After the Lord Mayor's Show
River Thames, Saturday 28th January 2012
“One bite is all it takes”; “I missed a couple of bites”
How often have you read those words in any angler’s account of his fishing day? I’ve written the latter a few times and glibly dismissed them as lost opportunities but driving home after today’s blank I thought about it a bit more. On Thursday I had just one bite and as a result I could take photos of a monstrous chub, everything was good in the world. Tonight I had two bites and didn’t connect with either, no big deal because it was great to meet up with Steve & Alex on the boat and I didn’t lose a fish but what if one of those bites was an even bigger chub than Thursday’s? If I’d hooked and lost it I would have been gutted but because I didn’t hook it I’m none the wiser, should I be just as annoyed at not connecting?
Probably yes but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to approach my angling in that way. I can, however, understand why specimen anglers take missed bites as seriously as lost fish. You might only get one.
That’s it for the philosophy but it was quite a good way of padding out an otherwise sparse blog entry. Tonight we adopted a pre-baiting pattern that ‘Bomber’ Harris would’ve been proud of but despite that we failed to connect with anything that might have been interested in the hookbait, my two bites came just after dusk and we thought we were in for a bumper session but it wasn’t to be. After a further hour of uneventful fishing in the proper dark I coaxed my fingers into life, bade my farewells and scurried off to the curry house for dinner. I think Steve was secretly pleased, it meant he could retreat to the boat, a boat which by this time had taken on a distinct amber hue. Alex had stoked up the wood burner to the extent that wisps of steam were wafting off the hull where it met the water.
Contrary to what you might think I was in high spirits on the way home. The smell from the Rogon Josh had overpowered the blue Christmas tree dangling from the rear view mirror and I’d managed to turn off the radio before the news announced the results of a couple of grudge FA cup ties. I haven’t watched footie for a while and was looking forward to tonight’s MOTD highlights.
Which is why I’m writing this, MOTD isn’t on the telly. What’s happened, aren’t the beeb showing it anymore?
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