OUR YORKSHIRE BREAK DOES US PROPER PROUD
...but Maggie knows I’m happy to get back to what I do best – fishing, of course!
ISPENT most of last week with my wife Maggie up in Yorkshire at Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby and York.
There are still some great places in Britain for a tired, weatherbeaten old angler like me to spend time relaxing with the missus – it’s so easy to get carried away with the idea you have to travel abroad to have a holiday.
Yorkshire is England’s biggest county and there was so much we had not seen of it. A rail trip through the Dales along the River Esk, fish and chips at Whitby, a champagne afternoon tea in Bettys Tea Rooms and a guided tour around the largest medieval cathedral in England at York were just a few of the highlights.
I did ask Maggie if she fancied a day on a charter boat for pollack. I won’t repeat her reply, but let’s just say we didn’t go! Still, plenty of fishing when I got back home…
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
A day walking the North Yorkshire Moors, spotting birds and then eating wholesome Yorkshire food washed down with fine wine and a few local ales.
SUNDAY
Talk about getting it wrong! Went out perch fishing on the river on my boat but the weather was foul, and for most of the day I was sat under the cuddy making tea and trying to keep dry.
I have to say, though, there’s something special about being under a cuddy when the rain is pouring down, a feeling of contentment which takes me back to my youth. Me and my mates used to make ‘camps’ from corrugated steel sheets, where we stayed for hours on end whatever the weather.
I tied up a few pike traces while
I was waiting for the rain to stop and actually got to fish for a short time, catching some very nice perch that fought really well on my light jig rod.
Highlight of the day was when as I was about to land a perch of about 2lb. Another of about the same size swam alongside it.
Indeed, had I wanted to I think I could have landed the two at the same time. Incredible, and obviously the best of mates!
I have had this happen a few times when perch fishing and the same when after pike and tope. Has anyone ever had it happen with carp or tench?
MONDAY
Cancelled filming a proposed barbel fishing TV show because the river was on the way up and it was forecast to be minus four overnight – not the best conditions for making a film to inspire anglers to go fishing! And the weather guys were right.
When I woke there was a hard frost on the ground, so I turned over and had an extra hour in bed.
I spent a lazy day at home doing a few press-ups in the afternoon in preparation for drinks with my mate Ray Cutler down the local tonight.
TUESDAY
Popped down to the boat to get it ready for tomorrow’s guide day. I had a few worms left so I had a few hours ‘walking the worm’ and I’m glad I did! I had a dozen fish in as many casts before packing up. It was pointless hammering the fish when I would be taking an angler in that area tomorrow.
On the way home I bought some fresh worms. The water was starting to colour up and in those conditions my ‘walking the worm’ method really takes some beating.
WEDNESDAY
A guide day drop shotting for
perch with Kevin Maile from Leicester. Kevin bought some drop shotting gear a while back but had enjoyed very little success with the method, so he asked me to put him right.
The river was perfect – about three foot ‘on’ and dropping, with a bit of colour and a rise in temperature.
Everything should have fed in these conditions, and they did!
Right from the start we caught perch on both lures and worms, more than 40 in all, to more than 2lb. What a day!
Like a lot of anglers, Kevin thought drop shotting for perch was a fairly easy tactic to master. Sure, it’s not the hardest method but to do it right and catch consistently you have to do the basics correctly.
At first Kevin struggled to take it all in but by the end of the day he was really getting the hang of it and drawing a lot of perch over his landing net. He is one of those guys who has caught some big fish both here and abroad, and yet he still just loves catching them of any size.
We talked about some of the wildlife we’d been lucky enough to see around the world, and some of the places we had both fished.
I suggested that Kevin take his newly-learnt drop shotting skills to Holland. I don’t think it will be long before he is over there!