the newts.net

Once again it was down to George’s at Thorpe Vale for my second outing of the season. Me, Ken and Willie ventured down to the lake in glorious sunshine, t-shirt and shorts weather :0)

Once again I was quickly off and running with a nice wee rainbow. Me and Willie had a £5 side bet on the biggest fish killed. We’d only paid £10 to keep 1 fish and then fish catch and release, so selecting which fish to keep would be all important.

I knocked my next fish on the head as at 2 1/2lb it was a fair fish which I reckoned had Willie beat! Good choice as it was my biggest fish of the day. Thing is, if I’d have caught a 5lb’er it would have been tough tits as it had to go back. So that was the target for Willie to beat and up to then he’d caught his usual NOWT!

Ken was getting the odd one or two at the far end of the lake, but Willie had worked his way closer and closer to me as I was getting the odd fish and he’s a poaching bastard ;0) Willie eventually snickled one late in the evening but it was a stockie and I took great pleasure in depriving him of his crispy £5 note. The strange thing about tonight was although it was almost identical conditions to our lat visit, there was absolutley no evening rise whatsoever. Weird huh? Last week the fish went wild from about 7pm onwards but this week nothing. Dead. Strange how two identical days can be so different fishing wise.

The beautiful weather and sunset…

Probably led to Ken taking an early nap!..

And the final scores…

newts 4 (+£5) : Ken 4 : Willie 1 (-£5)

Imagine if you will the most amazing stunts you would think possible with a radio controlled helicopter.
Then imagine something more amazing than that.
And now something twice as amazing as that!

Now watch Alan Szabo Jr. ‘fly’ his Raptor 90 helicopter. I say fly although that is a gross understatement. This is sheer ariel poetry, and this is one talented pilot. If you’ve not seen or heard of this guy then I suggest you download this file and check it out. Awesome. It’s a BIG file at 27.4MB but it’s 5 1/2 minutes of stunts you wouldn’t have thought physically possible by a helicopter.

Alan Szabo - Raptor 90 - Helicopter stunts —> 27.4MB .wmv file.
[right click ---> save target as] to your desktop.

Yes at last, I’ve got my first fly fishing outing of 2004 under my belt, and what a start it was!

I’d been helping Oli out in his re-designed garden when I got the call from Gaz to rendezvous at my house at 3:15 for a trip down to Thorpe Vale for the evenings fishing. The weather had been lovely all day, but as soon as I set off for home it started to rain :0|

By the time Gaz arrived it was fairly chucking it down. So much so I thought he wasn’t going to turn up. Thankfully he did… Because by the time Gaz had took us [inadvertently] on a tour of all our backwater villages after a missed turning, by the time we arrived at the lake at 4pm the weather was glorious once again!

We were fishing the far end of the lake by 4:30pm and it was only a few casts before the newts was into his first fish of the day. A fine 2 1/2lb rainbow. Sweet. Nice start. I was getting a few takes but it wasn’t until we moved round to the left hand side of the lake that I got my next two fish. By this time Gaz was still dry netted. AKA Waterlicked.

It was only then, then after 15 years of fly fishing, then after I’d seen Ken do it twice and novice Gaz beat me to it at Bigland Hall, THEN…

2 FISH IN ONE CAST!!!

Woo, Yay and Houpla!

At last I done it. What happened after that all seemed a little insignificant, but the fish started to rise late in the evening and I was getting pulls nearly every cast. I’d changed from my highly sucessful small gold ribbed hares ear to a small pearly pheasant tail and the fish were lapping it up. We left the lake at about 8:30pm so only 4 hours fishing but what a fantastic start to the new season. Buzzing.

There were plenty of fish rising when we left, and I reckon another 1/2 hour would have seen us with a 3 or 4 more fish each, but the light was fading and it was getting a little nippy. I was happy to stick on lucky 7 for the opening day of the new season, especially after bagging 2 in 1 :0)

And the final score…

newts 7 : Gaz 1

Some of my latest creations off the fly tying bench…

Small Pearly Pheasant Tail.

Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear.

And one that I didn’t tie but bought from Sportfish because I liked the look of it and wanted to copy it…

Montana Buzzer.

Quality night last night as we drove down to the Springhead Pub in Willerby, Hull, to support the South Parade lads. It was the Best Original Band competition, but from the start we knew we were unlikely winners as the other two competing bands, local Hull bands Shindigg & Evenflow, filled the 280 capacity venue with their fans. Although the fans got to vote on their favourite band, there were 3 impartial judges who could cast a block vote of 75 votes to try and even up the fan bias.

1st on were the South Parade boys…

…With just 18 supporters making the journey to the wrong side of the bridge! 4 of which incidentally turned up just as the boys were packing up… Candice & Co…

…Still at least they made the effort unlike last minute cocker Wez who had to stay at home to oversee his mechanic brother change a car battery… Hmm?? Wez of slightly less than zero mechanical knowhow has to oversee a mechanic change a battery. Hmm :|

Anyway, It was a great venue that hosts live music EVERY night of the week. The sound system was fantastic and credit to the sound guys and gals. I think eyeryone agreed it was South Parade’s best performance yet. The band performed well and the quality sound system enriched their performance. Their set was varied, original and with a few small exceptions well executed. I know I seem to say this EVERY time but once again it was the song ‘BE’ that stood out for me. The lads are really nailing this one now and the harmonies were the best yet. I was impressed with James’s playing. Solo’s and lead licks are improving every time he plays live and I think the slightly toned down stage acting on lovebug contributed to a better musical performance. Shaun’s harmonies were spot on as was his playing. Tim… Well Tim’s tim int he. He needs no encouragement the crazy man. Afterall, a drummer who can turn up to a gig with no drums and just one drumstick lacks no confidence…

…Then there’s our kid. Oli played both acoustic and electric very well. His progression is rapid and the more time he spends playing the more technically competent he becomes. Oli’s best performance last night though was vocally. I have no qualms in saying that I believe he was the best voice of all 3 bands by quite some way. And not just me, we heard this from several other people at the gig, including fine compliments from other band members. Technically untrained, which may have to be the next port of call in his musical learning curve, he has a fantastic natural voice. The band scored 108 votes. A very fine effort and very respectable result.

