Sunday 29 March 2015

Hibernation Over and Esox lucius

I don't like winter, I don't particularly like spring unless it turns nice and warm,  So this year hasn't been too exciting here in Nottinghamshire.  Any nice day appears to occur during the week, as I sit here writing this my first blog of 2015 its raining outside, when I went out for a few hours yesterday it was raining.  Although not a particularly severe winter I feel as if I've spent the last 5 months in the house getting rather bored. However I've started to step outside,  A couple of days fishing as there still isn't enough insect life out and about to get me going.   So I'll show a picture of my day yesterday, a nice little pike, the top predator of UK waters.

Many associated with wildlife and wildlife conservation don't think to highly of the fishing set. Obviously as a fisherman I would have to disagree with them. A conscientious fisherman is not the litter throwing bank vegetation destroying cruel bloodsport lover often portrayed.  I care about the fish I catch, I don't kill them, I can't say they don't feel pain, but I don't think it has an undue effect on the animal - I've even caught the same fish on the same day, so I don't feel as if it upset the fish too much. Good fisherman tune in to nature, they sit with nature, it comes to them, you don't go looking for it, yesterday was no exception.  Coots are already sitting on eggs,  I sat and watched lesser celandine open when the sun came out, I observed several metallic blue flea beetle Altica lythri sunning on a dried leaf, perfectly positioned to gain maximum warmth, where have they been hiding all winter?  More blogs to come, I'm out of hibernation.

Don't know what I'm doing with my eyes?  Esox lucius The Northern Pike.