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Review of 2007Sometimes you just have to shake yourself. You can’t believe that life’s just so good. Of course, it’s true, the more you put in, the more you get out but still, whatever the platitudes these were eight days that changed my own fishing life. Is that too strong? I just don’t know…you decide. Friday 23rd November. Casting for Gold goes pike fishing. It’s a slow day. Then, in the distance, we hear Gilman calling, desperate. The whole troupe of us runs the bank. We’re excited. The thought of a big fish. The thought of a happy, smiling face. Brilliant. We get there and, yes, it’s a monster. Thirty-two pounds of estate lake pike. Long and broad-headed as a crocodile almost. In fact, in truth, I’ve seen small crocs than this! And, of course, there’s Gilman, face beaming like the sun. Just brilliant. You look down the lens and think life doesn’t get better. But it can… Saturday 24th November. Again, the day is slow. We’re on a pit this time and little happens until Miller’s float goes. It’s a beautiful fish. Twenty-six and a half pounds and a bottle of wine is, of course, cracked open. As you’d expect, we’re thinking the day is done with that fish but it’s not to be. In the mid-afternoon, Neil’s indicator bleeps forlornly two or three times. He winds down. It’s a fish. Not big he thinks. I disagree because I see it flash deep down in the crystal clear water. You’ve got your thirty, mate, I mutter. And, a run or two later, he has. Thirty-six pounds four. Majestic. How can life get better than this…but it does. Saturday 1st December. Casting for Gold is in Slovenia. We’ve already had two extraordinary days. We’ve seen huge wild rainbows in our rivers. We’ve caught delicious browns. You can’t believe the spotting patterns. We’ve seen grayling that make your eyes water and we’ve seen huchen, aka Danubian salmon, probably one of the rarest salmonids species in the world swimming in front of our blinking eyes. On the Saturday morning, Al hooks into a big fish. It comes off. We’re all gutted. This, piscatorially, is a nightmare. I, personally, don’t know any living Englishman who has landed a big Danubian salmon. It would have been a first, truly momentous. We pack up at lunch and spend two or three hours in the afternoon brooding, licking our wounds. The guides tell us we can fish into dark this coming evening. You can tell their hopes are high. It is night now in the Slovenian valley. It’s crisp, stars above. We’re all casting with intent, heart in mouths, every retrieve expectant. We’re split into two groups – some of us fishing the Great Pool, others at the Old Bridge. We’re linked by mobiles and one begins to ring. I don’t understand Slovenian but I do understand ‘metre.’ We’re in the jeep, we’re tearing down the rutted lanes through the forest. We get to the Old Bridge. There’s mayhem. There are toasts, shouts, back-slapping. Al’s done it. Twenty-two pounds of Danubian salmon. Yes, a huchen falling to an Englishman who is very, very much alive. Once again, I look through that lens and simply say to myself, wow. But then again, 2007 has been like that for Pauline, all our friends and everybody associated with Casting for Gold. Big pike, big tench, wonderful wild carp, roach, rudd, seriously big perch, barbel, massive chub, river bream…you name it, it seems we’ve caught it. As ever, it’s not just the catching. It’s the company. Wonderful people, a fantastic spirit and, of course, staying in great places and fishing waters that make you gawp. It’s a pretty good combination I think we all agree. And 2008? Well, we’ll keep the best, of course. Our Norfolk rivers and lakes, our opportunities down in Hampshire and, excitingly, our growing opportunities abroad. Slovenia again is a given. Casting for Gold is actually making an exploratory trip in April to locate marble trout. Huchen and marble trout in one package. Consider that. And, of course, we’re off to Poland, too, at the end of May – just about the perfect time for monster grayling in the south eastern rivers. “Casting” carried out a recce back in the spring of 2007 and we were totally and utterly bowled over. Magnificent countryside, welcoming people, a stunning river and grayling like you’ve never seen before. And we’ve got many other plans, too. Some of you will remember the river near Cordoba, Spain. How we couldn’t quite get onto the private stretch like we wanted to. Well, “Casting” thinks it can now! Twelve miles of totally virgin water. And then there’s the ferox trout of Iceland. And a pike lake on the Polish German border that could rock the world. Casting for Gold has also forged very strong links for 2008 with Simon Cooper and Fishing Breaks. This opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities for us all. Not only will we be able to fish Simon’s waters on an exclusive basis but we’re also working hard with author Terry Lawton to open up wild brown trout fishing in Norfolk. And we’re also going to explore the coastal fishing for bass and mullet much more thoroughly. We also hope to be able to offer a small range of exclusive tackle and fishing artefacts – the sort of gear and goodies that you can’t really get anywhere else in the world. In short, ideas and excitement are pinging around like fry showering in front of a perch attack. All that we ask is that you stick with us or you join up with us for 2008. It’s going to be the best year yet.
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