February 10th 2009
You’re a fisherman. You know what a fantastic sport angling is. You’re aware of all the benefits. It’s a relaxing sport that commands all your attention. It’s a perfect antidote to modern-day life whatever age you are. It’s a perfect way of bonding with the natural environment. Fishing is the ideal way to spend time with friends and family. Fishing is about real excitement not a virtual fantasy.
In all probability, you’ve got children who might want to learn or a partner who is vaguely interested. Or perhaps you’ve got grandchildren, nephews or nieces, godchildren, best friends...you’re tempted to take them yourself but, really, it’s probably best if they learn in the right way. So why not bring them to Kingfishers from the evening of 27th March, through Saturday 28th and returning home sometime after lunch on Sunday 29th? You will get accommodation, food, tackle and bait thrown in but, best of all, real information and inspiration.
We’re calling the event ‘Family Fun’...and we want it to be fun. We’re hoping for a great atmosphere, lots of fish and lots of smiles. There will be quizzes. Prizes. Competitions of all sorts. We’ve already got places booked - a grandfather, for example, is bringing along his grandchildren aged around ten. That’s the sort of age we’re looking at - say 8 anything up to 80!
I’ll be there, of course, but we’ll have a whole team on hand so nobody will feel left out or unsure.
February 11th 2009
Let’s say the cold snap continues and, writing this in the second week of February, it certainly looks as though it is going to, then what about your fishing? Most stillwaters now have a real coating of ice...do you ignore them or do you keep fishing? Certainly, if it’s ice-breaking you think you might be into, forget the rivers because they are just too dangerous. Safety is paramount.
• Never tread on the ice and don’t even try to break it on your own. Ice-break with friends or with good strong ropes. Watch out for water freezing on the bankside particularly, creating skating hazards.
• Ice-breaking is hot work. Take a few layers off and keep them dry. Put them back on when you stop, to conserve your body heat. Watch your hands. Waterproof gloves prevent frozen fingers and blistering.
February 15th 2009
I’ve just finished a photo shoot for Total Coarse Fishing and it was an eye-opener. Snow on the ground. A freezing river and you’d have said quiver tipped maggots and a small block feeder would have been the obvious route to go. And that’s what I first tried. However, after a biteless hour and a half, it was quite evident something else was needed. So, I switched to touch legering with a couple of SSGs as weight and size eight barbless. Bread was the bait and, bingo, three good chub followed fast.
The best must have been close to six pounds, a cracker for the river round here, close to the Kingfisher complex. But then I sensed there were fish about other than chub. I scaled from a size eight down to sixteen with a correspondingly small piece of flake. Almost at once, I was into a super bream! Yes, in this freezing weather, too. Two very decent roach followed. Steve Martin, TCF’s deputy editor was as overjoyed as me.
The only downer was finding a good barbel virtually completely consumed by an otter. There were marks all around it in the snow that left me in no doubt as to the culprit. A tragedy. There’s one fish that’s not going to reach the big doubles we’re getting used to hearing about.
May 17th 2009
Looking forward to the Fisherman’s Valley weekend coming up. With an eye, of course, on the weather forecast. I think we’re all sick of these sniping winds, especially when they come from the north and the east. That’s the one problem with lake fishing in Norfolk, especially on the estate waters. They’re really caned by particularly cold winds. Tench are initially hit closely followed by carp, rudd and bream.
The search for new waters continues year by year. Hopefully, after a recce last week, we’ve stumbled on three new, adorable lakes. However, we’ve got very little clue as to what is in them. Carp possibly. There are whispers of decent rudd. There’s been some otter predation but it seems not a great deal. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to take the guys there on Friday or Saturday and we can suss them out to some degree.
Not that you ever get to the bottom of what a water ultimately holds. Even the smallest stillwaters can constantly spring surprises. But that, of course, is one of the serious attractions of angling, especially in wild waters where the fish have no names.
And that, of course, is Fisherman’s Valley in a nutshell. Watch out next week for the report on how we fared.
May 21st 2009
June 19th / 20th – A Tench Bonanza
June’s Fisherman’s Valley was, it has to be said, a bit of a mixed bag. Wildly fluctuating weather conditions meant neither lakes nor river fished to ultimate potential. Really frustrating. The forecast had predicted good, settled, warm weather which is exactly what we didn’t get. It’s a bit of a beef of mine at the moment but I truly believe variable barometric pressure is one of the severest problems anglers face.
STILL! We did manage approximately twenty-six tench to nine and a half pounds from two different waters. Now, by anybody’s standards, that ain’t bad! Sadly, the vast majority of the tench came to four of the participants and in an ideal world we’d have shared the fish to everybody present. Life just isn’t fair. However, we did have some good perch from the river, Tim taking a really fine fish of around two pounds. Plenty of pike in evidence, too, though we didn’t pursue those.
