The Stuff in the Loft

You know the 'stuff' I mean - the old vinyl records, various sports equipment, spares for cars that have long since gone, old photos etc - and fishing gear.

It's July 2010 and I've just finished a contract at Canary Wharf - Luckily i've had an offer of another contract, based next to the Bank of England, which means due to the usual security checks, I have a month of kicking my heels back home in Glasgow.

So I decide that I should clear out some of the 'Stuff in the Loft'. As we don't have a loft, this means that all our storage space is full of old stuff.

One of the first things I spot is my wicker fishing basket - last used in the mid 70's before I discovered girls and alcohol - Managed to dump the booze in the mid eighties but girls - another story..........

So, I also find my old rod holdall which contains a Shakespeare match International 13' float rod - I got this for Xmas in '73 or might have been '74 - anyway, once out of it's bag it's still in good condition and after delving into the basket, I find the Abu 505 reel that I used with it.

So a plan is hatched - a quick check of the internet show me that there is now a commercial fishery called Magiscroft only 15 miles away in Cumbernauld - And I have the Forth & Clyde canal within walking distance - the clearing out the old stuff idea goes out the window and I spend the next couple of weeks fishing at Magiscroft, Eliburn Reservoir in Livingston and the local canal.

I had to buy new line/barbless hooks/shot, a landing net and some bait, but I managed to catch some fish and I really enjoyed the relaxation of summer fishing.

But all too soon, it was the end of August, and it was back to London to earn some cash.....

I managed to fish at the Croft, as it's known, a couple of times at the weekends and quickly realised that my way of fishing from the '70s, was a bit outdated - most folk were using a pole instead of a rod/reel and the fish were a lot bigger! My 1.5lb line and size 20 hook wasn't eally up to the job and one session in particular, on the railway pond at the Croft brought this into sharp focus - I'd landed dozens of small roach, and a skimmer bream of just over 2lbs when I hooked into something that just ripped line from my reel as it headed for the nearby lilly pads - I just couldn't stop it on my light tackle and it was gone - I later found out there are some 6lb+ tench in the Railway which probably explains what happened.

Then the horrible winter of 2010/2011 was upon us and suddenly, I'm asked if I would like to work from the Glasgow office - brilliant - a year away from home was more than enough.

I hadn't really thought much about fishing over the winter but as 2011 moved into the spring, things were changing..........