Have a Chat - September

A lake not far away had a carp that was massive, about four feet long. Not sure what kind though. Quite a few nearly as big too.

No Zanders they are not a native species, introduced some years ago in the Fens I believe. They eat anything that swims, top of the food chain predator like the Pike. Lots of Mirror Carp, Roach, Bream, Perch, Tench and Barbell which is a river fish but doing quite well in  lakes these days. All the fish in our lakes are bred and reared in a nursery lake which is not fished. When they get to a certain age and size they go into the main lakes. The lakes are a special conservation area with all sorts of wildlife. Very strict rules on fish and wildlife management. The club is working for the next generation to have something to cherish and enjoy. We only have a very small limited membership, it is always very quiet and peaceful and very secure.

chris c wrote:A lake not far away had a carp that was massive, about four feet long. Not sure what kind though. Quite a few nearly as big too.

Carp can live to around 60 years of age, largest caught in the UK 60 lb plus I think. In France the record is around a 100 lb from memory. For me catching fish is a bonus, it's being there that is the magic.

Great stuff! Some of our local farmers take care of their wildlife too. They plant cover crops around the field margins which not only provide a second crop of pheasant and partridge - which the butcher assures me will be arriving Real Soon Now, although the pheasants are still a tad small, but which feed a lot of wildlife of all kinds.

Eddie wrote:

chris c wrote:A lake not far away had a carp that was massive, about four feet long. Not sure what kind though. Quite a few nearly as big too.

Carp can live to around 60 years of age, largest caught in the UK 60 lb plus I think. In France the record is around a 100 lb from memory. For me catching fish is a bonus, it's being there that is the magic.

Quite!

I crashed out and missed last night's moon but to compensate tomorrow I'll probably revisit one of the estuaries or reserves. They don't have much big stuff but absolutely hordes of small things which the various types of birds eat. Like oak trees the quantity of biomass is astonishing.

Presumably that's what the carp eat to get to that size and live that long?

Fishing has changed big time in recent years. The places I fish no barbed hooks, knot-less landing nets to prevent scale damage. Padded foam rubber un-hooking mats. No lead weights only approved baits. The fish go back into the water the way they come out. So many rivers and lakes are being kept in tip top condition because of fishing and the money the sport brings in. It' not just a Man's sport, many Women and kids are into it big time. The beauty of the sort is anyone can do it and it does not require lots of money to partake. I only took it up around five years ago because my hands went south with Dupuytren's after around 50 years of playing golf.

Eddie wrote:The beauty of the sort is anyone can do it and it does not require lots of money to partake.

It can though, I remember some of the fishermen at a lake where we used to live with their carbon fibre rods, little tents, foldy stools, radio controlled bait boats . . .

 . . .long ago a friend was taken by his fiance's father and some of his upper class twit/mason friends to one of the Welsh trout/salmon rivers, obviously in an attempt to humiliate him.

He turned up with his el cheapo rod and reel, they all had massively expensive brand name kit. Guess who was the only person to catch anything all day?

You are right Chris you can spend 5K these days on a fishing pole and mega money on radio controlled sat-nav guided bait boats. To me that is like shooting ducks with a machine gun, not my idea of sport. Give me a reel and a reasonable rod, check out Chris Yates one of the Uk's best fisherman and writers. Gear 40 years old to him is classed as ultra modern.

I seem to recall Aldi,not so long ago,flogging a rod and reel kit for £19.99! Who needs fancy!

It's nice to have the best gear, but it's always the man not the price of sports equipment. When I played golf I had the very best, but only ever an average player. I used to play teenagers using junk and they could thrash me.

Can you believe this is the last day of September 2015! The year seems to have gone even quicker than usual. I couldn't help noticing the amount of leaves that had blown down today ... there was definitely more of a breeze than past days.

There is nothing better than 'joyfully kicking' a pile of leaves ... unless you are the person that has just raked them up into a nice pile!

Hope you've enjoyed this last day of September ...  

All the best Jan

Eddie wrote:It's nice to have the best gear, but it's always the man not the price of sports equipment. When I played golf I had the very best, but only ever an average player. I used to play teenagers using junk and they could thrash me.

