PREPARING FOR THE SEASON AHEAD

In this column, Simon outlines the essentials of good ferreting

Normally, we would all be getting excited about the vast array of country shows that take place at this time of year, especially the much-anticipated Game Fair. It’s the chance to meet likeminded souls, have a tipple and buy the gear that you’ll need for the fast-approaching new season. Unfortunately, we will all have to wait another year for that privilege but that doesn’t mean that we can afford to rest on our laurels and not be prepared for what’s ahead.

I know it is not the same but many of the retailers have an online presence and they can still offer us our wares. Shopping online also allows us to continue to support them financially through these unprecedented times.

Net repairs

I am now going to start getting my stuff ready, replace those bits and bobs that need to go and try to get ahead of myself for once. I need to sort out my long and purse nets. They have taken an awful bashing over the year and need some love and attention, as well as a fair bit of stitching back up. I have a couple of litters of ferrets that are now starting to eat me out of house and home, so they need rehoming. And I haven’t many jackets without rips, tears or holes so I must sort some jackets out for the unpredictable weather we are experiencing at the moment and finally source another spade.

I have started to look at my ferret box collection and make sure that they are all in good working order. New hinges on some, new clips on others, with more than a few requiring a lick of paint. If I hold off these essential jobs, before I know it, the crops will be down, the landscape will be turning from green to brown and the season will be in full swing.

I was sweating and frantic to keep up with my haul.

Every eel was treasured and I developed a recipe for smoking the meat, which made for a formidable entrée. They varied in size but most of my eels were almost a pound in weight and I even landed a few that might have been double that. I threw back any tiddlers and slowly learned how to skin the keepers without too much slime and frustration. I learned the hard way that eels will often continue to squirm and wriggle for some time after death, so I made sure to double-line my canvas game-bag with a knotted plastic carrier bag, which crackled and crinkled noisily as the day went on.

Wool trick

A friend came by one afternoon as I was sprinting and dashing back and forth between my poles on the marshy banks of the estuary. He was impressed by my slimy haul and he asked what I was using as bait. My father had killed a cockerel the night before, so I was using pieces of the bird’s head and neck. We agreed that eels would eat almost anything, and he asked if I had ever used sheep’s wool. Apparently, it was an old