My feeling is, with hindsight, that perhaps we should have spent more time on the river than we did on the stillwaters. Interestingly, some of the stillwaters turned on dramatically after the group had left...one or two ghost carp, for example, were thrilling sights. During our two days, though, not a chub was caught! That I find now hard to believe. I dread hearing of another massive Wensum barbel coming out during our period, too. I really don’t think we got to grips with the river as we should have done.
Really happy to report that we’ve got a couple of fantastic new stillwaters in line for this summer. I’m thrilled. I think everyone who sees them will be, too. More of these, though, in our next diary piece in a few days.
Thanks to Bex for fantastic food and to her and Sarah for hot-tub entertainment. Thanks to all the guys, all their wine, generosity and exceptional fun. Four days on and I’m just about recovered.
May 25th 2009
Wow, what a Whitsun wonderland we enjoyed up here in Norfolk with fisherman’s Valley. Great weather. Twenty-odd degrees most of the time. Even the winds abated a few knots. Great company. Ian and Amanda, John and Sarah, Adrian – a great team. Mind you, we were missing some of our favourites...Tim in Spain, Neill, God knows where, Al, not well. God knows, Gunner, we have been thinking about you.
Of course, not everything went quite according to plan. The carp were spawning at the big lake. Commons everywhere – tens of thousands of them – all with anything but feeding on their minds. Still, we winkled out getting on for a dozen over the day, so that wasn’t bad. And then, the afternoon our after the bass wasn’t what you call an unqualified success either. We didn’t catch any. However, we saw a seal come up with a four pounder clenched in its jaws so there were bass about. Still, it was great to get out and fish the surf. A really invigorating experience. Bless you Dids, our ever-smiling boatman. The great thing is this isn’t really like sea fishing at all. You’re really moving from sandbank to sandbank and fishing on terra firma. Half of us suffer from seasickness so a traditional sea session wouldn’t be any good for us at all.
But it was the tench that blew us away. The hot, steady conditions really got them on the move. And, after all the experimenting with all the baits, all the methods, we found it was good old swim-feeder maggots which did it again. And again! We don’t really do figures much but, in this instance, here goes. Ian, females of ten seven and ten twelve along with a male of eight eight! John, eight eight. JB, nine twelve. Sarah, a seven pound male. On and on with plenty of back up fish. At least two bigger ones lost. Bites missed...must stop drinking bubbly on the bank!
So, an ALMOST unqualified success. A couple of bass (I think we all knew we were a bit early in the season for them in truth) and the reappearance of some of our best friends and the days would have been about as perfect as they could possibly have gotten!
And, as ever, thanks to Bex for some wonderful, scrumptious picnics and evening meals. We all left as portly as those tench themselves!
And now it’s roll on June and it will soon be back to the river.
June 3rd 2009
I guess the early June fisherman’s Valley trip was what this little company of ours is absolutely all about. Karim, John, Nick and Gems landed honours for three days of impossible craziness.
Just about everything happened that you can possibly imagine. A lake crammed with bubbling tench for six hours and not a single solitary fish! A carp lake going absolutely mad in a stiff, freezing north-easterly. Brilliant. Catching big commons at range. A new pike lake which yielded seven fish in eight casts to me and Gem on lures. A second carp lake which is brilliant on the surface: we cleaned up on the bottom! More gorgeous food than even we could consume. Thanks to Bex (and Sarah) for that. Wine bottle on the table every night, numerous as skittles. Hangovers each day but quickly forgotten. Tearful goodbyes and promises to return in September.
We’re all geared up now for the opening of the river. The Wensum is looking on great form. We’ve located a couple of new stretches that look absolutely spot on. We’ve seen chub a-plenty, of course, but some very big roach, too, and even the ghostly suspicion of a couple of barbel of massive size. Stillwaters are great. We love them. But the river? Now you’re talking.
June 5th 2009
More photos from the weekend.
August 21st 2009
That was a Summer
Perhaps it’s a good idea now that the end of August is just about on us to look back over the last two or three months at some of the sparkling memories and captures that we’ve all enjoyed at Fisherman’s Valley.
Firstly, as ever, a big thank you to our stalwarts, to the guys and gals that have made life so full of fishing fun. John and Sarah, Ian and Amanda, Adrian, Neill, George, Mick and Rob and dear, dear Al and, of course, the middle-earthers. The list is endless and, too, very precious indeed.
Highlights – well, primarily, all the outrageous fun and laughter we’ve enjoyed both during the fishing and afterwards. It’s friendship that counts at Fisherman’s Valley we like to think.
