Out of the Blue

I finally managed to track down a hard copy of Chris Yate's Out of the Blue last month!

It's not a long book, and I devoured it hungrily in the land-locked state of my 'veterinary' existence whilst working very long hours at a small animal hospital.

The book begins the chronicle of Yates' return to sea fishing and was just as captivating to read as a soley coarse angler as any of his other books. 

In fact I was inspired to head out from my landlocked position at the next suitable weekend, and threw my spinning rod, some of Dad's old sea tackle, and two friends and two tents into my little Jeep (in roughly that order too actually).

We headed off to Wales around the area of Llandudno, to attempt to fish at pretty much the wrong time of year, from all the wrong places (why fish a pier when a cliff is so much more isolated?) 

But we had a fantastic time. 

Christian caught some Scorpion fish on the first evening using bait on some gigantic hooks, whilst I failed to tempt anything (unsurprisingly) with my 99p illuminous squid lure. I'd spotted it in the tackle shop and as it was the most ludicrous lure I'd ever seen, of course had to test it! The next day we traveled over toward Angelsey and found a beautiful beach to fish from, and where I managed to lose the lure I had found on a beach in Australia. I hope it washes ashore and some other angler picks it up...

On the beach I caught a herring, with my bare hands! (The herring was rather unwell, but still it counts)

And what has this got to do with coarse fishing at Lonsdale? Well sea fishing seems to lack alot of the refined finesse of coarse angling and has made me really appreciate my home waters, but the energy and unknown involved have me thinking about Allonby (a beach I've written about before, one of the most beautiful in Britain and one of my favourite places to be) and Silloth which is only about 25 miles away.

Anyone who's read Out of the Blue, and wants to tag along with me would be most welcome - I have alot to learn and I'm sure many of our regular visitors have never managed to explore Allonby which really is worth leaving Lonsdale for (honestly!).

www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

Bank Holiday Weekend

Hello all - I hope you are well and enjoying the weekend.

I've come home to rest up after finishing my third year final exams.

Dad has very kindly given me his Rapidex centrepin to match my 12ft split cane avon (my christmas present).

I have managed to get out onto Deer lake, yesterday morning and had quite a bag of roach considering it was raining pretty heavily on and off! I set off at 11.30 and by about quarter to 1 I must have caught nearly 10lbs of fish!
I took a photo of one to show the stamp of the fish - there were a few larger and a few smaller than this fellow but still very nice! You'll notice I opted for my old setup - I'd like to be with Dad when I christen it!


This morning I decided to take the dogs to the beach at Allonby. It's not the nearest beach to us but it only takes 35 minutes, and it's my favourite!
Allonby is pretty historic and the beach has won awards for its cleanliness, and is one of the best spots for wind surfing (no I haven't had a go yet)
So Mum and I have had a great long walk today, I did get distracted chasing little loaches in rock pools, watching shelducks and I even found a beadlet anemone which was really interesting!
We also got fish and chips from John's Plaice in Silloth (word to the wise some of the best in Cumbria)

If you want to have a look at Allonby or what I've gotten upto this weekend I did take my little camera out for a few pictures.
You can look at them at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrinkall/sets/72157623851194223/

Fell Walks and Canoeing

Below: my photo of beautiful buttermere!
Hello all,
Well Jamie returned and so I got the weekend off!
It was Tom's 21st on Saturday, and the weather was beautiful so we were tempted into walking up Haystacks which was Alfred Wainwright's favourite mountain, and where his ashes were scattered. We carried on to another hill called Fleetwith Pike which looked right down Buttermere with some amazing views!
We ended up walking in thye glorious sunshine for about 4 and half hours - and with the drive less than hour it was a lovely way to spend the day!
We also went up a little hill called Mellbreak the other week, which is a nice fell - where we didn't see another human being at all!

If you're interested in my walks I've added a folder called Fell Walks to the Photo Gallery and in there are a few pictures. Tom's also put a few up in a folder called The Lake District.

On Sunday the weather held, and Tom, a couple of friends and I went canoeing on Derwent Water.

Our friends 'Gulston' and Stuart came out with us - and were very amusing to watch. I can't talk because my steering skills are limited, but watching the two of them zigxag around and then land the canoe at the marina was quite funny! I've put a photo up of the two of them in the red canoe, dodging away from the other boats moored up.

Don't worry I tried to stick to the front of the boat so that the other lake users were spared my slightly dodgy steering!
It was really fun to get back on the water - though I did relearn a little lesson.
A motor boat passed in front of us and as I saw the wash I thought it would be fun to pick up a bit of speed and 'jump' the wave! Only we landed in between the next wave which came over and into my lap!! Oh well when you go out on the water, you can only get wet as far as your skin!

I'm hoping to get to the Honister Mine Via Ferrata route depending on when I go back to Uni too. In case you didn't know Via Ferrata is a sort of extreme mountain walking / rock climbing, but you're harnessed to a wire cable all the way along the route. (The same as climbing Harbour Bridge which I did in Sydney) It's only £20 and it's so close to us it has to be done! If you're interested search for 'Honister slate mine via ferrata' on Youtube to watch a video about it.

It's a shame that more people don't realise what a bounty Cumbria has to offer when they come to stay with us! The site is perfect for anglers but if your other half isn't so keen there's plenty to do and see around us!!

If you'd like to go back to the Lonsdale website please click here: http://www.lonsdalepark.co.uk/