A Good 'Iding

A quickie this as it's off-piste.

Our weekend away to the Malvern Hills originally involved mountain bikes being strapped to the car and walking routes sufficient to fill whole days. Then my right knee gave up on me for no apparent reason or 'trauma' as the medical questionnaire asked and our plan A was quickly abandoned.

Instead I shuffled about with the aid of a loaned walking stick for most of our time away, whinnying like a hound under threat from a shotgun and until said appendage started to recover a bit.

"Why don't we take rods with us?", was my manna from heaven. I don't need asking twice.

A pool attached to a campsite was located and a pitch which was both out of the brisk Easterly and swamped in the bright sunshine selected. There was literally no craft involved, only comfort.

Sprinklings of hemp and bread mash were dispensed along with two rods fished to the same spot holding pole floats and light hooklengths.

This was a competition. The loser bought dinner that night and as the floats sat motionless for the first hour and a half there was plenty of time to argue about the winning criteria and books to be read.

I was scanning the pool and about to clamber out of my chair to go for a wander / lurch about  when the ratchet on my reel alerted me to a bite and I was into an ide - a species I'd (geddit) not caught before and therefore was a guaranteed PB at 1lb 9ozs.

Her interest piqued, we then enjoyed a steady stream of ide and bream across the rest of the afternoon with the very last cast of the day for me resulting in a second PB of exactly 2lb.

Shifting my window back to a weekday evening slot opens up dusk again. My favourite time of the day to fish.

A few hours spent on the Coventry canal, although really enjoyable, delivered only endless nibbles and liners for me last night. Again it was pretty much store cupboard baits for this trip too. 

   I'll be back, bipedal and hungry I'm sure.