THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING JOHN!
I still can’t believe the great man is no longer with us
EVERYTHING was going so well last week, before my phone started ‘pinging’ as I came off the river on Tuesday.
At first I thought perhaps there was a family problem but soon I discovered that the emails, messages and texts were giving me the devastating news that John Wilson had died.
I pulled the car up and sat for a while, thinking that it was too early for the great man to leave us. He had so much more to give our sport, especially given that he was planning to come home soon.
Back at home I told my wife Margaret and she was knocked for six – Maggie got on really well with John and his wife Jo. They had spent time at our home and we had spent time at theirs over the years, and although we had not fished together that much we both shared a mutual respect for each other. That’s as good as it gets for proper blokes.
I will leave it to others closer to John than I was to write more about him, but for now I’d like to publicly thank John Wilson for inspiring so many people – myself included – to go fishing and for showing our sport in such a great light. Thank you John, you were loved by so many.
TUESDAY
Up to hearing the news about John this had been a great day – my last barbel guide day of the year – and although it was hard, regular customer Keith Harding caught his first double at 10lb 4oz, a great looking fish in prime condition.
Fishing two 12mm Nash Scopex Squid boilies on the hair, he also had a chub of 3lb 8oz. That, and a barbel from the middle Severn in one trip during daylight hours, was an excellent achievement.
THURSDAY
On the Warwickshire Avon with Alan Blair and Wayne Langston just north of Fladbury for a day’s pike and zander fishing.
Wayne was our guide and he put us into some great swims that produced over 20 fish during the day. We also lost a few, and Alan lost a good zander – a great shame, as that would have been the icing on the cake.
We caught all the fish on livebaits from the river after finding a spot that was full of small chub and a few roach.
Our main target was zander but we knew we would catch pike, and the best of the day was 19lb. It fought like a summer fish and had my 3.5lb test curve rod bent double. Great fun!
It was nice to see Alan stick to floatfishing. It proved that he is not just a carp angler but a top all-rounder. In fact, we spent too much time catching bait because Alan was like a kid. ‘One last cast’ became 30, but it mattered not as Wayne and I sat drinking coffee and taking the mickey.
There’s something very special about fishing the river from a boat for predators. It’s so active, and so much water can be covered that you feel that it’s only a matter of time before you ‘cover’ a fish. Because Wayne was driving the boat, Alan and I could really enjoy the Worcestershire countryside.
You know what? There are very few things to match the beauty of the English countryside.
FRIDAY
Andy Degville joined me for a carping guide day. He wanted his first twenty – no pressure, then! Andy is actually a very successful barbel angler but today he just wanted to try fishing for carp. He had caught a lots of them in his match days up to 17lb, but fancied a 20-pounder.
The day looked fine, overcast with a temperature of 12ºC but the wind was quite cool and blowing from the south-east, which didn’t make for ideal fishing conditions.
But although it was hard and we had to move a couple of times we eventually caught fish. First a 13lb 4oz carp, which was a nice start, then a personal best for Andy of 18lb 12oz... super, but I knew in my heart it was short of what he’d come for.
Then, late in the afternoon the bobbin dropped back and signalled that a good fish had taken the bait. The fight was the slowest of the day and Andy thought he’d hooked a small fish, then it came to the surface halfway back to the bank and I knew it was decent.
As I carried it to the unhooking mat I said: “This is a twenty all day long!” but I had said that yesterday when I landed that 19lb pike and I was wrong. Thankfully, not this time as the fish weighed 20lb 14oz and was in lovely condition. The smile on Andy’s face said it all.