I must have been mad .

When I was a lot younger I used to get up to some mad fishing , I used to put some real effort into catching , not that I don't , but I used to juggle work , fishing , and real life around trying to fit it all in , but not let it takeover from making a living , and being at home when I should be . I may have pushed the limits a fair bit , and Sue had the patients of a saint , and things really changed for me , Sue , and the way we fished as a family one day when we dropped the kids off as we was spending the night over Oxford carping / barbling . Kate was more than happy do spend the night with one of the Nan's , but when we dropped James off at the other Nan he stopped at the door and turned to us and said " I want to come with you two ! ". That was it as far as we were concerned , never wanting to force him to come , we pointed out the cold bivvie / sleeping bag / weekend , but he was sure and that day two of us changed to a third proper angler . I will tell the story of kids fishing another time , but for now it's silly things I did to get a session in !.

The bike , rack for the tackle , rods were strapped along it !

As an apprentice at Vauxhalls in the early 70's I soon jumped into their excellent fishing club , and with the freedom of a new moped I decided to strap the gear to it , and do some trotting on a bit of the Ouse with quality roach , and chub fishing . It all seemed so easy on paper , but I was not on paper , it was bloody horrendous . The miles up the A5 barely ticked over at a max of around 40 , with the wind resistance of the gear it lowered it to 30 !. I did try really hard , but even lugging the crash helmet around was a pain in the arse . I moved around the stretch catching a few bits before settling on a bend . I ran the float around the swim , anywhere it wanted to go really as I was not really into that way of fishing , and by pure luck it went under and a roach of just short of 2 lb hung itself !!!. I was really happy , and to be honest it was the excuse I needed to pack up and face the journey home . I hated it , and other than a look at a few waters when I got a more powerful bike that was the end of that experiment !.

Marlborough pools scaley caught one handed !

Nightshift at Vauxhalls in the early 80's gave me some options . Starting at 8pm on a Monday night gave me the chance to catch a few before work and not muck up weekend family stuff , sort of a bonus day . I flitted around just doing day sessions , but it all clicked when I decided to get an early start at Marlborough Pool on Mondays , having the lake to myself . I got my favorite point swim each time , and caught regularly , often two or three fish on a winters day . I used to try and get some kip in while I fished to make the night more bearable , but this caused a real problem on a sparkling sharp winters morning as I had dozed off for a while waiting for a friend to pop in for a cuppa in his break . I woke to a buzzer blasting off falling off my low chair I grabbed at the rod , the problem being at some point I delayed on my left arm , and it was completely numb , dead as a dodo !. It was complete slapstick comedy but without an audience thank god , I must have looked like I was having a fit !. I could not feel or turn the handle of the reel and still don't know how I got it in , but it was an upper double scaly carp I had long wanted to catch  , and my mate took the pics for me , thinking I knew what I was doing , instead of the total twat I can be !. 

The freezing L lake , lovely

Shift work at my company has it's benefits , early and late shift gives you time to get out before and after work with a bit of preperation . I had been fishing the well known L shaped lake at Blunham a bit , catching a few just into twenty pounds , but none of the A team as they were called . I liked the lake as you all fished from one bank , it had some nice trees on the far bank to fish under , pads in places down the middle on top of a bar . The lake being 'L' shaped ment nobody encroached on your water , and the lads fishing it were all good boys . I decided to do a whole winter on the lake , fishing with a couple of mates . I hatched a plan to fish it on a Friday when on lates so getting a swim on a Friday morning , then pulling my things to one side so they could keep their eyes on it while I went to work for the afternoon returning to the lake at around 11pm , allowing anyone to get in the swim if they wanted . On the morning session I chose a swim that many left alone , it had a small set of pads with a little gap between them that I'm sure the fish used to travel up and down the lake , so I baited that a little , the other rods went to the far margins . I fished until 1 pm , then left everything with my mate to keep their eye on , and set off for a late shift !. I returned 9 hours late in the pitch dark , all was quiet with only a couple more people pitching up at some point , but in the more popular swims . Quietly I got the rods back into position , all went well and I got into the bag shattered and bloody freezing !. Some point in the early hours the closer rod between the pads ripped off , with the buzzers turned down low how I like them I was into a mental fish that smashed me up for quiet a while . In the dark I slipped a good mirror into the net , and after unhooking her I switched the torch on and punched the air !, it was the Arab !, the best fish in the lake , not quiet the biggest , but the best !. A member of the A team it was a fish I really wanted to catch after seeing it on the bank . Called the Arab due to a crescent shaped scale on one side ,I was  bloody chuffed !.

A poor pic of the Arab , member of the A team , but it was a big effort !

I tried this approach a few more times , I must have been mad , as it drained me through the harsh winter where it froze over while I was fishing on a couple of occations !. It was in the middle of open countryside , the wind cut through you , and the frost were fierce !. After a couple more fish that season I moved on , but the L lake is still there . 

My nickname for a while , Luke O like ( viz mag )

The frozen lake , 3 rigs stuck !. Delkim converted optonics , top of the range stainless and PTFE bobbins !.

Hatter