2nd on the bill were local Hull band Shindigg…

Like South Parade they consisted of Lead, Rhythm & Vocals, Bass and Drums. Although their genre is a little hard to categorise, I’ve heard them described as funk metal / indie punk, and that about sums them up as good as I could. Not my favourite style of music, a little hard to hear the lyrics, and as such all their songs sounded very much alike. Pickiness over, technically I thought they were fantastic. They performed their set brilliantly and the musical construction of their songs was great. Credit to the lead guitarist, he was VERY very good. The mad cap bass player deserves a mention too, if just for his athletic stage workout!..

…A band of quality musicians, I’d have liked to heard more vocal elaboration and harmony from the other band members to add a little more richness to their performance, I’d also like to hear them play in their acoustic guise of Flatmates. With well over 300 votes Shindigg were worthy winners of this heat of the competition, and me and the South Parade lads wish them all the best in the rest of the competition. They’ll do well.

Final band on the bill were Evenflow…

…A four piece including acoustic rhythm, and like the first 2 bands… lead, bass and drums. I am presuming that being last on the set Evenflow must have brought an army of fans with them to beat Shindigg who brought close to 100. I wasn’t over enamoured by their high pitched somewhat ’squeeky’ lead singer, nor their rocky country style. I didn’t think the mouth organ did them any favours, other than to give the lead singer a DYLANesque look… but that’s where the similarity ended. Reasonably sound musicians who’s style will have it followers but not me I’m afraid. I think their 2nd place to Shindigg with 140 votes was a massive indication to how well South Parade performed to capture 108 votes with just 18 tickets sold.

Good luck to Simon’s band Sonic Purveyors who play in the 8th heat of the competition on Wednesday 21st April at the springhead. There’s a coach going to the gig (which includes FREE BEER on the coach!) so if anyone’s interested contact the South Parade boys here.

After their tirade of verbal abuse for exercising their right to free speach protesting at the recent circus, One of the protesters has his say in the local rag.

BRING IT ON!

Hi Folks. I’ve been a bit busy at work and such and haven’t had much exciting to post but I’m still here. The new screen came and it’s fantastic. I’ve got so much more room on the old desk now since being rid of that quality but monster sized Iiyama 17” crt.

The weather’s been rather nice over the last few days, and while I haven’t got that first fishing trip under my belt yet I have been doing a bit in the garden. Some serious hair cuts have been meted out to several bushes, and the roses got a damn good seeing too as well. Had my petrol rotorvator out to go over all the boarders ready for the onset of the spring planting, and I found some really nice heathers that have been planted in the pond rockery. This year should see the rockery progress further and possibly some excavation of the pond site, although I think while Baby Ben’s still little I may use the hole as a sand pit for a year or two before I progress with an actual pond.

A mate of mine’s fcuked his pc up so I’m sorting that out. His cd drawer’s well and truly fcuked so it looks like a new one, he’s not sure where all the porn’s coming from, but I think his 15yr old son may have an idea, he’s got a virus or three and he keeps getting e-mails off people he doesn’t know. Welcome to the world of spam! So whence the drive is sorted it’s a new firewall, virus checker and spam filter for him.

Oli’s band has a competition on in Hull on Wednesday night so me, Rach, Wez, Toni and a few others are off to support him. It’s Chrissy’s birthday today so Happy birthday to you chuck, Oli’s off to Edinburgh to fulfill his best man duties for Jason & Jo, and on the way back he’s stopping off at Dads in the Lake District to drop Chrissy’s prezzies off before returning just in time for the Battle of the Bands competition.

Baby Ben’s 7 months old tomorrow. He’s just been weighed yesterday and tips the scales at 19lb 8oz’s. About the size of my best trout!

I’ve just returned from work after a wee game of cards with the staff where after 3 hours I made the grand profit of one pound :0)

The Ladybower cup trip looks set for June 25th - 27th. Bit tight for Gaz cos his & Suzi’s baby is due at the beginning of the month, but Gaz is used to being tight! Just hope he can make it, don’t want him losing his title to me by default, I’d never hear the end of it.

Got a nice pic of Toni out of tonight’s telegraph. She’s in it for the Vets4Pets animal compy. (As a vet, not an animal.) Pics in the car, I’ll scan it in tomorrow hopefully.

I’m in the process of getting me sen a One Account so I can save tons of dosh on my mortgage and be able to take Ben and Rach on a nice holiday in a year or so. I can’t wait to see him on the beach and having a little swim about. It will be so fantastic.

Errm, I think that’s about it. Hope that sums up the last few postless days for you who have been asking. I’m marvin aggler so it’s a choccy biccy and bed for me.

Goodnight folks… And thanks for watching.