Another year over
23/10/06
Well the trout season
drew slowly to a close for me a week ago, I slipped
in a couple of lazy sunny afternoons on the Nadder.
Warm sun on my back, grayling, trout and chub all
willing to grace me with their presence and the
leaves finally starting to turn. It's always with
some sadness that the season draws to an end but this
year it really felt like the season was finishing too
early, call it climate change, call it a hot year but
the river hasn't spated properly all summer, October
still felt like August/September.
The annual electro fishing on my stretch of the Nadder was booked in late last week, it's always a good way to get through the river, see what fish are actually in there and move a few of the bigger pike if necessary. This year however the weather had different ideas. Driving back from an evening meeting in Watford on the Thursday night the weather was getting progressively worse and I knew things were really getting heavy when I saw 2 cars that had aquaplaned across the countess roundabout on the A303. Well knowing how quickly the Nadder can rise I wasn't holding out much hope for the morning and as I walked the stretch at Wilton on Friday morning I was struggling with a mixed sense of dissapointment and happiness. I was dissapoined as there was no way electro fishing would work in those conditions but I was happy to finally see some water moving through the river. 4 days on from the torrential rain and the Nadder is still running coloured and very high, so here's to a bloody wet winter!
Growing up in the countryside and being involved with farms and animals my entire life sets you up with a solid understanding and handle on death.
The 'wild' can be a rough place, animals die and sometimes it's a kinder path to put an injured wild animal out of its misery - so taught my grandad, a gardener by trade, an outdoorsman by nature.
I had noticed a swan had moved onto my stretch of the river and, although I'm not a fan of swans as a rule (look at the damage 60 juvenile swans can cause to a river) I was pleased to see one drifting about on the river. However, it soon became apparent to me that this particular swan wasn't in good shape, it was only by virtue of the dog barking at it that I got to see the problem. the poor girl couldnt walk properly. I called out the wildlife rescue to have a look at her and after catching her and giving her a thorough check there was nothing visibly wrong with her, no broken bones, no fishing line. The most likely reason was that she would have just shed all her flight feathers and as such be extremely low in calcium and a bit out of sorts.
Well, we agreed to leave her there and keep an eye on her, the most likely outcome of a visit to the vets would have been fatal anyway. 2 days later she was still there, she was feeding on the water, seemed happy enough but still couldnt manage to walk properly and in the increasingly muddy river banks this was looking like it might cause problems. I decided that the next day I would call out the wildlife people again and get her taken away. I was actually quite upset the next day to see her lying belly up in the mud on the river bank, neck under her body the next morning. There were no injuries, no fox attack, nothing visible. Just a slightly muddy beautiful bird.
I duly reported it to the bird flu helpline, well, you never know, and was informed that they arent attending dead swans in Wiltshire. Hampshire and Dorset yes, but no need in Wilts it seems. In a rare moment of sentimentality I returned her to the river, one last journey for the beautiful old girl. I know she'll be a million organisms dinner in no time but for that short time, she was once more graceful as she set off down the river, like some kind of viking longship burial.
Anyway, the autumn arrived in force, the temperatures dropped to 10/11 degrees in the daytime, misty mornings, evenings that make you wish you'd ordered the logs by now. I'll be out chasing some toothy crtitters over the coming weeks and will report how I get on.
Malcolm
The annual electro fishing on my stretch of the Nadder was booked in late last week, it's always a good way to get through the river, see what fish are actually in there and move a few of the bigger pike if necessary. This year however the weather had different ideas. Driving back from an evening meeting in Watford on the Thursday night the weather was getting progressively worse and I knew things were really getting heavy when I saw 2 cars that had aquaplaned across the countess roundabout on the A303. Well knowing how quickly the Nadder can rise I wasn't holding out much hope for the morning and as I walked the stretch at Wilton on Friday morning I was struggling with a mixed sense of dissapointment and happiness. I was dissapoined as there was no way electro fishing would work in those conditions but I was happy to finally see some water moving through the river. 4 days on from the torrential rain and the Nadder is still running coloured and very high, so here's to a bloody wet winter!
Growing up in the countryside and being involved with farms and animals my entire life sets you up with a solid understanding and handle on death.
