Ashby Canal @ Moira Furnace Museum, Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire
My first session on the bankside for over two months finally arrived on Sunday, and I was able to spend some time just sitting in quiet reflection of everything that has been going on over the Summer. It has been quite an eventful period in my life, both personally and work wise, with lifestyle changes that were so badly needed happening and a new role at work that is proving challenging and very rewarding.
A few weeks ago I made the decision to shed some weight and get fitter and also to become more active in general instead of wallowing in self pity at the thought of having reached the weight I have (24 stone) whilst shovelling another pork pie or sausage roll down my neck. I joined a local Slimming World group on Saturday mornings and have to face the scales every Saturday morning, to see how much I have lost or gained over the previous 7 days. My previous attempt at following the Slimming World plan had been moderately successful, but the consultant left the area and moved her group to her new location, so after just 3 sessions and a total loss of 6lbs in weight it all came to an end. This time round I have settled into the group and find following the plan easy with the result that in just 5 weeks I have lost half a stone and my confidence is rising with each loss.
Another change I have made is that I have stopped taking my anti-depressants and whilst I still have the odd day where I slip back into the darkness and get stressy, I have learned a few coping strategies which enable me to navigate the gloomy waters of depression quickly and effectively and emerge from them happier and more resilient. I should have really consulted the Doctor before stopping but I just found myself in a place where I thought I was ready to stop the medication, so I did.
The work thing has been something of a double edged sword though because on the one hand it has given me more responsibility and purpose, but on the other hand it has seen a very much valued friendship stall, briefly I hope. I'm not going to say any more about the situation, just that mistakes were made and maybe I should have handled things a little differently, but I stand by my reasons, though it does seem to have had a damaging affect which was what I was hoping to avoid.
The fishing came just at the right time for me after a very hectic few weeks at work that has stretched me but I have risen to the new challenges and faced them head on with a new found confidence and belief in myself. I had mentioned to Luke that we hadn't been fishing for a while and he suggested that we went on the Bank Holiday Sunday. There didn't seem to be the usual discussions about venues and somehow we ended up deciding on giving the Ashby Canal at Moira a go. I did the usual reading up on the web and found out that it is regarded by many to be one of the best silverfish venues in the Midlands, or even the UK. The canal is now landlocked and offers over 2 miles of water to go at, though we decided to stay close to the museum because of the car parks. Despite the growing reputation of the canal you'd be forgiven for thinking you had come to the wrong place, there will probably be very few people fishing, which was the case when I arrived at 07.45 on Sunday morning.
Luke, who lives about 4 miles from the museum, had been down to the canal a few nights previously and began to bait it up with a mix of particle baits and sweetcorn and had parked his car on the car park of the local Co-op, about half a mile or so along the canal from the museum. I arrived and found myself in the middle of a convoy of vehicles all waiting to get into the museum grounds and set up stalls for some sort of craft fair that was being held there. At first I couldn't see Luke where I thought he was going to be so set off for the short walk along the tow path to the Co-op, to see if his car was there. Apart from a few people walking their dogs, the only others I saw were two blokes fishing on the far bank on a bend in the canal.
With no sign of Luke's Mondeo on the car park, I set off back to the museum to see if I could get hold of him on facebook or by text. It was only when I was half way back that I remembered that the Mondeo had died a few weeks ago and he had a new car but I couldn't remember what type, so I carried on with the original plan and sent him a text when I got back to the van. It turned out that I had been looking for him at the wrong bridge and he had already set up and had caught a few fish. I made my way round to him and he was in a highly excitable state, very excited and for a minute or so I thought he may start doing a little jig or something. The reason for his joyous state was that after all of his years fishing, he had finally managed to catch himself his first Tench. He had been after a Tench for a while and had been most disappointed when I had caught one last year but chucked it back in before he had seen it, but now he had his own, safely stored in his landing net (he'd forgotten his keep net).
Luke had two of the tribe with him, the ever present Reece and Cam, and the boys were busy fishing in their shared peg. Reece is one of those kids who will carry his love of fishing onto his adult years and he is quite an accomplished little angler already, though you sometimes look at how he has set up his rod and wonder just how he catches anything. His set up for the day looked as though he was after some huge Carp, but he was pulling out loads of small Roach, Perch and Bream with ease, though his counting needs some work on it because to listen him him talk you'd have thought he'd caught thousands. He's a great kid and willing to learn from everyone though he does have a reputation of being a jinx for me. On one of our trips everytime he walked over to my peg and started talking any fish I had on the line would come off or they would disappear from my swim for a while. This resulted in having to ban him from the peg or run the risk of getting himself chucked in......
