July 17 - RMC
Chertsey
We started out a little later, today; Chertsey is not that far
away and a half day of fishing sounded just right. Unfortunately, since
RMC finally put in an access road, it was a bit crowded by the time we
arrived. All those folks, who couldn't be bothered with the long walk
before, were trying out the lake, I guess. We ended up on the
northwestern bank, under the motorway at the far end.
Fishing lore says that you should try and fish with the wind in
your face; if the wind is blowing towards you, all the bugs and bits of food
that the Carp like, are being blown towards you too. Well, the wind was in
our favor according to this bit of information. We could see the Carp,
too, out on the gravel bar in the middle of the lake.
Maybe the fishing gods would be kind to us this day? One
always has hope when fishing; fishing is fueled by hope and dreams.... and a lot
of frustration.
I wandered away and snuck up on a coot preening under a downed
tree in the water.
Coots must have the most bizzar feet in the bird world.
This one certainly didn't have blue feet like the ones at Orchid Lakes, nor did
they look "greenish" as the bird books state. They are just funny looking
lobed feet of an indeterminate color... or maybe I'm color blind?
I went back to see if we'd had any
luck. Nope. Steve was sitting looking rather disappointed....
Sitting down I listened to the birds and the breeze and the bees
and snapped off a few shots of a bumble bee on a thistle next to me.
I managed to capture it with it's tongue out... was it sipping
nectar or blowing me a raspberry?
I think it was commenting on our fishing, actually, and turned
my attention to a honey bee in the blackberry bushes. It was much more
polite.
The day wore on and the ducks came to look at us... and probably
to laugh. There's nothing worse than a laughing duck.
The sun started going down and the moon rose and moved in the
sky.
As dusk descended and the moon was reflected on the
water...
... we decided to call it a day and pack up.
I am beginning to wonder if we have offended the fishing gods somehow.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and... those fish are there. When we
do finally land one it will make the victory that much sweeter.