Des Taylor’s Diary of a Countryman
From birds to barbel via the odd bevvy!
IT’S fair to say I’ve had a lovely week, both on and off the bank. Let me tell you why…
SUNDAY
Spent the day with my wife Margaret at the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water. We had a great time, met some lovely people and there were even some anglers there who read my weekly column.
I wanted to meet up with David Miller – he’s the artist who paints those amazing fish on the rod licences – as I have a couple of his works on the wall in my tackle den. I spoke to him for a good 30 minutes, a smashing down-toearth bloke with great skills.
I was also determined to meet and listen to one of my heroes in I was so pleased to meet Simon King, one of my all-time heroes. the animal world, Simon King.
Simon did not disappoint. His talks were quite superb, with his imitation animal sounds making you think they were actually in the tent with us!
It was brilliant to climb the viewing tower and look through powerful scopes at the lagoon at the many birds that can be found there, but I couldn’t help wondering how many big pike live in the reservoir without ever seeing an angler’s bait. We stopped on the way home for an evening meal which really made this a day to remember.
MONDAY
A day in my tackle den preparing for a trip to Thailand in two weeks’ time and also for two days away making a carp film. There were lots of things to put together for both trips and when I added all the preparation for my ‘normal’ week ahead you can see I had more than my share of work to do!
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY
Guiding with three regulars who have caught a lot of barbel on my days out, including chub of 6lb-plus, but this time they wanted a double-figure barbel. Paul had caught doubles from the Hampshire Avon and the Wye, but his son Ryan and their mate Chris had never had a double.
To cut a long story short I managed to help Ryan catch a 10lb 6oz fish and Chris a barbel of 11lb 3oz, so it was drinks all round and lots of ’em!
Over the past few years of guiding I’ve met some great people and many come back to me each year. These three lads are already planning next year’s trip. God only knows what they will want to catch, but I will try my best to deliver, that’s for sure.
FRIDAY
A spot of lure fishing, trying out some new models from Marukyu with Wayne Langston. Well, I’m pleased to say they worked well and we caught perch, pike and zander from the bank. It’s a lovely way to fish – a small amount of gear in a bag, landing net, a rod and reel and a handful of lures.
Walking from one swim to another is good for the soul as well as the body. Lure fishing in this country has come a long way in the last five years. Before then most anglers looked at ‘spinning’ as a small-fish tactic, but although most of us were slow to follow in the footsteps of the rest of Europe we now realise lure fishing is great. It’s not only fun fishing for smaller fish – it catches monsters!
There really is something special about the take from a fish when the rod is in the hand rather than in a rod rest, and no matter what it is, at the moment of the take you’re like a kid again. At that point it’s always a monster – now that’s what fishing is all about!
My biggest zander from where I fished today was about 5lb, but there are fish here over 15lbs and that’s what I am dreaming of every time I get a take.
SATURDAY
Popped down to the Evesham
Angling Festival to meet a few old mates and see what the show was like, as it had been a few years since my last visit.
You all know I love my sport and try to give positives wherever I can, but I was disappointed. It seemed ‘tired’, more like a Sunday car boot sale than than an angling show. When I think back 20 years ago, the whole of the Crown Meadow was full of tackle dealers and thousands of anglers were roaming around to see and meet the stars.
I walked around the show twice in less than an hour, and that included stopping for a pint in the bar with a couple of old mates.
Please, we need shows like this for the public but this format was not for 2018. I suggest that someone takes a long hard look at it for 2019, because this is not a good showcase for the sport in the Midlands.
SATURDAY NIGHT
A hog roast to celebrate Max Taylor’s 65th birthday. Max is on the committee of the Rowley Angling Club, and it was great to stand around the log burner in the middle of the garden, eating pork cobs – yes, they’re cobs in the Black Country – drinking ale and talking fishing.