Uncategorized9 Comments

WEEK ENDING 19 JUNE 2022 – IS THIS REALLY WHAT I WAITED THREE MONTHS FOR?

sidestreambob

Writing this at the end of the week it feels in retrospect this has been a busy week. It was the last full on week on the invigilating season, which was the major time thief, but I’ve fitted in badminton, two decent cycles, a few faltering runs (my left calf is my latest injury), some fish spotting, two volunteer sessions at the Arts Centre, the garden, some token house work and cooking and that sort of stuff and one short fishing session. Various activities have temporarily gone west, such as the conservation volunteering and the home library deliveries. Bickerley Mill … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 19 JUNE 2022 – IS THIS REALLY WHAT I WAITED THREE MONTHS FOR?

Uncategorized8 Comments

WEEK ENDING 12 JUNE 2022 – HOCUS POCUS

sidestreambob

Prog-rock 1970s yodelling groups from the Netherlands, now there is a niche genre! However, if you take a look at this post https://byjayzs.blogspot.com/2022/06/silt-and-its-s-tench.html?m=0 from JAYZS your see that he riffs with some of my current thoughts and basically suggests they are hocus pocus – now do you get this week’s tenuous title? He does debunk my thoughts in a kindly and forensic way though and I’m quietly a big smug that I set a fellow angler thinking. The other thing is for most of us there is a certain mystery to fishing, why something does or doesn’t work is often … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 12 JUNE 2022 – HOCUS POCUS

Uncategorized3 Comments

WEEK ENDING 5 JUNE 2022 – IN WHICH ‘OUR HERO’ APOLOGIES, IS BACK IN THE GAME AND THEN FRUSTRATED

sidestreambob

Sometimes even ‘proper’ publications have to print retractions, corrections or apologies and it seems I should too. First though a digression, as I assume the joke about the editor of The Sun being forced to publish an apology and placating the reporter concerned with “don’t worry no one believes anything in The Sun so they won’t believe the apology” is apocryphal? Anyway my correction is that for some reason I looked back at my post for the week ending 8 May 2022 and it looked to me as if it could be construed that I was having ‘a pop’ at … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 5 JUNE 2022 – IN WHICH ‘OUR HERO’ APOLOGIES, IS BACK IN THE GAME AND THEN FRUSTRATED

coarse fishing7 Comments

THE THREE WEEKS ENDING 28 MAY 2022 – MAY’S MISSING MIDDLE

sidestreambob

So where have the last three weeks gone to? Well, they started with two nights in Torquay and since then I’ve either not had the fishing mojo or the garden, running and cycling have taken precedence. Added to that, invigilating is in now full flow and this year there seems less of us in the team and I’ve been ‘working’ four days a week. Not necessarily morning and afternoon on all four days, but often enough to chew up a fair bit of time. The same is true of the Arts Centre I volunteer at, shows and events have ramped … Continue reading THE THREE WEEKS ENDING 28 MAY 2022 – MAY’S MISSING MIDDLE

coarse fishing8 Comments

WEEK ENDING 8 MAY 2022 – FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS, BUT STATISTICS ARE PLIABLE

sidestreambob

It is now Saturday and I’ve been fishing three times this week and not written one word for my blog. I guess that is how it should be, the priority is to do, not to witter on about doing. However, various things this week mean that numbers and statistics will weave their way though this post. “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable” is another of those quotes attributed to Mark Twain, but is twaddle. Statistics are not pliable, but it is their interpretation that may well be pliable! Before launching into the fishing, a comment by JAYZS in … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 8 MAY 2022 – FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS, BUT STATISTICS ARE PLIABLE

Uncategorized4 Comments

WEEK ENDING 1 MAY 2022 – WITHOUT THE AID OF A SAFETY NET

sidestreambob

Roll up, roll up, The (not so) Great Sidestreamo will attempt to perform that rare fishing trick of avoiding two* blanks without the aid of maggots. Okay it really it isn’t that rare, but I have become increasing depend on maggots of late and in a week when I am pushed for time (in short invigilating eight exams across five days and running or cycling on four evenings) getting to a tackle shop would be an additional faff. I suppose the days when any journey seemed to take you past a tackle shop are long gone and nowadays picking up … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 1 MAY 2022 – WITHOUT THE AID OF A SAFETY NET

Uncategorized4 Comments

WEEK ENDING 24 APRIL 2022 – FRED J TAYLOR, STEVE THE ANGLER, AYSHEA BROUGH AND JOHN WILSON

sidestreambob

Yes, it is one of the odder editions of ‘Have I Got news for You’ where the guest host Sidestream Bob asks Ian’s team to spot the odd one out from Fred J Taylor, https://stevetheangler.com/, Ayshea Brough and John Wilson. Have you spotted the odd one out yet dear reader? Well, if not read on. Everton Grange, Thursday 21 April 2022 (Session 21/2022) Swim: Peg No. 7 Time 10:00 to 12:00 Weather: can you describe the weather as steady? A little bit of breeze but not windy, some sun, some cloud, temperatures about normal for the time of year a … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 24 APRIL 2022 – FRED J TAYLOR, STEVE THE ANGLER, AYSHEA BROUGH AND JOHN WILSON

Uncategorized7 Comments

WEEK ENDING 17 APRIL 2022 – THE NUMBERS GAME

sidestreambob

My interest in football, or soccer as my Irish in-laws call Association Football to differentiate it from Gaelic Football, rarely extends to finding that many books about the game interesting. An exception is ‘The Numbers Game’ by Chris Anderson and David Sally. Of course, being shallow one reason I like this book is that it confirms some of my long held views. These include that I’ve never understood why fans get excited when their team wins a corner as I’ve long suspected the defending team are more likely to score on the break than the attacking team are to convert … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 17 APRIL 2022 – THE NUMBERS GAME

Uncategorized5 Comments

WEEK ENDING 10 APRIL 2022 – ON THAT A27, FLINT WALLS AND THE GRASS IS GREEN

sidestreambob

A short post this week as I didn’t make it to the bank side this week, mainly due to trying to press on with rejuvenating the garden and the fact that when I was free to go fishing it was either raining or blowing a hooley. I think I have reached the age where sitting out in rain or wind doesn’t fit my definition of fun. The weather did improve towards the end of the week, but we had booked a couple of nights in West Sussex as we had intended watching our daughter running in the Brighton Marathon. However, … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 10 APRIL 2022 – ON THAT A27, FLINT WALLS AND THE GRASS IS GREEN

Uncategorized8 Comments

WEEK ENDING 03 APRIL 2022 – COMMERCIAL BREAK

sidestreambob

Monday’s session (see below) was probably the last time I’ll fish at Orchard Lakes until October (https://www.orchardlakes.co.uk/) as I doubt I’ll pay for a day ticket whilst the complex is no longer available on the club ticket. I know I should launch into a diatribe about commercial venues being the fishing equivalent of long ball football, but I’ve enjoyed my handful of sessions on both the Tench Lake and the Match Lake. The bailiffs are friendly and helpful, I’ve not blanked there this winter, it is close to home, has a tackle shop, a clean toilet and there is the … Continue reading WEEK ENDING 03 APRIL 2022 – COMMERCIAL BREAK