Vagabond

Thanks Rusty. I felt we did the best we could, tried many presentations, baits and depths, but the river was dour. and the westerly wind very strong The few perch we had over the pound mark all fought well - one of mine went straight upstream against the main current of the weirpool as if it were a barbel ! A most enjoyable few moments. It may be significant that all week we saw very few other anglers - if we go again, I think we will choose late summer/autumn

One of the first places I worked at had two Neanderthal porters (Bill and Fred) who hated each other Fred would tell you that Bill was only ninepence in the shilling. Bill was more forthright.... "Fred's got fleas" he would say

You are right - get in the 7.45 local train for London, say "good morning" and they all hide behind their newspapers. Such a greeting is treated as the first move in a confidence trick.

Well, I won't start a war by telling you, but in those days the better class of pub provided spittoons.

There used to be, but pubs put up notices that said "No Soliciting" I preferred my local , which forbade "spitting,swearing, and the passing of betting slips"

Well yes I have seen a lot of elections, referendums and political decisions come and go Always the losers end up braying for another election, a recount, a second referendum, an "enquiry" ("we was robbed") or some such. Fortunately, such quacking is usually ignored. It is amazing how many "socialists" swear to defend "democracy" to the death - until a vote goes against them.

Have just returned from an ten-day fishing trip preceded by a grand-daughter's wedding - have I missed anything exciting ? One thing puzzles me We had an election a year or so back, in which the major party which promised a referendum on the EU got the most votes. For which party do you think the "leavers" would vote ? (ignoring the UKIP fringe) Yet when that party held the referendum, and got the answer "leave", there was shock-horror from so many Surely the two results are consistent ? Why the surprise ? (BTW I don't think it was a surprise to May, which is why she wisely kept her head down during the melee)

A very good philosophy for those like me who do not live near a big river, and have to book sessions on such as the Thames, Severn and Bure well in advance. It applies to all fish, not just bream. Have just had a week on the Thames after perch and roach, and had to work very hard for the fish. Never mind, the object was to go fishing, and we certainly achieved that. A good catch is a bonus. Comments from locals who "know their patch " (such as your good self) are always useful and welcome. Our globe-trotting days are almost over, but the main point was "being there". , whether it is stalking permit on the Belize coral flats, freelining for tigerfish on the Okavango, or trotting for roach on the Thames. You can't learn it all in a few days, just fish as well as you can. In fact, thinking about it, its a philosophy for all fishing, and even for life itself.

Well, here we are back home after our week on the Thames. Very enjoyable, but fewer fish than on our weeks of the previous three years (on, respectively Ant/Bure/Thurne in 2013, Yare/Waveney in 2014 and Severn 2015) The weirpool recommended by JV44 produced several good roach on bread, for Lutra and perch up to 1-12 on worm for me - both trotting. Otherrwise, many swims elsewhere yielded very little, and we had to work really hard for our fish - a big contrast to last year on the Severn, where in most places it was a fish a chuck, with quite a few rod-benders boated. This time, Brian and I had only about half a dozen perch each over the pound mark (Best Brian's 1-14) Of the rest, all were small, and not many. We tried everything, even caught rudd in 12 feet of water, tripping the bottom ! Various methods produced the odd roach, bream, chub, and even a Tommy Ruffe, but many swims produced nothing. One thing I noticed was how very shy-biting the perch were compared with other rivers (JV and his mates must have been teaching them what nasty things hooks are ) We all four of us did a bit of spinning from time to time, but the fish had obviously learnt that spinners were thrice as nasty as hooks. Spun high and fast, low and slow, big lures, little lures, plus everything in between. Only one fish (perch) on spinner which I got from the weirpool aforementioned - the other three spinners scored zilch. Now I can't believe all four of us have suddenly forgotten everything we knew - how did you Thames regulars fare during the week July 4th to July 11th ? There was a Westerly (ie downstream) gale blowing most of the week which did not help trotting, but I expected to do better than we did.. I know some Thames anglers reckon the river fishes better in autumn/winter than in summer. Comments please.

I like it ! Following an analogous sporting prediction, we are still awaiting Gary Lineker to present "Match of the Day" dressed solely in his underpants - or have I missed something ?

Lots of suggestions, Poler, but if this had been a chess game, England were "lost in all variations" Did you see Hazard's goal for Belguim against Hungary ? The sole English attempt of anything like that was Rashford's effort down the left wing in the only four minutes he was allowed on the pitch. Never mind, he's young, and our coaches will soon knock any such enterprise out of him. Whatever happened to the cross-field pass ? I lost count of the passes back to- left-mid-field -to-left wingback-to-goalie-to-other wingback- to right mid-field- to right winger, only for that winger to send it all back the opposite way again.. Passing is fine, but this began to look like passing the buck. We were desperately short of incisive balls forward, and someone prepared to run at the defence. Neither are easy, but both are essential if you want to win anything. Iceland reminded me of village football at its best. No fancy moves, just honest endeavour. If there was a 50/50 ball, the Icelander usually got there first..

