Wasn't all bad...

December always seems grey.  Short days and low cloud there’s no light and I wonder if this contributes to me being so grumpy at this time of year?  These last few days have seen plenty of cloud and buckets of rain, enough to raise the river as high as I’ve ever seen it, Xmas eve saw parts of the town under water.  This kind of flood should shift and scour, perhaps making the river a different entity to the one I’ve fished this season?  But here in the east it all drains away quickly and thankfully very few people are affected, today I actually saw the sun which made a nice change.  The season of good will is an obstacle to overcome but once we’ve all paid Xmas tax and the New Year is upon us I tell myself we’re through the worst, the days are getting a few minutes longer now and things will start growing again soon.  But for a couple more hours we’re still stuck in 2020, a year most people want to forget.  

Apart from a few weeks in the spring the angling year was hardly affected and those of us with an angling affliction have probably found the whole lockdown experience less stressful than most.  I’m doubly lucky, living in the countryside meant that even when I couldn’t fish I was able to get out wandering in wild places.  2020 started pretty well with plenty of Pike to upper double figures along with my first ‘target’ of the year, a Pike from my local river.  Then spring came and as usual my attempts to catch wild Tench and Carp were fruitless, my latest grand plan being a total failure.  By the time we were able to fish the rivers in June I’d had enough of chasing myths so set off on a quest to catch a Gudgeon from my local river.  This ultimately proved a failure but I rediscovered the pleasure of watching a stick float trundle down the river and caught plenty of Rudd, Roach, Chub and Dace.  Some were from swims I’d fished as a lad and others from areas I’d never before trotted.  And I have come up with a location where I may catch that elusive Gudgeon next year…

Mid summer brought another change of angling scenery as for the first time in nearly forty years I found myself staring out to sea, watching rod tips and becoming totally hypnotised by the whole experience.  Everything about it felt new, fresh and exciting; with three ‘new’ species caught every fish was a potential PB.  What sea fishing has is an air of mystery that is almost extinct in coarse fishing in an era where fish have names.  A rod slamming bite and a Bass of a couple of pounds was one of my fishing highlights of the year, one I hope to repeat next summer.

But despite the interesting variety 2020 was mostly about the Pike fishing and it all went rather well, in fact I’ve had very few years that have been better.  There was a spell early on when everything just clicked and confidence soared, times like this come rarely so I made the most of it. On one unforgettable occasion I dropped into a spot, swung a herring out underarm and after a few minutes saw the float stab.  After a short but terrifying battle I drew a very long fish over the net and I knew without doubt that I’d achieved my one and only ambition in Pike angling.  This finally came after literally shedding blood, sweat and tears of all types over many seasons but I wouldn’t change a fucking thing!  

However within days I realised that one ambition had been replaced by another and then another! My desire for solitude means there are very few places where these Pikey ambitions could become reality but luckily I know a couple so on I’ll go for as long as I’m still enjoying it.  When I next go fishing, sometime in the early days of 2021 I’ll be after Pike once more and I’m starting to look forward to it already.