Issue No. XXVI, August 16th 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
Notes From The Wild
David West-Beale begins his bi-monthly look into the natural world, expect some wonderful insights, facts and photographs.
‘Autumn seems to be arriving early this year, here in southern England at least. Blackberries have been ripening in the hedges for weeks, trees are already showing a colour change and the damson tree in my garden is laden with fruit.’
Almanac.
August – Lughnasadh* is celebrated on 2nd, Sturgeon moon rises on 9th, new moon on 23rd, fox cubs now fully grown, red, fallow and sika deer start shedding antler velvet in preparation for the rut, swallows becoming scarce, weasel and stoat family units break up as the young begin to disperse, leave water out for hedgehogs, John Barleycorn is cut…
September – harvest moon rises on 7th, new moon and Mabon* (Autumnal equinox) on 22nd, rose-hips and blackberries adorn the hedgerows, dragonflies lay their eggs, fieldfare and redwing beginning to arrive from Europe, swallows, swifts and martins depart, male spiders are on the move looking for mates…
October – Hunter’s moon rises on 7th, new moon on 21st, Samhain* celebrated on 31st, red deer rutting, seals are pupping, squirrels caching winter food supplies, starlingsforming murmurations, hedgerows alive with birds and small mammals feeding on nuts and berries…
*Gaelic festivals
Read David’s Notes From The Wild Here
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.
Picture This – August’s Edition
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.
“Slow Worm“
‘I have to walk down a long track to work. The verges have all kinds of detritus along them. On hotter days, I often lift bits up to see what I can spot. This old slow worm was underneath a car foot mat’
Gareth Craddock, Summer 2025
This Issue’s Contemplations
The Piscatorial Raconteurs August Miscellany – David Craine, Pallenpool & Carl Hier
The Raconteurs Articles – Martin James MBE, David Craine, R.B. Traditional, Tengisgol, Paul Adams & Earthing The Current.
August’s Guest – Danny Taylor, Edward Barrett & Ruth Craine
August’s Miscellany
Pallenpool, A Very English Pastoral ‘I’ve never been one for early starts; I have the trait of an owl not a lark. Indeed the thought of tench fishing over the next few weeks is always slightly veiled by the prospect of the ungodly waking hours‘ continue reading
Carl Hier, In The Company Of Birds ‘Encounters in a garden, at the waterside or whilst travelling can be truly wonderful, but in comparison to our smaller avian companions, raptors have the potential to provide‘ continue reading
David Craine, Notes From The Wolds ‘Further up the road, there is a house that has the name ‘The Smallest Cottage’. Whoever named it had a sense of humour because it dominates that part of the road. It is huge‘ continue reading
This Editions Features & Articles
Guest Articles
Danny Taylor, Ruth Craine & Edward Barrett
Ruth Craine – A Day In Hamburg, Ruth Continues Her Travelog ‘The Old Elbe Tunnel has been a preserved historic site since 2003. The lamps symm-etrically lining the arched tunnel walls create an other-worldly atmosphere twenty-four metres below the river’s surface‘ continue reading
Danny Taylor – The Old Brewery Pond ‘The carp are super attuned to their environment, the slightest sound or vibration alerting them to the angler’s presence. When I visit the pond I am at pains to open the old, creaky gate ever so carefully’ continue reading
Edward Barrett – Rediscovers The Joys Of Fishing In The Summer ‘The pressure builds and I feel the resistance of a large fish on the end of my line, swimming in the deep current. I right myself and get to my knees, laughing at the sudden turn of events‘ continue reading
The Raconteurs Articles
Earthing The Current, Martin James MBE, David Craine, Tengisgol, Paul Adams & R.B.Traditional
Tengisgol – A Sluggish Start ‘I’ve never known anyone as enthusiastic before a day’sfishing and, as each decade passes, he gets worse! He and Bob Mortimer were likely separated at birth (so, to complete the look, I bought him the hat). Phil similarly falls over regularly and breaks lots of rods, in fact I’ve repaired his carp rod so many times we’ve nicknamed it ‘Trigger’ continue reading
David Craine – Pastures New Part II, The Pheasant Pool ‘There was no indication that the swim had been visited, the sweetcorn was in cloudy water so I had no way of knowing if the free offerings had been taken, it was a case of sitting and waiting. The net was close by and I had also taken the precaution of bringing along my re-wetted unhooking mat, scales and sling should the unthinkable happen’ continue reading
Martin James MBE – My New season Start For Tench ‘I could hear the occasional blackbird calling, in the rushes were two families of reed warblers and, within fifteen minutes of arriving, I was joined by a friendly robin. Though I couldn’t see it, I also heard a green woodpecker, no doubt searching for ants, beetles or moths when it gets the chance‘ continue reading
Martin James MBE- Goes In Search Of Wild Carp ‘Fishing for wild carp is about adventure, history, atmosphere, mystery and emotion: searching for and discovering secret waters and forgotten strains of ancient fish. Wild Carp captures this aplenty, describing Fennel’s twenty-year quest to find the oldest strains of carp in the UK‘ continue reading
Earthing The Current – Reels In The Years ‘Well, as a serious ‘pond dweller’, I chose the one with handles like I’d seen Chris use, and I took my new, treasured possession back home, eagerly anticipating the first opportunity to use it. I was glad it had a rudimentary line-guard too, keen to avoid the headaches of the line hopping around the back’ continue reading
R.B.Traditional – The Song Of The Thrush ‘The patches of bubbles in the swim became more profuse as the fish began to feed earnestly. My heart rate increased somewhat with expectation and excitement as the float did a little dance. My right hand hovered over the handle of the rod. “Go on, go on…” I muttered under my breath, willing the float to slide away‘ continue reading
Paul Adams – A shadow assumes the familiar profile & buttery tones of a brown trout as it rises from the deep hole ‘I have waited until early evening today to fish, with this individual trout as my target. The sun will shortly dip below the ridge to the west and already the bankside willows are shading the water. My fishing sessions at Tarryall are usually short – an hour, two at the most – but tonight will be evenmore focussed, just this ten yard stretch of water and its resident brown‘ continue reading
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