"Here's to Swimming..."

Fishing the special place in winter means a 0430 start then a trying hour long drive (if I’m lucky) on inconsistent roads, another half hour at the slipway followed by a run on the outboard.  If conditions are favourable I’m in with a chance of a fish or two but I’ll have to work hard to find them, they rarely hang around anywhere for long.  Next winter will be totally different again. 

A recent trip was a case in point; I started off at a spot that is as consistent as anywhere at this time of year, meaning maybe 1 in 3?  There was nothing doing here so I kept searching, conditions were good and I expected Pike to be active but if this was the case then I was nowhere near them.  At my sixth spot around 1350 at last a float slid away and a boated a mint fish of eight or nine pounds on sardine.  When you find one there’s often another so I stayed in the vicinity for a while but nothing doing.  I finished on the other side of the broad at dusk by which time I’d fished nine swims and hadn’t found any more fish. 

I cut and run, got off the water before it was fully dark.  Another half hour at the slip then a longer drive back home where I spent a while sorting the gear out.  I was out of the shower by 2030, slumped into my chair, totally knackered.  A long day that seems to get harder every winter but while I’m still enjoying it I’ll keep going, keep searching for the unknown monster whose actual existence is mostly irrelevant.  But every time that float moves it becomes real for a short time at least.

The other boat also is in a wild space but is much more prolific and predictable waters, it’s a rare day when we don’t bring a fish or two onboard.  Getting there and getting afloat is a much quicker, more simple affair.  It’s comfortable and convenient.  A couple of weeks ago I went out in it with Mr P for company, an annual trip where I try to show him there’s more to life than carp.  Usually my guest catches most of the fish but today they favoured me, I had three to Mr P’s one and we both had takes which were dropped before we made contact.  All of these were lovely dark fish between eight and twelve pounds and came to a variety of deadbaits float legered, it was a really enjoyable day with good company and loads of laughter.  This fishing has a hell of a lot going for it but it doesn’t fire the imagination and so I still prefer the masochism.

Quint by Robert Lautner

It’s no exaggeration for me to say that watching “Jaws” at an impressionable age shaped the course of my life.  Spielberg’s film and to a lesser extent Peter Benchley’s novel sowed the seed that led me to become a lifelong angler, earning a living from the trade; I know many of my fishing friends are fans too.  When I saw this book I thought “It’ll probably be crap but I have to read it”.  Sometimes its good to be wrong, if you are a ‘Jaws’ fan then I confidently predict you will enjoy reading this.
Robert Lautner has created the history of Quint’s life, consistent with the book but without doubt this is the character as portrayed brilliantly by Robert Shaw in the film, the narrative is in his voice and we can see that look in his eye.  This is the story of how the character that takes Brodie and Hooper out fishing came to be; we learn the stories behind the scars and we hear him speak of the doomed USS Indianapolis. The war story he tells intertwines with Quint’s current circumstances, another dangerous journey which sees him look death in the eye as it swims past him.
This is a really good book, the author has obviously done his research otherwise he could never have pulled it off, the Indianapolis was no fiction and this is respected.  The writing is very good, the scenes are vivid and feel real, in my mind I could see it all clearly.  Best of all this really feels like the manic Ahab Quint that came alive on screen, the story is told in his voice and it really is his voice. “Here’s to swimming with bow legged women!”