But the fishing has been spectacular. Never have we had such a tench year – Ping Pong’s brace of tens just about capped it off but we’ve had so many eights and nines we’ve stopped weighing and photographing them. Adrian’s super thirty-one pound carp was a highlight we won’t forget. Several two pound roach. Good chub. Wild carp. Nice perch. It’s probably only Norfolk barbel that have proved incredibly difficult.
It’s amazing how quickly the years spin by. Already, autumn is nearly upon us and we’re beginning to think about a last session or two after bass perhaps, some last gasp tenching but then, of course, we can begin to look forward to our serious pike fishing once more.
We’ve got high hopes for this season’s pike. Last year was amazing. We’re looking to top even that. Private waters. Big, big fish. And plenty of them. We’ve had numerous thirties over the years. We’ve just got this feeling it’s our turn for that fabulous forty.
But thanks for the summer that was. Some great experiences that we at Fisherman’s Valley will never, ever forget.
See you again soon.
August 26th 2009
Phew! What a period we’ve had. People coming and going at a rate of knots, enjoying variable sport it has to be said but relishing in the comp[any and relaxed good humour.
As summer gives way to autumn, the fishing can be tricky. A lot of our best venues didn’t really live up to their reputations but, then, of course, the weather was really against us. Placid, settled conditions seemed to deteriorate into shrieking gales and rain within twenty-four hours. It was as if a switch had been flicked and summer had become autumn almost overnight.
Still, there were some successes...Brad’s great perch. Aaron’s fantastic mirror that had just a hint of ghost about it. Mick’s lovely carp, too. Karim’s really serious river pike lost, sadly, at the net. Loads of river roach and dace. One or two nice commons a good rudd or two. Even one or two stunning tench.
It was great to help the Middle Earthers in their quest to pick up trotting skills. It’s a shame these days that so many people don’t really appreciate the river floating arts. Fishing is all about enjoyment and there can be no better way of spending a day than watching a float meandering downstream. Time flashes by. It’s all about working that float, mending the line, feeding the swim and concentrating like a hawk. Before you know it, it’s time for one of Becky’s fantastic lunches. Before you know it, it’s time to pull off the river, relax, bathe, dine and talk into the small hours.
After the couple of weeks we’ve had, both Becky and I are totally knackered...but we wouldn’t have swapped a minute of it!
December 1st 2009
Indian Invitation
In November, Sarah and I enjoyed a very special expedition to the Himalayan foothills to fish for mahseer in the most magical of camps, on the most magical of rivers. The whole experience was absolutely impossible to fault. Okay, we didn’t catch any fish much but that, really, was for the want of trying. The fish are there – mahseer and goonch both – in sizes and in numbers to amaze.
For 2010 – probably in October – what we’re suggesting is a Fisherman’s Valley Friends Trip. We’ll pass on in total the discount offered to us, so that this trip comes cheaper than you can possibly get it any other way.
We’ll fly direct from Heathrow to Delhi and then take jeeps northwards to the valley.
Our accommodation will be in the most amazing, tiger-proof cottages, complete with running water and toilets.
Food is exquisite.
The scenery is quite literally breathtaking.
The wildlife is possibly the best I have witnessed in India – and that’s saying a lot.
This is serious, intimate, eyeball-to-eyeball mahseer fishing in crystal clear water, in a river not much larger than the Wensum!
Lovely staff. Great guides.
Really, really hope we can put this together.
December 1st 2009
Well, what a brilliant 2009 it has been. Fun, laughter and friendship are always guaranteed. (Sometimes, perhaps, we sacrifice a bit of fishing for the amount of fun!?) But, what the heck! Unofficial trips after Spanish barbel...some amazing early season tench fishing...promising sea bass...carp bigger than you’d believe...great perch...intriguing pike fishing (with loads of twenties)...and still the best to come. The winter!
I guess that the three big species of Fisherman’s Valley are pike, roach and chub. That’s saying a lot after we’ve banked double figure tench and carp to over forty! But our pike record really is spectacular. I’ve run out of counting the twenties – knocking on for two hundred though! Thirties, too...approaching a dozen.
And, of course, whilst the Wensum might be struggling in areas and might have its problems, it remains a magnificent river which, fortunately, I know intimately and have some amazing access to. This winter – 09/10 – I’m expecting some really serious chub. If we don’t get sixes and perhaps sevens, I’ll be astounded. They’re such fascinating fish. So elusive, so hard to outwit, so demanding of your best efforts. A thousand ways to catch them. Fish, really, that would keep you fascinated for the rest of time.
And, in places, the roach really are coming back. After a complete drought of nearly twenty years, I’m seeing a trickle of two pounders that is threatening to become a steady stream. Ten years ago, if I’d been asked to catch a Wensum two pound roach, I’d have thrown my hands up in despair. Not now. I know the places and I know the methods and I know they will come in numbers this coming year.