.....and I think that is exactly what happened, The bulk (not all) of the "remain" group believed the politicians. The bulk (not all) of the "leave" group went with a gut feeling. Saw an interview with a smallholder cum livery stable owner (salt of the earth or ignorant yokel, depending upon your viewpoint) He said he went with a gut feeling about sovereignty and voted to leave - " and if it means I am slightly worse off financially, then so be it"

True enough Dales, but it is what I have come to expect from politicians of that persuasion. My real irritation is with the BBC and their perception of what is "news" It seems as if they regard a politician as only "newsworthy" if about to resign (or alternatively, behaving in a way that others think should merit resignation) How well the Chancellor of the Exchequer does his job in the immediate future is somewhat important to all of us, but perhaps beyond the mental capacity of a "political correspondent"

If one applied the Chester's 50/50 Law, half the players (ie the losing team) would get sacked after every match - or both teams if t'were a draw . It would be better to take up rugger and/or cricket in the first place.....

This nation is engaged in profound changes involving its sovereignty, its status, its political allegiances and its finances. What do the BBC do ? Their so-called political reporting team concentrate on the resignations of three dozen non-entities from a non-functional group, and their replacement with another three dozen non-entities. Even politicians can't think of a more grandiose title than "Shadow Cabinet". The reality is that it is a virtual Cabinet, an imaginary Cabinet, a would be Cabinet, etc, etc, Until it has an elected majority, important it is not. It isn't even at present performing what it is supposed to do - holding the Government to account. looking after the people it claims to represent, etc etc. No, all we are getting are drama-queen posturings. from Corbyn and his errrrr "team" Nothing of the slightest importance to the immediate situation is happening there. What is far more important is the activity of the real, working, existing Cabinet, yet all the BBC could muster was to ask Osborne "Why are you not resigning ?" This was to a guy who had made contingency plans, and had been working on them since Brexit became a reality., despite it being against his own inclination. Whatever one's view, clearly someone has to continue to run the country. Osborne's answer "because I have a job to do" was a masterpiece of restraint - he didn't add "you peevish, odious , little man" - nor did he need to

We need to accept that at Association Football, we just ain't very good. Why not ? - it's very different with Rugby Union and Cricket To be fair, there were 11 Icelandic heroes on the field - you just have to admire their resolve.

That's what I put, ten minutes ago, but it didn't load up in spite of the green light. Well done anyweay.

No, but I read a bit in the paper about a chap that says he is glad he didn't go, because that saved him £228 There are two of us here that didn't go, but are going fishing instead. That means £456 is put to better use

Same here We are hearing all sorts of nonsensical rubbish as to how why and who voted us out. Like the "aged uneducated ex-miners in Yorkshire voted leave" . Which is quite untrue , both as a description of Gozzer, ( ) and as a generalization, Kirklees voted leave, neighboring Leeds voted remain Likewise "the educated affluent south voted remain" Rubbish, my own affluent area of Wealden voted leave, as did 19 of the 22 council areas of Kent and Sussex Only "cosmopolitan" London with its association with the gravy train voted (mainly) remain. Gut feeling and a sense of being British were two widely underestimated (by me as well) factors. Neither of those could be extinguished by financial threats nor by being tagged as racist. It seems to me there are a lot of disgruntled losers out there, who need to develop a British stiff upper lip.

Yep, as I said a few pages back, our fundamentals are sound, and to be fair a number of politicians on both sides have also said so. It was the BBC Financial Correspondent who was running about like a headless chicken exclaiming "The market's down 7 points !" " The euros fallen against the dollar" "Sterling's in free fall!" and similar "Woe, woe and thrice woe" expressions. As I said earlier, vapourings. Later he showed a "graph" with apparently a steep drop. Could have fooled the innumerate, but like so many such graphs, it didn't show the base-line, which on the scale of the graph would have been several fathoms underground,

Yes, I commented on it at the time, and thought it might have an untoward influence. It did not seem to, even in Kirklees There was also the "threat" of recession and the threat of a "Brexit" budget. By then I think politicians had lost all credibility with Joe Public , so the threats were seen as empty, and merely angered people.

Exactly Jose Marti,, on Cuban independence from Spain "The wine may be bitter, but it is ours"

in 1973 I was one of the 30% that voted against joining the "Common Market" We lost, and I have spent 43 years regretting the folly of my countryfolk and waiting for them to come to their senses. I am delighted (and I admit, a bit surprised) to have lived long enough to see my vote help to put that right. Have courage my friends, the "chaos" is but the vapourings of TV pundits - the fundamental soundness of our economy has not changed. We have our country back

Well, yoor in the right plerce for lightnun bor Conversation early one morning in my uncle's milking parlour (north Norfolk) 1st cowhand "Did ya hare thet lightnun last night John ?" 2nd cowhand (quick-witted chap) "Oh-ah, and saw the thunder"

LOL Dressing in the dark for an early-morning fishing trip, I once donned socks of identical material, but, as I discovered when daylight came, of two different and contrasting colours. Made no difference to my catch, nor did my fishing mates comment. However, on my return home, a meddlesome female in-law immediately drew attention to my attire. I assured her the garb was a valuable aide memoire as to which of my feet was which. As I told her, "such knowledge is essential for complicated moves in the rugby scrum, for carrying out rifle drill, and for dancing the okey-cokey". BTW There was a German officer in "The Longest Day" who put his boots on the wrong feet. In the film, Richard Burton (playing the role of a baled-out pilot) shot him.