Issue No. XXIV, April 16th 2025
Further Correspondence From The Woodcutters Arms, 23rd March 2025
I’m sitting here on a cold, bright, spring morning, a copy of the Sunday Times rests on a log, my hands are cradling a steaming hot mug of coffee and I have, despite the chill, a warm glow about me, which for once is not ale induced.
The glow is caused by reflection, reflection upon a memorable past angling season, one where, admittedly, perhaps fortune and luck played their parts at times. Being in tune with the melody of the river and nature herself had a fairly large role, one that can only be learned through the experience of both the difficult and good times.
Every now and again an angler will experience a purple patch. For most of us, like myself, these are not frequent occurrences but when they happen, they open the mind to all sorts of future possibilities. These periods are not, to me anyway, just about the number or size of fish caught in any given period, although catches have their place.
No, for me it is much more than that, the countryside, the birdlife, the weather, the company one has kept, whether that be with old friends or new acquaintances, the experience of all the little things makes the whole that much greater…
The coarse angling season has come to a close on the rivers, the rods have been hung in the cupboard, the creel though still sits, as it often does, abandoned on the kitchen floor of the cottage awaiting tidying and readying for the coming season, but that can wait, no urgency is required with 92 days hence until I cast a line again. Unless, of course, I decide to enjoy a few hours out with the fly rod for wild trout on the evening rise in May; it’s a promise that I often make to myself but rarely follow through on, as by the end of the coarse angling season I’m glad for the rest.
So, it is a time to spend following other interests, bird-watching, wandering, fettling, tinkering and reading. Without much doubt, I will spend some time searching for new, untapped waters where wildies or big perch may lurk. Quiet, tucked away, untouched and mostly forgotten, are the places that I will seek. The sort of pool or drain which sets the pulse racing with anticipation but slows time…
R.B.T. – Spring 2025
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
Tackle Gallery
The gallery has been updated – so a few more gems to unearth.
There are many reasons we enjoy our art of angling, the countryside, nature, of course the fish we angle for & most definitely the tackles – predominantly from a bygone age, & on occasion crafted today, always by hand keeping alive the artisanal traditions of yesteryear.
Use the chevrons to navigate the gallery. Using an i-phone or similar just click on the image to scroll through.
This gallery will be updated periodically so make sure you drop in every edition.
Readers Picture – April’s Edition
The ‘Edition’s Picture’ is an image sent in from our readership, which we believe is deserving of a wider appreciation. One of the joys angling offers is being ‘as near to one’ with nature and our surroundings. April’s picture offers a beautiful picture of a swallow tail butterfly, which Norfolk has a fair number of in parts.
If you have a picture or illustration you would like to share please send it in using the contact form found in the site menu. We will sort something to send the editions Picture Contributor.
“Norfolk has many beautiful sights & sounds, we are fortunate in having such varied wildlife, due in part to the many undertakings of trusts & their volunteers who tirelessly ensure these diverse habitats remain. Swallowtails favour wetlands which Norfolk has more than a fair share of, as such a swallowtail sighting is always possible. This picture was taken at Hickling Broad in June last year. Swallowtails are the standout butterfly in these parts due to its size, the vivid colours, & the form of those huge wings.“
Equipment – Canon 5D MK. IV, lens EF 100-400 L USM II
Steven Anderson, Norfolk 2025
This Issue’s Contemplations
The Piscatorial Raconteurs April Miscellany – Paul Adams, David Craine & Carl Hier
The Raconteurs Articles – Paul Adams, Martin James MBE, David Craine, R.B. Traditional, Carl Hier, Knight Heron, Jeremy Croxall, David West-Beale & Earthing_The_Current.
April Guest‘s – Ruth Craine & Edward Barrett .
