Des Taylor’s Diary of a Countryman
I I’m happy to learn new tricks from live wire Alan Blair, the face of Nash Tackle
NEED a holiday after the week I have just had! I have been running around like a maniac, but that’s what makes me feel alive! Here’s what I got up to…
TUESDAY
Prepped my eel gear for the next few weeks – four rods made up and wire traces specially for dead baiting. As soon as the water temperature rises into double figures I will be targeting eels, and big ones at that!
I also popped down to the marina to empty rain water from my boat deck. It took 10 minutes for the bilge pump to do its work – that shows how much rain we’d had. I also had some casts with jigs and shads, putting into practice what I learnt from Willem Stolk the previous week in Holland.
Of course, I know the marina is connected to the River Severn and it’s the closed season, but you are allowed to fish in a river marina in the annual break if it has only one way in and the same way out. It’s then classed as a stillwater (but you still need the marina owner’s permission to fish).
I caught a dozen perch up to a pound, but it was slow until I put a piece of worm on the hook as well as the rubber shad. The water is very high and coloured at the moment and the smell of the worm and the movement of the shad made it easy for them to find the lure. Now, I know some would say this is cheating but it isn’t.
I am a thinking angler, and if I can use something learnt from another branch of the sport to help I will do so as long as it is legal.
THURSDAY
I’d been looking forward to talking ‘live’ with Alan Blair from Nash on my Facebook page, and it went down a treat with my followers.
I was delighted to show Alan as not only a carp angler but also a chap who goes fishing for everything and enjoys catching fish of any species and any size. I’m sure that night inspired a lot of anglers, myself included, to just ‘get out there’ and enjoy themselves.
We talked in my tackle den and I was pleased that Alan was blown away by the many memories that are on the shelves. We could have spent the rest of the day talking fishing, but when you are in the company of this man, life moves at 1,000 miles an hour and straight after the show we were on the road to a carp overnighter.
We were set up just before dark and enjoying a glass of red in our bivvies when Alan had the first run from a common of about 15lb, and this set the scene for the session when we caught 13 carp to just short of 20lb.
It was great to see a man who had caught monster carp here and abroad enjoying carp that only just made double figures – respect, Alan! I spent a lot of the time with him talking rigs and bait and learnt a lot from the man.
I have never been too big-headed to think I know it all, and for a man my age it really is a treat to listen to a relative youngster talking modern tactics. I have never been one to wrap myself in a cocoon and let the modern world pass me by, and I embrace the modern angling scene. In the hands of the likes of Alan we have a future, that’s for sure.
FRIDAY
A cold wind blowing strongly into our faces slowed sport down, but it had been an interesting session, made even more so when I broke
the top of the wine bottle trying to open it. Thankfully, Alan saved the night by pouring the wine through a carp sack to filter out the glass. I discovered later it was a used carp sack. Oh well!
We pulled off the lake about 3pm and prepared for the Rowley DAS carp show at Oldbury, in the Black Country. I picked up my wife and two mates Ray and Matt and we made our way to meet Alan at the venue.
The night was well attended and anglers mobbed Alan with questions. His talks kept them quiet for the four-hour show which included food, a monster raffle and a Q&A session at the end. If you missed it, you missed something very special.
At most Rowley shows I would say the average age of the anglers present is about 60, but tonight I would guess it was nearer to 30. That was great to see, because like many others I worry about how to get more young anglers into our sport. Afterwards I spoke with Max Taylor the organiser and he confirmed it was the best show he had put on at that venue so far. Well done to everyone concerned.
We left at midnight, leaving Alan to his three-hour journey home. Maggie and I were in bed at 1.30am – two very tired bunnies!
SATURDAY
We woke after a good sleep and got ourselves ready for the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations of long-time friends Mike and Josie Bozward, owners of Docklow Pools in Herefordshire.
I worked with Mike at Leyland many years ago and Maggie and Josie hit it off the first time they met. The night was great – I saw many old fishing mates and we had a steak and ale pie dinner and some real ale.
Well done to a lovely couple, and I’ll see you in the summer.