Becky and I would love to thank our dearest friends for all the support that they have given us this fantastic year. They’re too numerous to mention individually. They’re all so dear to us it’s hard to explain. What we can promise is that Fisherman’s Valley does, we hope, have a very special atmosphere and we love to welcome back our friends again and again through the course of the season.
And talking about seasons, can Bex and I simply thank everyone, again, for all their help and support and say how much these are appreciated. So, have a great Christmas, a great New Year and a great, fish-filled 2010.
Especially you, our dearest comrade Alex.
May 23rd 2010
SEASONAL RAMBLINGS!
You know, when I look at the photographs, I realise Fisherman’s Valley is a very active, very serious, fish catching organisation. It’s easy to be seduced into thinking it isn’t. Endless fun, often to next-morning self-destruction levels. Great friendships: Fisherman’s Valley is inevitably the time of the month I look forward to the most. Beautiful, stunning waters. Waters to take your breath away.
But the fish we catch are really something. Carp to forty. Pike to mid-thirties. Tench to doubles. Big roach, big perch, big barbel. The only fish we’re really missing out on are bream and crucian carp and we’ve got plans for both. Oh and some rudd. And it’s strength in numbers, too. Nearly a score of twenty pound plus pike this winter despite the freezing temperatures. Four nine pound tench already this spring as I write. With so many eights we don’t bother to weigh. More chub and barbel than I can personally count or remember. Even sea bass. Okay, we’re feeling our way but we’re going to get there this year – especially now Fisherman’s Valley has its own boat. So relish the fun but realise we’re serious.
We learn a lot, too. This spring, again, we are on the way to perfecting maggot feeder techniques that I personally have been fishing since the mid-Seventies. But I don’t think I’ve ever nearly got it quite as right. And that’s in large part because of the teamwork which is all part of what Fisherman’s Valley is about.
And our realisation that artificial maggots frequently work better than the real thing. Providing they are the right make, the right colour, even the right scent. Lead-cored hook lengths. In-line feeders. A better understanding of the topography that tench like. On and on the lessons pile up.
Or in the winter, the growing realisation that big pike are sensitive pike and any resistance leads to a dropped bait or lure. A growing awareness of barometric pressure and the influence of light values.
Of course, Walker and the Taylor brothers will never be emulated but I often think of their description of themselves as the original merry crew. A pale reflection of them, perhaps we are, but it’s nice half a century on to think their lessons are not forgotten. Serious fishing and fun fishing can combine.
October 26th 2011
Of course, the month was dominated by the sadness of Al’s passing and his funeral. I don’t think there is anybody who has ever fished at Fisherman’s Valley with Al Whitelaw without coming away a happier person as a result. Gunner never, ever will be forgotten.
He certainly wasn’t on our first serious pike day of the season. We all toasted him on one of his very favourite swims very close to where he landed that memorable twenty-six and a quarter pounder much earlier in the year. The memory of that fish, that moment, that man lay strongly over the entire day
It was Tim, Bonders, who struck. The fish went barmy around three p.m. after a very quiet four hours. We all started getting runs to deads and hits on the lures. Ian, Ping Pong, lost a very big fish almost at the net on a lure. I had a crocodile following a ten pounder and try to grab it five or six times, taking a chunk out of the tail in the process.
Then, Tim called from the other bank. I got myself round there, heard a splash like a cow falling in. It had to be Bond I reckoned but he was still upright, looking shaken. Hooked a horse, he said. And it was.
How that pike didn’t weigh thirty none of us will ever know. It was a thirty-four pound fish in frame but was desperately empty of food in the gut. Twenty-nine three, though, was a personal best and with a fish like this, ounces aren’t really the issue. It went back very strongly indeed. We look forward to seeing her again when she’ll be weighing as much as she should do.
Tim’s son, Ben, got up to Norfolk after Fisherman’s Valley proper and managed to catch a brace weighing sixteen and seventeen pounds from the river. Different fish we’re pretty sure and quite an achievement for a ten year old. But he’s a brilliant lad and we’re all hoping that he’ll be part of the regular Fisherman’s Valley team before that long. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a kid that loves his fishing so much in the past twenty years or more. And when you think whose son he is, it’s hardly surprising that he’s fabulous company as well. A real chip off the old block.
I think we’re all looking forward tremendously to Fisherman’s Valley in November. I guess it’s this month that sees piking potentially at its very best. Somehow, once the clocks go back winter really and truly seems to be settled in and piking can begin in earnest. It’s like blowing a whistle somehow that last Sunday in October. Now it’s all about winter, treeless forests, clear lakes and pits, mammoth pike and, later, crackling fires and good food. If all that sounds traditional...well, it is. Somehow, at Fisherman’s Valley, time takes a back seat. Making the most of the moment is what we’re all about.
