Back in time?

Not by visiting as the article header suggests, but just by reading this piece, I was taken back in time. The images and details of the article reminded me of all the places in Ireland I've visited over the years, where everything from the best Guinness to postal and pension services, ham sarnies, toothpaste, and the essential flies for the day are all on offer in no particular order of importance. And at the right time you might even be greated by some top local live music.

From Wicklow to Kilkee, Cork to Killybegs establishments like that are, or at least were, common.

Fantastic!

Cyanide & Sewage

Another bloody disaster hits an upper section of the River Trent and as the polluted water passes downstream, reports may yet spell out disaster for further sections after the Stoke-on-Trent to Yoxall section currently in the news. While the Environment Agency (EA) try their best to mitigate the effects of the cyanide and raw sewage pollution incident, by pumping hydrogen peroxide, their efforts will not bring back the thousands of fish already dead, or indeed all the other dead and dying creatures that make up a complex ecosystem.

Right now, people such as myself, feel both anger and frustration that the whole fishery is going to be wrecked. Invertebrates, birds, mammals, several generations of fish will all be hit. Nature may bounce back quickly but not I suspect without a great deal of help. The good people at Calverton Fish Farm no doubt will be called upon for restocking depending on the fishery's ability to sustain a new population of fish, while other niches in the system can only be filled by natural migration and new generations.

In the long term our focus will be upon government, both local and national, their actions and those of the various representative bodies that look to protect our natural heritage. The EA, Anglers Trust and Fish Legal will be most prominent in taking necessary actions.

This is just a footnote, but it occurs to me now that my recent hopes of spotting an otter (as they've begun repopulating UK waterways) will probably remain fruitless for a while longer.

One more...

Couldn't help myself... just one more. I saw Holly Golightly at The Social, or was it the Rescue Rooms, a few years ago. She did well to step out from under Billy Childish's shadow and shed her own light on the scene. The YouTube clip above is a bit raw - if you wanna hear a regular recording try this instead... Enjoy!

Bleech

From the present - these folks aren't bad... will they last?

Gunslinger

Here's a blast from the past! Great while they lasted!

Caveman

I was listening to a radio station on LastFM and glanced over at the Mac when a 'cave man' voice caught my attention. The Music Machine's Sean Bonniwell.

Along with the likes of Jim Sohns, Sky Saxon, Roky Erickson and perhaps less obviously the likes of Don Glen Vliet and Dick Dodd, Bonniwell's voice really epitomises the sound of 60s Punk, Garage and Psychedelia...

I got into this stuff after meeting friends with a similar taste for old fashioned Blues and Rock'n'Roll. Sharing music on 'tape' we all got into the diversity of sounds. One or two people even formed their own bands sometimes playing renditions of the old songs. 9 Men was my friend Dave's band in Chesterfield (Art foundation years) and the Grizzeldas was Liam's band in London (Sculpture degree years).

Of course, plenty of new music has come along since, but I still like to listen to the old stuff too.

If you want a taste of the caveman, look out for compilation albums like 'Highs In The Mid Sixties' and the 'Pebbles' albums. In the meantime take a look at YouTube.

The Fly

"Another year, another Mayfly hatch." Easy or no, it's not an occasion to miss!

Action plan: Start by warming up with a few easy fish and then target something more challenging; you know, like the fish rising under the tree on the far bank, or even the impossible and monster fish rising in the back eddy beyond the midstream torrent.

Well, that's how my fishing buddy Simon and I set about it again this year - we had a ball! Settling for more southern streams and in particular the Wandle, where only nesh trout are to be found, friend and colleague, Theo, couldn't make it again - better luck next year mate!

An evening produced countless fish, with several large ones amongst them. Only a few stocked fish showed their [relatively] ugly faces.

Successful flies included the Grey Wulff and the French Partridge Mayfly. Most successful of all however, like in every year we've fished the Mayfly hatch, was the Mayfly Emerger pattern, illustrated above. A version with a fine cream SLF thorax caught the very biggest trout, while the hares ear thorax tying gave very good account of itself.

(You can get the recipe at FFR »)