The 'wild' can be a rough place, animals die and sometimes it's a kinder path to put an injured wild animal out of its misery - so taught my grandad, a gardener by trade, an outdoorsman by nature.
I had noticed a swan had moved onto my stretch of the river and, although I'm not a fan of swans as a rule (look at the damage 60 juvenile swans can cause to a river) I was pleased to see one drifting about on the river. However, it soon became apparent to me that this particular swan wasn't in good shape, it was only by virtue of the dog barking at it that I got to see the problem. the poor girl couldnt walk properly. I called out the wildlife rescue to have a look at her and after catching her and giving her a thorough check there was nothing visibly wrong with her, no broken bones, no fishing line. The most likely reason was that she would have just shed all her flight feathers and as such be extremely low in calcium and a bit out of sorts.
Well, we agreed to leave her there and keep an eye on her, the most likely outcome of a visit to the vets would have been fatal anyway. 2 days later she was still there, she was feeding on the water, seemed happy enough but still couldnt manage to walk properly and in the increasingly muddy river banks this was looking like it might cause problems. I decided that the next day I would call out the wildlife people again and get her taken away. I was actually quite upset the next day to see her lying belly up in the mud on the river bank, neck under her body the next morning. There were no injuries, no fox attack, nothing visible. Just a slightly muddy beautiful bird.
I duly reported it to the bird flu helpline, well, you never know, and was informed that they arent attending dead swans in Wiltshire. Hampshire and Dorset yes, but no need in Wilts it seems. In a rare moment of sentimentality I returned her to the river, one last journey for the beautiful old girl. I know she'll be a million organisms dinner in no time but for that short time, she was once more graceful as she set off down the river, like some kind of viking longship burial.
Anyway, the autumn arrived in force, the temperatures dropped to 10/11 degrees in the daytime, misty mornings, evenings that make you wish you'd ordered the logs by now. I'll be out chasing some toothy crtitters over the coming weeks and will report how I get on.
Malcolm
And now, the end is near
11/10/06
and so I face, the final
curtain.
Or at least that's how October normally feels. The looming close of the trout season weighs heavily on my mind, the nights draw in - getting dark before I get home from work and the river is normally running coloured and high. This year however, nature seems to have taken a break, the leaves are only just donning their high visibilty jackets and the river is still running low and crystal clear despite recent rains.
I recently took a week or so holiday in Crete, not normally my cup of tea, but SWMBO really wanted a warm beachy type of break so off we trundled. Once again I faced certain undeniable truths at the airport;
No matter where you stand in a queue people will always try to get through right in front of you, not behind, not 3 people up the line, always right there, so you have to move all your bags to let them through.
Airport staff are trained to remove any sense of humour, either that or there is a conspiracy taking all children who have no sense of humour by the age of 13 and putting them into security training at an early age.
Airport food will always be over priced, taste like crap and have a high salt content, just to make sure you need to drink lots and are suitably dehydrated ready for 4 hours in an airconditioned environment. I've also a theory that the ban on taking liquids through security has nothing to do with security, it's a blatant attempt to increase sales in the duty free shops. Now instead of taking a 70p bottle of water onto the plane, you are forced to pay £2 for a bottle in the departure lounge.
anyhow, we managed to survive the Gatshit experiece (why I ever listen to people and fly from anywhere other than B'mth, Soton, or Bristol is beyond me) and then drove from somewhere with a funny name, to somewhere with a funnier name in Crete in the dark. I can't really say too much about the roads, I'm still in shock, suffice to say that after driving for a week there I need a holiday... We arrived at the villa and as the sun came up the next day I was very pleasantly suprised to see unspoilt mountains on one side and unspoilt coast on the other. Not the high rise megalopolis full of english breakfasts and fat pink northerners I had been half expecting.
