Season's Greetings Piscators

Although I didn’t get the opportunity to fish in December as I was busy and then not well over Christmas. This time gave me a chance to look back at my blogs from 2021 and look forward to 2022. A book I read over Christmas was Blood Knots by Luke Jennings. A great read about childhood fishing and those long summer holidays.

Last Christmas I spent some time setting up an Instagram account. I’ve enjoyed sharing images with others who appreciate vintage tackle, and I’m amazed just how many traditional anglers there are out there.

The tackle I used this year ranged from a 1950s Le Omnia reel and split-cane rod to a pair of Abu Cardinal 157 reels and fibreglass Carp rods.

The first cast of 2021 caught a foul-hooked Carp as I plumbed my unbaited hook. Not a bad start to the year and a nice surprise. I continued fishing the Earl of Harrington waters, the Trent & Mersey Canal, the Ellesmere Canal during a visit to Shropshire, and the Staithe at Horning, where Arthur Ransome fished and set his books, Coot Club and The Big Six, while on holiday in Norfolk.

There were some good catches during two weekends camping, fishing those long summer days and a chance to meet other anglers, some of whom were very interested in vintage tackle. There’s something very reminiscent of childhood and a ‘Huckleberry Finn’, carefree feeling about fishing and camping, sleeping in a tent, cooking on a stove and roughing it for a few days. I love it!

Another surprise during 2021 was catching my personal best Carp of 19lb 3oz. I’m not one for turning fish into a number; however, I do like to fish the lead occasionally for something bigger: Carp, Tench or Bream, and, on this occasion, I fished a specimen Carp water where it’s renowned for being difficult to catch. Talking of personal bests, my nephew caught a 4.5lb Carp while leger fishing for the first time.

I don’t like to plan my fishing too much; I prefer my sessions to be fairly spontaneous. However, it’s good to have ideas about how and where to fish in the future and then see what happens. There are a few local venues including Buzzard Fishery, Shipley Lake and Mapperley Reservoir, where I hope to fish in the future. I also had an idea from the Mr Crabtree books to target a different fish each month. We’ll see what happens.

Well piscators, I hope you all had a good Christmas, and I wish you health, happiness and tight lines for 2022.