I had a friend like that, he would get some new enthusiasm and buy all the best kit available, then find he was quite mediocre at it.

Then he would get some new enthusiasm, buy all the best kit and find he was mediocre at that too . . .

 . . . my old binoculars finally gave up the ghost after 40 or so years, they originally cost £80 so £2/year was not at all bad.

First I looked at some Swarovski and Zeiss kit at well over a grand. Then I looked at some £800 ones and was struck by the drop in quality. Same for some £400 ones.

Then I tried a couple of £200 jobbies and one set was not far short of the Swarovskis. Thanks probably to computer aided design.

I WAS a bit duped by camera lenses though, I bought Sigmas which were not far short of Canons optically but muich cheaper. One barely made it out of warranty before breaking mechanically. The other lasted about a year longer before seizing up. Now I have Canons which I have no doubt will outlast me (a friend's Nikons are around equivalent quality.

As with VWs you don't always get what you paid for when you pay for the brand name, but sometimes you do.

Today I trekked off round one of the nature reserves again. The sky was so flawless that I walked right on down the coast simply because it was facing south and I couldn't bear to stop. Eventually I had to turn back. Absolutely nothing rare or unexpected at all but who cares? I saw lots of common stuff, chatted to a bunch of folks from different parts of the country and heard about how things have changed elsewhere - much like here, once common things have become rare while rarities have become common.

Had breakfast (buttered oatcake with smoked salmon) around 10, and another one around 12, and lasted until just now (past seven) before eating a proper meal - Bolognese-type sauce with runner beans, a couple of glasses of Carmenere and a square of 85% chocolate with my coffee.

Now off to crash for a few hours. Absolutely no requirement for snacks or carbing up.

I love your posts when talking about the great outdoors. I must get out more now I am retired. I spend far too much time on the internet, and not enough time living, time to re-evaluate for sure. It's been a long hard road, but someone has to do it. Well that's my limp excuse.

BTDT. After the dietician knobbled me I became far too knackered to go far no matter how many carby snacks I carried.

I'm still on the rebound and making up for lost time.

Yesterday and today I are bin mostly gardening. I collected several buckets of weeds/wildflowers/redundant plants which went on the compost, and a couple of haystacks on the lawn which will go through the shredder when they have wilted a bit.

The back field has now been sown and rolled so I must persuade the mole to go back there. Also a rat which has been stealing the birdseed, they often appear this time of year but usually don't stick around since a neighbour gave up his chickens. Perhaps I can persuade it to post on DCUK.

DCUK Mod material?

A hapless thief was caught after going to a police station to complain his photo had been put on a warning poster.

Nicholas Allegretto was filmed on CCTV after stealing a £23 industrial magnet from Mackay's hardware store in Cambridge in February.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard he had rocked up at the police station and identified himself. You've got to laugh really," Mr Mackay said.

He described roofer Allegretto as "not the sharpest tool in the box".

Mr Mackay attended court on Wednesday, although Allegretto did not.

"The whole court was rocking with laughter when the prosecutor described how he had effectively identified himself," he said.

"It was surreal in the extreme."

Allegretto denied theft at an earlier magistrates' court hearing but was found guilty and fined.
The shop put his photo on a poster, as reported in the Cambridge News.

He told police his reputation had been damaged and he lost his job, however he was sent to court and found guilty of theft. He was fined £400 on Wednesday.

Allegretto, of Ditton Field, Cambridge, had been spotted pocketing the magnet and was confronted outside the East Road store by staff.

Story from here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-34412557

Eddie wrote:DCUK Mod material?

Oh I thought you meant my rat.

ROTFL.

When I lived in Ealing the local shops were owned by an Asian family. One of them was a bit part actor and was often used to play "Asian villain" in Crimewatch.

He said the local Police lost count of the number of times they were called by people saying "that criminal in Crimewatch, he works in a shop in Ealing" and they had to explain "no, that was an ACTOR"

Mind you in some parts of the country they'd probably have arrested him anyway.