Derek Stritton - Too Many Rods

[Ian.R.McDonald]

I too was fishing the Eagle and the Hollows in the 70's with Max Cottis and a couple of others... (mainly for the Tench) I stopped fishing there when the manager of the Rising Sun was shot dead... We beat a hasty retreat and never went back, preferring to fish closer to home at Fairlop and Hainault lakes... had a lot of fun there...

I think the night that we shared Hainault with some hooded and cloaked figures chanting around their fire made other waters more appealing. The rush hour bus from the tube complete with tank suit and a full weekends carp gear wasn't great either.

I didn't realise we were sharing the Eagle pavement with Max ( angling royalty?)

[Aitch]

Max was a mate of ours in those days, after the shooting, Max stayed on at the Hollows and went on to better things... (our loss)
Other waters we frequented were the South Weald park lake, Seven Springs, and as an occasional "Guest" at Copped Hall... all the forest ponds were sampled too.... Wake Valley got a lot of attention as some nice carp came out in the late 70's

[Ian.R.McDonald]

Max was a mate of ours in those days, after the shooting, Max stayed on at the Hollows and went on to better things... (our loss)
Other waters we frequented were the South Weald park lake, Seven Springs, and as an occasional "Guest" at Copped Hall... all the forest ponds were sampled too.... Wake Valley got a lot of attention as some nice carp came out in the late 70's

We must have crossed paths many times. Fished South Weald a lot- forget which year but remember fence climbing to get in early on June 15th and crawling to my swim- it was taken. And then doing a complete crawling circuit of the lake to find out that every other swim had been filled with 2 hours to midnight.

We lost a lot when the close season finished

[Aitch]

Max was a mate of ours in those days, after the shooting, Max stayed on at the Hollows and went on to better things... (our loss)
Other waters we frequented were the South Weald park lake, Seven Springs, and as an occasional "Guest" at Copped Hall... all the forest ponds were sampled too.... Wake Valley got a lot of attention as some nice carp came out in the late 70's

We must have crossed paths many times. Fished South Weald a lot- forget which year but remember fence climbing to get in early on June 15th and crawling to my swim- it was taken. And then doing a complete crawling circuit of the lake to find out that every other swim had been filled with 2 hours to midnight.

We lost a lot when the close season finished

On the Eagle me and my mates Max & Richard were the turned down wader lads who had the creels in the water just below the pavement in the summer with the rods on high rests and squeezy bottle top indicators almost down to the water... all long haired sorts with pimples and peach fuzz cheeks

[Ian.R.McDonald]

1970 13lbs 8oz. Caught " properly" off the pavement.

My English o level was on to 16th but I managed to write fast and get out early to go fishing

20210108_143348.jpg

ng

[Aitch]

Blimus... looked like me in 1975...

[Tony.J.Newman]

Anchored crust if I remember correctly, mid afternoon, blazing sun. Came completely out of the blue.

[Ian.R.McDonald]

Anchored crust if I remember correctly, mid afternoon, blazing sun. Came completely out of the blue.

And you on the net. Happy memories

[Ian.R.McDonald]

I too was fishing the Eagle and the Hollows in the 70's with Max Cottis and a couple of others... (mainly for the Tench) I stopped fishing there when the manager of the Rising Sun was shot dead... We beat a hasty retreat and never went back, preferring to fish closer to home at Fairlop and Hainault lakes... had a lot of fun there...

A missed memory of Hainault-the starlings!. As evening came in the trees on the island would gradually see the dozen plus large trees covered by birds arriving with every branch full. The twittering was at a level where you had to raise your voice. And then suddenly the noise would stop and every bird would be into the air. 20,000? 30,000? .I wonder how you got to be lead bird that decided when to go? And they all flew off, I assume into warmer London. It must have been impressive to get into my carp obsessed memory!

Good to see recent shots of starlings flying ( murmuration?) but a tiny fraction of the past.

Just looking out at the poplar across the lane- about 50 starlings roosted overnight

[Aitch]

We spent more time keeping the resident birdlife off our baited spots to watch starlings... plus fending off the gnats and mossies... as a lad back then I was more interested in the fish than the birds... and the non feathered birds were a distraction to say the least... especially as in the 70's there was a fair amount of voluptuous flesh on show to distract a young buck of 17 summers