The fishing was great, though the Carpers would disagree, and we were pulling out a mixed catch of Perch, Roach, Bream and the odd Dace. One of my best fish was a Perch which was in the 1lb weight range, but having no scales (I really should buy some) this is just a rough estimation. Someone in the museum has put some thought into the fishing here and anglers have to use the far bank and the joggers and cyclists use the main towpath. This means there are no disagreements between anyone and anglers don't run the risk of getting their kit damaged.
All in all it was a great way to spend the Bank Holiday Sunday, with glorious weather and we weren't baked to a crisp in the open because Luke had selected pegs that were in the shade all day. I can't think of a better way of spending a Sunday, though as stated earlier events elsewhere did mean that it was a trip that tinged with a little sadness because people were missing from the bankside with whom I have shared some good times.....Maybe one day we can again.
See you on the bankside.....
The fishing came just at the right time for me after a very hectic few weeks at work that has stretched me but I have risen to the new challenges and faced them head on with a new found confidence and belief in myself. I had mentioned to Luke that we hadn't been fishing for a while and he suggested that we went on the Bank Holiday Sunday. There didn't seem to be the usual discussions about venues and somehow we ended up deciding on giving the Ashby Canal at Moira a go. I did the usual reading up on the web and found out that it is regarded by many to be one of the best silverfish venues in the Midlands, or even the UK. The canal is now landlocked and offers over 2 miles of water to go at, though we decided to stay close to the museum because of the car parks. Despite the growing reputation of the canal you'd be forgiven for thinking you had come to the wrong place, there will probably be very few people fishing, which was the case when I arrived at 07.45 on Sunday morning.
Luke, who lives about 4 miles from the museum, had been down to the canal a few nights previously and began to bait it up with a mix of particle baits and sweetcorn and had parked his car on the car park of the local Co-op, about half a mile or so along the canal from the museum. I arrived and found myself in the middle of a convoy of vehicles all waiting to get into the museum grounds and set up stalls for some sort of craft fair that was being held there. At first I couldn't see Luke where I thought he was going to be so set off for the short walk along the tow path to the Co-op, to see if his car was there. Apart from a few people walking their dogs, the only others I saw were two blokes fishing on the far bank on a bend in the canal.
With no sign of Luke's Mondeo on the car park, I set off back to the museum to see if I could get hold of him on facebook or by text. It was only when I was half way back that I remembered that the Mondeo had died a few weeks ago and he had a new car but I couldn't remember what type, so I carried on with the original plan and sent him a text when I got back to the van. It turned out that I had been looking for him at the wrong bridge and he had already set up and had caught a few fish. I made my way round to him and he was in a highly excitable state, very excited and for a minute or so I thought he may start doing a little jig or something. The reason for his joyous state was that after all of his years fishing, he had finally managed to catch himself his first Tench. He had been after a Tench for a while and had been most disappointed when I had caught one last year but chucked it back in before he had seen it, but now he had his own, safely stored in his landing net (he'd forgotten his keep net).
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| Ashby Canal @ Moira Furnace |
Luke had two of the tribe with him, the ever present Reece and Cam, and the boys were busy fishing in their shared peg. Reece is one of those kids who will carry his love of fishing onto his adult years and he is quite an accomplished little angler already, though you sometimes look at how he has set up his rod and wonder just how he catches anything. His set up for the day looked as though he was after some huge Carp, but he was pulling out loads of small Roach, Perch and Bream with ease, though his counting needs some work on it because to listen him him talk you'd have thought he'd caught thousands. He's a great kid and willing to learn from everyone though he does have a reputation of being a jinx for me. On one of our trips everytime he walked over to my peg and started talking any fish I had on the line would come off or they would disappear from my swim for a while. This resulted in having to ban him from the peg or run the risk of getting himself chucked in......
The fishing was great, though the Carpers would disagree, and we were pulling out a mixed catch of Perch, Roach, Bream and the odd Dace. One of my best fish was a Perch which was in the 1lb weight range, but having no scales (I really should buy some) this is just a rough estimation. Someone in the museum has put some thought into the fishing here and anglers have to use the far bank and the joggers and cyclists use the main towpath. This means there are no disagreements between anyone and anglers don't run the risk of getting their kit damaged.
All in all it was a great way to spend the Bank Holiday Sunday, with glorious weather and we weren't baked to a crisp in the open because Luke had selected pegs that were in the shade all day. I can't think of a better way of spending a Sunday, though as stated earlier events elsewhere did mean that it was a trip that tinged with a little sadness because people were missing from the bankside with whom I have shared some good times.....Maybe one day we can again.
See you on the bankside.....
