comanche

I rescued an old Vox Bassmaster minus strings and pick-ups from a skip a a few years ago . I'd like to blame the cheap ebay pick-ups l fitted and cut down strings ( proper 30" scale strings are a bit pricey ) but l think l'm to blame for most of the funny noises it makes The boot sale rubber string acoustic mini bass is great fun. It plugs into an amp when l want to remind the neighbours what a crap player l am.

A bit of tiddler bashing on the headwaters of the Arun. Hard to believe that 20 miles downstream this becomes the second fastest flowing river in England ! My swim was very picturesque but held more promise than monsters. This huge perch fell to my skillfully presented bait . Actually it grabbed a minnow l was reeling-in. So skill didn't really come into it My mate fishing downstream and lulled by a succession of tiddlers, had his rod pulled-in though. Something bigger is there somewhere but as it came off we'll never know what All good fun. Especially as we we

My first trip of the season to the mill stream . Tackle was a cane fly rod chopped into a 7foot, five piece travel rod and a little Dyna Flite reel with 3lb line. I wasn't expecting much more than a few gudgeon. I didn't catch any gudgeon ; my mate had a few though. My score was a couple of eels , little rudd and perch and a welcome tench. Biggest fun raisers were a couple of surprise jack pike . The biggest was a lanky thing that should've weighed more than it did but gave me quite a run- around on the light tackle.

Risky but fair enough if you are working close enough to keep an eye on it. At least people are asking . Maybe put a sign on the skip saying it's not not scrap and get it inside when you finish work. Leaving it out all night would daft beyond belief! When l landscaped it was common to pull stuff back out of the skip when we realised we needed a bit of wood ,bricks or some more hardcore. Anyone asking if they could take a few bits was usually granted their request though as it meant we had more room in the skip . In a reverse situation. We were once dismantling

Yes the season kicked-in on schedule for these parts , but the nests are far more advanced and numerous than l would expect . Another 9 today.

The size doesn't make much difference . The operator's travel time, fuel etc are the same . I'm a bit soft though. There are are times when a call out to a tiny nest that the householder could've dealt- with with a rolled up newspaper brings out the charitable streak in me. I'll never be rich l guess Mind you l managed to do nine nests today without a single tug of the heartstrings.

I had a couple of hours on the farm pond with a mate . It started badly when he arrived to pick me up and realised he'd left his close- up glasses at home. He wisely wasn't keen on my offer to tie his hooks on for him so we nipped to his house to collect his specs. Fishing with with Stu always encompasses a degree of comedy . To anyone watching from a (safe) distance the phrase "Like monkeys playing the piano." might come to mind . On this occasion totally independently we had decided that as well as our proper rods we would bring along some less than suitable tackle .

Ah, that's not my leg . Luckily for me. Not so lucky for a friend's lad who did some horrible things to his meniscus and tendons while bouldering. He was bored so l borrowed the farm buggy so he could have some fresh air. He also won brownie points from his girlfriend when she got to feed Spartacus the lamb .What it with these youngsters and their backpacks? It wasn't like we were going trekking across the Sahara l hope your knee is mending!

One of my hoggets has always been a bit untrustworthy . l realised some time ago that l must've been having an off day when l applied the castrating band . His reward for butting me , broad-siding his siblings and arguing with the dog was that he was the first of last year's crop to go against the wall . This resulted in 31kg of freezer stuff plus plenty of trimings and bones for dog and ferret food. A friend who openly coverted his skin for a woolly rug also had her wish granted in exchange for the use of her turbo charged mincing machine

Yes, a farmer friend has his .22 in his brick workshop in the yard. It's locked and to be honest the cabinet is pretty hard to spot amongst all the tools and "useful" junk. A customer has his gunsafe in his Estate office, again separate from any dwelling and inconspicuous amongst the filling cabinets.

It's my bash-about rod. Bamboo with a ( slightly bent) greenheart tip. The "flamed" pattern gives an otherwise cheap rod a bit of character . Probably pre war but of no value whatsoever . Luckily the fish aren't fussed about what they are caught on. In fact they probably would prefer not to be caught at all

Not just rabbits. Some of his "better" stories weren't really suitable for print l liked the one he told me about desperately trying to unblock the drains in his street before the council got there and discovered certain incriminating body parts

I met Phil through Ditchshitter in the early 80s and had been in touch and met from time to time ever since . I only hunted with him once to my great regret . He used one of my photographs in one of his books which l considered a bit of an honour. A couple of years ago ,and completely out of the blue , he gifted literally hundreds of his traps to me and l did detect a change in him . I had the feeling that he clearly had other things to do while time was on his side. Phil was a ruthless hunter in his heyday . Mercenary too ; "lt's all about the pounds " was one of his sayings .