BOTTLE-GLASS SPECTACLES AND SURFACE CARP...
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:06 am
Well, I'd like to remember the Stourbridge Canal, near Stewponey. In the late seventies the rural stretch was run by the Kidderminster and District AC, and I was a junior member. Imagine our delight when it was stocked with carp! They were small to begin with, but soon enough, in a matter of a few years or so, we were catching them to high singles.
They were gorgeous carp too: full-scaled fish and real leathers amongst them, and the canal really suited them, having beds of reedmace, canadian pond weed and "cabbages". The water, except when barges came through, was often gin clear, and stalking was both challenging and fun.
The first time I actually caught carp "on the top" was down to a match angler with very poor eyesight. He told me that he had the carp 'taking crust', but he couldn't see well enough to strike them properly. He gave me bread - showed me how to hook it, and I cast out in the swim just above him. I took three very quickly to 3.5lbs, and he kept on missing...
In the end, I became his eyes, telling him when to strike - and he got one too.
He had very thick "bottle-glass" spectacles, and fishing must have been tough for him: but he was a good and generous teacher to me, that day. I must have been 15 at the time.
And he must be of retirement age by now.... Time flies.
They were gorgeous carp too: full-scaled fish and real leathers amongst them, and the canal really suited them, having beds of reedmace, canadian pond weed and "cabbages". The water, except when barges came through, was often gin clear, and stalking was both challenging and fun.
The first time I actually caught carp "on the top" was down to a match angler with very poor eyesight. He told me that he had the carp 'taking crust', but he couldn't see well enough to strike them properly. He gave me bread - showed me how to hook it, and I cast out in the swim just above him. I took three very quickly to 3.5lbs, and he kept on missing...
In the end, I became his eyes, telling him when to strike - and he got one too.
He had very thick "bottle-glass" spectacles, and fishing must have been tough for him: but he was a good and generous teacher to me, that day. I must have been 15 at the time.
And he must be of retirement age by now.... Time flies.