Field And Stream

New Blackmore Vale, July 9, 2021 Field & Stream Shoals too hot to prove very catchable

ANGLING

Gillingham AA 1st Summer Championship at Lodden lakes. (27 pegs) The first round of this popular summer series kicked off in style on the Dave Hillier lake at Loddon, with 27 hopefuls trying to catch some of the vast but sometimes uncatchable shoals of bream and skimmers in bright, hot and unforgiving conditions!. Winner on the day from unfancied peg 21 was Steve Trevett who caught hybrids, skimmers and roach well short in the first two hours on casters before going on his long line and catching bream to 3lb and eventually weighing an impressive 6000 on worms. Runner up was Bob Gullick who caught skimmers and bream alternating betwee n 11-14.5m on the pole with worms on the hook over groundbait to weigh 37-08 from weedy peg 14. 3rd: Adie West: 28-02 4th:= Jack Stamp & Martin Tizzard with 24-08 6th: Jason Mills- 23-03. The next match is on Hillview in 2 weeks, Book in with Dave on 01747 823159.

Gillingham AA 2nd Summer Shield at Todber Manor’s Hillview Lake. 27.06.21. 22 hardy souls fished and weighed in on average 131lb. Luckily the rain stayed off and the fish were obliging with mainly carp being caught. Winner was Jack Stamp who drew on peg 38 and caught on Top 3 of his pole all day on maggots and pellets to weigh an impressive 329-06. Runner up was Jason Mills, who drew on 41 and started on the method and pellets for a few fish before switching to the short pole in the margins fishing groundbait and meat to weigh 257-04. 3rd: Steve Trevett- 239-04 4th: Joe Sheppherd- 225-11 5th: Rich Fripp- 168-07 6th: Jason Randall- 147-04. Next match is at Witherington Farm on Sunday, July 11. Book in with Dave on 01747 823159. 1st Evening match at Lodden big lake. 23.06.21. (21 pegs) 1st Nick Chedzoy 48lb 12oz (peg 1). 2nd Steve Trevett 41lb 2oz (peg 14). 3rd Rob Randall 33lb 3oz (peg 18). Sec A . Daimon Townsend 32lb 6oz Sec B. Mark Harper 17lb 0oz Sec C. Guy Manton 25lb 15oz. All the weights were made up of skimmers, bream and roach.

Sturminster & Hinton AA The first club match was held on the Upper Stour at Colber Farm and 26 anglers fished. The rain failed to materialise, much to the relief of those fishing but the river was clear and slow and it was hard work for everyone to put together a weight of fish. There were many pegs that had difficulty because of marauding pike. The top weight was Simon Dennis with 8lbs12ozs of roach and perch, alternating between chopped worm and maggot. Nigel Bartlett was second with 8lbs of mainly roach, some rudd and Mike Cullen had 7lbs14ozs for third, narrowly beating Steve Harvey on 7lbs 13ozs. There were a number of 5 and 6lb weights and the most successful tactic was fishing maggot and pinkie over groundbait. The next match is on Sunday, July 11 on the same stretch of river. Any change to this will be published on the website.

Dear little deer almost hidden in the long grass

THE FIELD

with Tria Stebbing

A busy couple of weeks in the field. The grass is growing well and last week we made an exciting discovery in it. We have a knee length meadow of good mixed grass, buttercups and native wildflowers. Upon closer inspection we also discovered a baby deer fast asleep in the middle of it. The dapple of the fawn’s coat hid it so well we almost trod on it. Mum returns late in the day to feed it, as it is not yet up to keeping up with her. She will also lead predators away whilst keeping a watchful eye leaving it to bask in the sun all day. This is a first for us, luckily, we were not ready to cut yet. The sheep have been shorn and true to my prediction look like large black goats. Most were in good condition, but my mis-marked Disney princess had made such a good job of feeding the triplets that she was in poor condition under all that wool. It made taking the lambs away much easier as she clearly needed them to fend for themselves. The castrated ram and the boys have been shipped over to our neighbouring village to eat down some small paddocks and the ewes are on the hill enjoying the peace and quiet. The ewes need to eat well now ready for the autumn, when the whole process starts again. Joe the shearer was a joy to watch. Shearing when done properly is good to watch. The ewes literally just lie into him, letting him twist and turn them to ensure an even cut. Ours seem to enjoy the attention and never struggle. After shearing the sheep fight for a while as believe it or not, they do not recognise each other any more and must establish a new hierarchy. Watching very skinny black sheep headbutting each other because they do not know each other any more sums up sheep keeping. The lambs are not shorn yet, we wait until they are a year old. The hedge laid in autumn has grown well and will provide a good shelter for the sheep as well as great habitat for nesting birds. Haymaking is imminent and watching for the best time is an art that I leave to him outdoors. A minimum of three clear dry days are needed to cut, turn and bale, however three clear dry days almost seems out of reach this summer!