A blissful week of swimming in crystal clear waters, eating cheaply in tavernas tucked away in the mountains and generally having fun with my little boy went a long way to removing the memory scars of Gatshit and the hellish Crete roads. I was extremely suprised to find that not only do people ski on Crete in the winter, but that there are some beautiful little rivers running down off the mountains. I spent some time exploring and looking back, really should have packed a travel rod. The rivers were crystal clear, full of billowing weed and I have to hope, stuffed full of fish. Next time I'll find out :)
remember, only dummies mix alcohol, swimming and nighttime... but it's so much fun ;)
Well, apart from sharing a lovely holiday there was a point to my ramblings, no honestly, now if I could just remember what the point was. Oh yes, Autumn.
I had imagined that by the time I returned autumn would be in full swing, trout fishing would be over for another year and that would be that. Imagine my suprise to find that the rivers were still really alive, the leaves hadn't changed and although we were into autumn in name, we had avoided it so far in practical terms.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday on the Nadder and have to report it was one of the best afternoons fishing I've had all year. 6 good Grayling, 3 chub, 2 brownies, all on the dry. The river looked beautiful and there were rises absolutely everywhere I looked. I shan't type much more as although we had thunder and lightning lst night, it's starting to clear up outside and I think I'm going to get another hour or two in this afternoon. I'll leave you with the view on the Nadder yesterday morning. Enjoy.
Or at least that's how October normally feels. The looming close of the trout season weighs heavily on my mind, the nights draw in - getting dark before I get home from work and the river is normally running coloured and high. This year however, nature seems to have taken a break, the leaves are only just donning their high visibilty jackets and the river is still running low and crystal clear despite recent rains.
I recently took a week or so holiday in Crete, not normally my cup of tea, but SWMBO really wanted a warm beachy type of break so off we trundled. Once again I faced certain undeniable truths at the airport;
No matter where you stand in a queue people will always try to get through right in front of you, not behind, not 3 people up the line, always right there, so you have to move all your bags to let them through.
Airport staff are trained to remove any sense of humour, either that or there is a conspiracy taking all children who have no sense of humour by the age of 13 and putting them into security training at an early age.
Airport food will always be over priced, taste like crap and have a high salt content, just to make sure you need to drink lots and are suitably dehydrated ready for 4 hours in an airconditioned environment. I've also a theory that the ban on taking liquids through security has nothing to do with security, it's a blatant attempt to increase sales in the duty free shops. Now instead of taking a 70p bottle of water onto the plane, you are forced to pay £2 for a bottle in the departure lounge.
anyhow, we managed to survive the Gatshit experiece (why I ever listen to people and fly from anywhere other than B'mth, Soton, or Bristol is beyond me) and then drove from somewhere with a funny name, to somewhere with a funnier name in Crete in the dark. I can't really say too much about the roads, I'm still in shock, suffice to say that after driving for a week there I need a holiday... We arrived at the villa and as the sun came up the next day I was very pleasantly suprised to see unspoilt mountains on one side and unspoilt coast on the other. Not the high rise megalopolis full of english breakfasts and fat pink northerners I had been half expecting.
A blissful week of swimming in crystal clear waters, eating cheaply in tavernas tucked away in the mountains and generally having fun with my little boy went a long way to removing the memory scars of Gatshit and the hellish Crete roads. I was extremely suprised to find that not only do people ski on Crete in the winter, but that there are some beautiful little rivers running down off the mountains. I spent some time exploring and looking back, really should have packed a travel rod. The rivers were crystal clear, full of billowing weed and I have to hope, stuffed full of fish. Next time I'll find out :)
remember, only dummies mix alcohol, swimming and nighttime... but it's so much fun ;)
Well, apart from sharing a lovely holiday there was a point to my ramblings, no honestly, now if I could just remember what the point was. Oh yes, Autumn.
I had imagined that by the time I returned autumn would be in full swing, trout fishing would be over for another year and that would be that. Imagine my suprise to find that the rivers were still really alive, the leaves hadn't changed and although we were into autumn in name, we had avoided it so far in practical terms.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday on the Nadder and have to report it was one of the best afternoons fishing I've had all year. 6 good Grayling, 3 chub, 2 brownies, all on the dry. The river looked beautiful and there were rises absolutely everywhere I looked. I shan't type much more as although we had thunder and lightning lst night, it's starting to clear up outside and I think I'm going to get another hour or two in this afternoon. I'll leave you with the view on the Nadder yesterday morning. Enjoy.