my inbox - including a report on field testing a selection of midge repellents...

In search of grouse

Sunset over Macleod's Tables

Sara caught a salmon on the Snizort!

Picking mushrooms

There must be a grouse round here somewhere!

So that's what the pocket on my Nomad fleece is for!

Heading home after spinning off the rocks

Some work better than others...

Emma with mackerel

Salter speaks up for anglers

When I see a politician I generally cross my fingers and start muttering. Like pet rabbits, they may look cuddly but you never know when they'll bite you.

Despite my natural suspicion, I have to admit I'm warming to Labour 'spokesman for angling' Martin Salter. Anyone who gets his press office to put out a photo like the one above can't be all bad.

And now he has put out this press release (below) speaking up for anglers in a silly row with a bunch of politically correct numpties on Bewdley Town Council. Good on him!

Fish filleting made simple

I've been catching, preparing and eating fish for years, so goodness knows why I haven't come across this trick before.

Basically, it's a quick and easy way to remove the bones and leave the flesh and skin intact, ready for cooking.

First, gut the fish and trim off the head, tail and fins. Now put your knife down. You don't need it for the next bit - honest! Place the fish stomach-down on the chopping board with the tail end towards you and the head end away. Spread out the flaps you made when you slit the stomach, so it stands up on its own.

Now the clever bit. With your hands on either side, use your thumbs to press down hard on the backbone. You'll feel it give, as if you have squished the fish flat. Actually this is the backbone coming away from the flesh. Repeat all down the backbone.

Then pick it up, find the head-end of the backbone, and pull it away from the flesh. It will come away easily, taking most of the bones with it.

You can then fold the fish back together, cook it flat, or cut the two halves apart, depending on how you want to cook it.

I tried the technique with herrings, and it worked brilliantly. I wondered if it would be possible to slice through the flesh at the head, but leave the backbone intact. That could make it even easier to remove the backbone in one piece. I ran out of herrings to experiment with, but I'll try it next time.

Chalkstream trout

Spent a lovely day fishing on the River Anton, just up from the famous Mayfly. Glorious sunshine, clear water, a warm breeze - and I caught a brace of brown trout. Perfect!

It was my first experience of chalkstream fishing and I think I could very easily get addicted. It's so exciting being able to see the fish, stalking them like you would a rabbit or a deer - much better than flogging a stillwater with no idea what's going on under the surface.



One of the brownies took the fly just before it hit the water, leaping a good foot from the surface to catch it in mid-air.

It made a nice relaxing break after the rush of the last couple of weeks of getting the November issue away to the printers. Tomorrow I'm off to Shropshire for the Midland Game Fair. I don't know whether I can get an internet connection at the show itself, but either way I'll post some highlights from the fair here as soon as I can.

Fishing & tadpoles

While in Scotland, I was able to spend some time fishing with the family - here's daughter Emma (no mean shooter herself), being towed by my parents, in the shadow of the Storr Rock near Portree. The weather was far too good for fishing - blazing sunshine - and we caught nothing. But a lovely day spent in glorious scenery nevertheless.



Another time we sneaked off for a couple of hours on a small loch at the south end of the island. Again it was too bright and the fish just weren't feeding. But I did find myself surrounded by tadpoles as I fished.



I took these with a new camera, a Pentax Optio W20. This claims to be fully waterproof (I haven't dared test it fully yet!) and was recommended to me by a sea kayaker who ought to know! So far I'm impressed with the results, and because it's small and robust I find I take it places where I wouldn't take the big SLR.