Sub Zero Fishing

Evan and I called in for a half term fish at Exe Fishery.  The car thermometer showed 2C but when we got to the lake the wind was cutting across from the East driving the temperature well below freezing. And the fish to the bottom of the lake.

We started in the bottom corner with a light #4 rod but the wind was so strong we switched to #8 which is so heavy it copes with windy days really well.  We tried orange tadpoles,  black and green tadpoles, White Minkies, but the only thing we had were a few follows.

However it was the cold which made the fishing difficult.

In these conditions it is difficult to keep warm, while a full set of warm wind proof over clothes are good, it is difficult to keep to fingers warm, as the line is continually moving back and forth through them.

I finally caught the only fish we had that day a two and half pound rainbow which took an olive green nymph fished quickly on an intermediate line.

Ferreting and Devon Ditches

An invite from work saw the Botwood clan winding our way up to the edge of Exmoor on a sunny cold Saturday to try the ferrets out on a small holding.  The hedges were really difficult. We only had purse nets with us and, to be frank, this was useless.  Rabbits holes went through the banks and popped up inside six foot wide hedges.

We netted as many as we could get to and tried out Llinos' ferret.  This is a small polecat ferret, which is incredibly biddable, Llinos having spent so much time taming her down. You can see from the photo we also had barb to contend with.

 We worked our way round the hedges but never once made contact with a rabbit, so either someone else has been hunting here or disease has taken hold.

We used hemp nets which are far superior to the nylon nets often bought.  The nylon nets seem to be attracted to every brier and thorn in the hedge.  Every time we used one it came away in a tangled mess.

At least we got to work all the ferrets and had a good walk on a lovely day.