Ed 13 : Itchen mid-summer



Back in Ed 4 'To do or die', there was that poignant picture. How different the river can look in mid-summer! Those nutrients, eternally, do their work without any help from man.

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments and/or feedback are always welcome

Popular posts from this blog

The continuing adventures of the Fluff Club, Episode 79

Image
  “Fly fishermen are born honest, but they get over it”.   – Ed Zern     The weather forecast was another day of scorchio, although this hot summer is expected to break in a couple of days’ time. We seem to visit Chiphall Lake about once each year, [episodes 6, 22, 25, 33, 45, & 52 refer]. Today, the Admiral, Inspector, Whytee and Dodgy proudly flew the FC banner, joined by the Professor a couple of hours late; three other chaps had braved the heat too. Martin was holding court on the lodge’s veranda, which is definitely a kind of community and family hub, with friends and relations always dropping by for a brew and a chat, mostly non-fishers. The Fluff Boys generally paid for two-fish tickets, having first checked Martin was amenable to an upgrade if anyone caught too quickly.   There was a good deal of surface weed, silkweed, and scum, but at least that provided a lot of shade, presumably helping to keep water temperatures from rising too high. Defin...
Read more

Off the Log #1 John O'Gaunt

Image
Brian, long-time fishing buddy, and I haven’t fished together much these past couple of years, the old enemy, stuff, always getting in the way. When schedules allowed this particular opportunity, it didn’t take long to decide the venue. John O’Gaunt trout fishery is our ‘spiritual’ home of fly fishing. It’s where I first cast a fly in England, and subsequently, where I first introduced B to the sport. That’s not the only reason: it is a very beautiful place, and apart from birdsong and the occasional splash of a fish, it can be absolutely silent. Mr Purse keeps the place tidy and almost manicured. Okay, there is very little in the way of facilities: the ‘gents’ is a patch of gravel screened by old fence panels, the water supply comes from a rain butt, and if you fancy a warm drink, you’d better have brought a flask. They don’t advertise, relying on word of mouth; Purse knows that if people have a good day, they will tell their mates about it. Good fishing for quality fi...
Read more

The continuing adventures of the Fluff Club, Episode 72

Image
    “The river still chattered on … a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the unsatiable sea.” – Kenneth Grahame   Nowadays the very-excellent Meon Springs operates on a ‘booking in advance’ basis, so if you want to follow in the footsteps of the famous Fluff Club, you know what you’ll have to do. Greg will do his utmost to accommodate you. This trout fishery featured in episodes 10, 27, 34, 40, 51, 59, and 63. Anglers weren’t the only visitors today: in addition to the usual couple of pairs of Dabchicks, some Mallards, Coots, Swans and Moorhens, were a couple of farmyard ducks, a loud mob of Greylag Geese, and a small flock of Tufted Duck; the wildfowl easily outnumbered the anglers.   Representing the Fluff Club today were the Professor, the Inspector, the Admiral, Lumberjack, and Whytee. There were at least twelve other fisherfolk, including two of the fairer sex, … Right on! (as we used...
Read more