Issue No. XII April 16th 2023
A Not So Distant Summer Pool
Notes from a dream
The season at an end along with the excitement of casting a line into a summers pool being a way off it is with pleasant surprise I find myself beside such a place. Water laps gently upon reeded margins, dragonfly’s skit and appear weightless on wings of indeterminate speed. A bee awakes on a lilting read, lifts a sleepy head to dust away yesterdays pollen. Flycatchers are catching as are warblers and buntings, the stately grebe motions an effortless pass behind the orange tipped quill. How can this be that on such a glorious summers day droplets of water have begun to fall from a bright and bluing sky? Neither here nor there to begin but soon the pitter patter intensifies becoming a deluge. As my eyes open on a new day Wynne, enthusiastically is licking my face. It’s time for our morning walk she barks.
With the dream being so vivid, I remember every detail, indeed the pool is so well known to me I can walk the bank, watch, listen, even cast into its softly spoken ways at any time. Being on the cusp of change I hope there will be a few more ‘close but not touching’ encounters along the way towards June.
I welcome the slack provided by the closed season which, and whether one agrees or not has been loosely defined by natures ways. I find the importance of rest is ever more so today as nature needs helping hands especially the period from March through to June, where new life, growth and flowering is miraculous. In fact I am always overwhelmed by natures industry in transforming itself over such a short span. And so with a couple of months to edit last years fishing adventures I will attempt to write for memories sake and whilst doing so will fuel a fire that steadily gains intensity until Junes arrival.
April and May are splendid months to walk the coast and countryside of North Norfolk, and it’s on a daily basis that an ever opening window reveals more and more of this miracle.
Pallenpool, North Norfolk – April 2023
The Piscatorial Raconteurs & Friends – ‘being the quiet observations of Gentlemen Anglers‘
Within these pages you will find peace and warm reflection in what we believe is a quiet backwater. Here one can while away time sitting comfortably in a familiar armchair accompanied by a favoured tipple’… continue reading
Keeping An Eye On Proceedings
The Piscatorial Raconteurs handmade wares.
This issues contemplations
The Raconteurs April Miscellany – Jeremy Croxall, R.B.Traditional, & Carl Hier. Plus Raconteurs Articles – Martin James MBE, Paul Adams, Pallenpool, David Craine, Carl Hier, Tengisgol, Darjeeling & Sussex Micky – A Guest Piece From Bob Brookes
An April Miscellany
RBT’s – The Highlands ‘After a quick freshen up we met in the hallway and deliberated where to have a pint. ”There’ll be nooo drinking in this hoose” interrupted the landlady with her deep highland accent, my father remonstrated politely, pointing out that we were just looking to enjoy a couple of quick drinks before bed’ continue reading
Carl Hier – Sowing the seeds ‘Other memorable highlights from our endeavours at the Frog Pond included using my first fly rod. On long summer evenings when flying ants had hatched in their thousands, the roach loved them. A small red ant pattern never failed to tempt the pristine red-fins, great fun on a light fly rod, bought for £3.25 in Woolworths.’ continue reading
Jeremy Croxall – Luck & Its Part In Angling ‘I regard myself as a novice coarse angler, resigned to the fact that I will never be as competent an angler as those whom I know to have fished man and boy. Yes I have had some success, usually because I was doing the right thing at the right time although without actually realising it.’ continue reading
This Issues Features & Articles
Issue No. XII – Guests & The Piscatorial Raconteurs Articles.
April’s Guest
Bob Brookes – Is Looking Forward. ‘Three days ago I was out fishing for perch and barbel on the Trent when the river was up about 5 feet above normal. The sun was shining and it was unseasonably warm. I was fishing a prolific syndicate stretch with a couple of pals yet we never had a bite between us.‘ continue reading
The Piscatorial Raconteurs Articles.
Pallenpool, Tengisgol, Darjeeling, Paul Adams, David Craine, Martin James MBE, Sussex Micky & Carl Hier.
Pallenpool – Remembers A Season’s Last Day ‘After three passes I alter the depth and fix a shot close to the hook, recast and yes! away my float slides, to my delight I know I have a roach, and on subsequent casts I have more – the emptiness of the rivers past few weeks has gone and I am beaming.’ continue reading
Darjeeling – Changing Hands, A Note From My Diary ‘The rod had never been fished, and when Dad gave it to me, perhaps fifteen years ago, I don’t believe he’d ever got around to fishing with it either – except once with me on a pike dead baiting foray when the closest it got to a fish was the sprat on the end of the trace (come to think of it, this would make a nice wobbling rod).’ continue reading
Tengisgol – Pavlov’s Pike. ‘As you are reading this, the weather will be warming with spring soon upon us. The first swallows may have arrived and our attention will be turning to cunning plans and a bit of ‘fish conditioning’ of our own. For myself, I have my eye on some swims on a local river; summer tench perhaps, maybe a bream or two, or even a carp.’ continue reading
David Craine – Takes A Trip To The Pond. ‘In summer the sanctuaries are home to a pair of coots, but they are missing, the only waterbirds present are mallards that venture out occasionally. With all areas baited up, I cast one offering and sit back, a lone cormorant is circling the pond but undecided if it should land or maybe go further afield. It makes off, and I silently say thank you to the fishy gods for sparing the ponds residents this day‘ continue reading
Martin James MBE – Considers Rudd & Other Things ‘As a 12 year old with the help of my grandfather I was able to fish some pools reserved for duck shooting, being allowed to fish out of the shooting season. Looking back I can see I was extremely lucky to catch good size rudd, often well over the pound mark according to my salter spring balance, From memory my best was 2 lb 5 ounces. The method was float fishing at long range using half a lobworm fished a few inches under the surface, and mid-water’ continue reading
Carl Hier – Spikes & Stripes ‘A brief but poignant homage to the ever colourful sergeant‘ continue reading
Paul Adams – Opening Day Colorado Style ‘Here I must warn that mine lacks the ritual and drama of June the Sixteenth. Firstly, there is no magic date to focus on during the preceding months. With no legal closed season, mine is self- imposed and dictated by a shortage of open water and tolerance for cold. And trout fishing for me is usually a solitary experience, so there is no shared anticipation and planning, the hours of scheming and dreaming down the pub.‘ continue reading
Sussex Micky – River Brede Roach Fishing Memories. ‘The only redeeming feature of January is that the next one is twelve months distant. February is tolerable only because it’s the shortest month of the year. Once into March however spring is just around the corner, the weather improves days lengthen and mother nature begins to add colour to her monochromatic winter canvas with verdant sweeps of her brush.‘ continue reading
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