Fishing and Reading

At last, a weekend that was just about fishable. Salar has been back in the water waiting patiently for a sea trial, so I combined the two and headed for a sheltered corner of the Solent for an hour or two. You don't have to go too far offshore for cod at the moment, there has been a string of reports coming into my boat angling in-box from anglers reporting cod catches about a mile from the shore along the eastern side of the Solent. The cod didn't oblige for me this time though, but I had plenty of whiting and they are just as tasty if a bit more fiddly to prepare. A tip from the cod-catchers: don't go all traditional with huge baits - try small ones alongside, you may be surprised which one old bucket-mouth goes for.

It was my birthday recently, and with all that windy weather I had used up my store of reading matter, so I spent my birthday tokens on a few books. If you are wondering what to put on the Christmas pressie list, here are a few I can recommend. If you have been fishing for 40 plus years like me, you may remember Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing - and if you lost the copy I'm sure you once had, you can buy a reprint. All coarse fishing, but it brings back happy memories. Another find is 1001 Top Angling Tips by John Wilson. About a third is devoted to sea fishing but there are plenty of useful ideas in the coarse section too. Finally, Chris Yates goes back to sea fishing with Out of the Blue: On Fishing at Sea . This is more of a read than a reference book, but it's a nice one to lose yourself in as you nestle in your favourite comfy armchair while the wind howls outside.

PS If you like Peter Gander's drawing above, you can get it on a t-shirt or mug from FishPrint.

Charley-Merde-Tete the dog

What do you do when you can’t fish because the weather is awful again, and you have fixed everything that needs fixing on your boat? You could flick through your books and see if there is a fishing one that has missed being read (this often happens to me as I get a pile of books each birthday and Christmas). Last week, I discovered a gem – why had I not found this one before? Too many “readable” books about fishing are written for the US market, or for fly fishermen, or for nostalgic, sentimental dreamers. “The Incomplete Angler” by Robin Shelton is a refreshing change from all that: a book written by a chap over here about good honest British sea angling with only a bit of trout fishing sneaking in at the end. It even starts with an account of fly fishing for bass from a kayak – how contemporary is that for goodness sake?
Written by a guy who thinks like we should be thinking but writes it down a lot better than most, this book will have you laughing, pondering, reminiscing and vowing to go fishing again. Robin explains fishing geeks and fishing porn, which will have a lot of us blushing under our wind-burn. He re-discovers pier, rock, beach, boat and fly fishing (including the contagious fly-tying obsession – don’t go there) and tells it in a way that will have experienced anglers nodding sagely and non-anglers following every word. Quite a talent. He is well within the scope of www-boat-angling.co.uk as he lives near Winchester and shops at Rovers in Fareham, although his fishing trips range from Scotland to Cornwall. Robin also knows exactly how and when to take the gentle micky: ‘aampsheer versus Hampshah; a certain Total fishing magazine; vegetarianism, fellow anglers and sleepy seaside establishments all come under his scrutiny. Anyone who elegantly refers to his dog as Charley-merde-tete can’t be at all bad. He can cook too.