April’s Miscellany
Paul Adams, Winter Reading ‘The book selection at my cabin is limited, but deliberately curated. All of my British coarse fishing books are here; a selection of American fly fishing titles; natural history, and a broad “outdoors” section‘ continue reading
Carl Hier, At The Dimming Of The Day ‘Victor Hugo once described twilight as ‘tranquillity shot through with sorrow’. It is fair to say that light can directly affect mood and feeling but to many this is a time of utmost, heavenly calm‘ continue reading
David Craine, Pardoned Or Condemned ‘I am a fishing reel. There is nothing much to set me apart from all the others around me as far as I know. There are lots of different types of us in this old box. We are all yesterday’s news‘ continue reading
This Editions Features & Articles
Guest Articles
Edward Barrett, Ruth Craine
Edward Barrett – Sculpted Fish ‘I always wanted to be a stop-motion animator inspired by the work of Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit. I went on to do a degree at Farnham Art College and even moved to Bristol near Aardman Studios after I graduated in 2006. The industry had moved on and I felt like a split cane rod builder apprentice trying to get a job in the Shimano factory‘ continue reading
Ruth Craine – Takes Us Round Witley Court ‘Witley Court in Worcester-shire is a ruined Italianate mansion. It was built for Baron Foley in the seventeenth century on the site of a former Manor House. The house was expanded in the early 19th century by the architect John Nash for Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley’ continue reading
The Raconteurs Articles
David West-Beale, Knight Heron, Earthing_The_Current, Martin James MBE, David Craine, Carl Hier, Paul Adams, Jeremy Croxall & R.B.Traditional
The Knight Heron – The Rover ‘Between the reeds I could see the magical ‘tench weed’ just below the surface, growing on the marginal shelf. I knew that soon, a sprinkling of maggots and a ball or two of groundbait would invoke sparkling bubbles to rise through the weed. My body shivered with the anticipation of a ‘beady eyed, golden olive’ bending the old cane‘ continue reading
David Craine – Flowing Water & Expections Vol II, Memories Of The River Wharfe ‘As always I cannot sleep very well before a planned fishing session, and 10:30pm saw me in bed and asleep, 00:30 am saw me in bed and awake. I eventually dozed off again but woke at 02:20 knowing that real sleep was now just a bad dream. I quietly dressed and went downstairs, careful not to wake Ruth’ continue reading
Martin James MBE – Spring Is In The Air – It’s Fly Fishing Time ‘Ten minutes later another fish showed. Without hesitation I made a cast dropping the fly a couple of feet upstream of where I had seen the fish, as the fly drifted downstream about a foot I had the perfect take connecting with a nice fish, after some heart stopping moments I felt I was in command’ continue reading
Paul Adams- A Fresh Start ‘On four occasions I feel the gentle but unmistakable shake of a fish. Twice the connection is only for an instant but the other two see brown trout of eight or nine inches come quickly to hand as I cautiously approach the edge of the ice to unhook them’ continue reading
Pallenpool – Closed Season Day’s ‘Of course to arrest thoughts on angling altogether when rambling beside water is impossible, the adage ‘once an angler always an angler’ applies. My eyes inevitably find or follow creases, pools, runs, glides, bars, root tangles and aquifers as all of them provide liquid currency in locating fish‘ continue reading
Earthing_The_Current – One Last Go ‘The flotsam and jetsam pile up in slacks, eddying rafts behind leaning trunks. Strands of weed and grasses are evident also higher up within the lower branches, depicting just how big the raging waters have been this winter. Still the colour of caramel, the river is nevertheless back within its boundaries’ continue reading
R.B.Traditional – The Bomb Hole ‘One morning toward the end of one of those long, school summer holidays he arrived with a stout rod and reel, pike bung and a bag of sprats, declaring that he was going to catch a pike. None of us had seen anything quite like it before, except perhaps between the pages of Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing, The Observer’s book of Coarse Fishing or the dark recesses of our father’s tackle cupboard‘ continue reading
Jeremy Croxall – All’s Well That Ends Well ‘I waited until it was no longer visible, paused, wound down until I felt resistance and raised the rod. The rod arched over and thumped soundly but I waited until I was reasonably sure of a secure hook-up before alerting Paul again. He appeared, looked at the rod tip, and grinned‘ continue reading
David West-Beale – Bamboo Diaries ‘For the shady dark canopy overhead I had tied on a pale stiff hackle fly that sits high. It’s soon struck by little trout in the foamy water at the tail of the fall. The first one leaps and skitters and shakes the hook free, the second too. The third little trout sticks and comes to hand. No trophy size fish – it’s far more than that‘ continue reading
Carl Hier – A Monster From The Blue Pool Gorge ‘Neither of us had ever seen such a fish. We scrambled up the sloping bank to a shelf away from the water, where the net was laid down and the hook removed. The black and red spots, the buttery under-belly, the size of its tail, its eyes and head, the teeth in its mouth: the sight of that astonishing brown trout has stayed with me but, at the time, the ultimate triumph was largely lost on me’ continue reading
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