Beneath the Black Water, Jon Berry

[Malcolm]

I don't know whether the presence of char is essential for Ferox. I do know that there are some mightily big trout in Shetland lochs. I haven't seen any huge fish myself myself but some very good fishermen I know have had them. The biggest I've seen a picture of came from Benston.

[trout n about]

My mate has a downrigger and holders that we've spoken about trying before but never got round to - this could be the year to get ourselves started!

Looking at the bathymetric map it looks pretty good to troll.  http://maps.nls.uk/bathymetric/view/?sid=74400548 The best way to troll a loch like this is by keeping the boat into the deeper water with the downriggers. With the loch having shallow margins this then gives you the opportunity to put out a planer board to troll the shallower areas at the same time.

I don't know whether the presence of char is essential for Ferox.

It was the case at one time Malcolm. Not so much now as there has been other species of fish introduced to lochs which the Ferox are now preying on.

Andy

[Malcolm]

Just finished the book, very good. I'll read it again in years to come.

I find ferox the most intriguing and mysterious of fish and while I have had a few big trout only one - a 7lb Rannoch fish I caught on a spinner in the late 70s - was from a classic ferox loch.

[fergie]

It's the Loch of Girlsta, Fergie. The only loch in Shetland, as far as I know, with char and ferox. Here's a 6lber that came out of it a few years ago and ended up stuffed and mounted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/burnyman30/3776814875/#sizes/l/in/photostream/

I was off in the boat two seasons ago and ended up waiting into the darkness when I came ashore, a little concerned for two other guys I'd seen out spinning in a very small skiff. They eventually appeared looking pretty shellshocked having had a lengthy tussle with the biggest troot they'd ever hooked before losing it.

My mate has a downrigger and holders that we've spoken about trying before but never got round to - this could be the year to get ourselves started!

That sounds promising Id fish it early season get a few of these in medium size and troll round the burn mouths
just on the drop offs.

http://www.harrissportsmail.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=18377

They will take a 6inch trout bait and take the guesswork out of rigging deadbaits.

If that doesnt work get into the deep water with the riggers as andy says.If you put the hrs in you will get the ferox.

[Guddler]

Thanks very much for all the advice, gents. I hope I can have something to tell you about later in the year 

[Wildfisher]

Davie, you won't go wrong listening to Fergie and Andy, they are Ferox 85 dudes.

Only one fluff chucker  has ever got into  that elite  band as far as I know - yes - you guessed it.

Stan!

I mean, who else could it have been?   :lol:

[fergie]

Im just pleased to be able to contribute to the forum as theres so much advice freely given on here.
Hope to see a nice shetland ferox in the reports page during the season.

[tomcatin]

On account of all the early praise posted here, I had set aside 'Beneath the Black Water' for a rainy day

I was woken this morning to Mother Nature's own Rolls Royce jet engines roaring through the Ochils making most of the local roads all but impassable ........ hell, no need to go anywhere, so I lit the fire, and settled back in my armchair. That rainy day had come  :roll:  so I entered the world of Jon Berry

What a wonderful world.

The book was read in a single sitting (ok there was a few visits to the loo, a couple of coffees, a few scoops of coal for the fire and about 3pm a nice big tumbler of malt). I loved the book from beginning to end ; Jon's relationships particularly with Ricky, the joy of being on water, the clear passion for Ferox and the excitement of every capture. My favourite section being the description of the drive in the old Peugeot from Wiltshire to Altness to the soundtrack of Teenage Fanclub .......utter magic!

I should mention at this point I am not really a fan of angling literature which mostly seems to fall into either the Paul Procter/Stan Headley school of technique/scenery description, self importance or endless wordy tomes on technique. In fact I think it is a trait common with so many other outdoor pursuits particularly fishing and mountaineering/climbing.

This sits with Robin Ade's superb 'Fisher in the Hills: A Season in Galloway' as one of the best Scottish and Trout Angling books that I have read. Best of all its a book that I look forward to reading repeatedly in the years ahead

I did not learn anything that I didn't already know about trolling or ferox fishing  but that is exactly the point! This is all about Jon's own (and our own) experience of life and how he (and we) find fishing a solace, focus, inspiration, retreat and/or consolation for his (our) experience of life.

When I think back over my, probably, 35 years of enthusiastic consumption of books about outdoor pursuits this book sits proudly with the likes of:

* Tom Patey's superb posthumous collection 'One Man's Mountains',

* Martyn Farr's inspirational history of British cave diving and brilliantly titled 'The Darkness Beckons' (though apart from a few ducks under sumps not quite inspirational enough to make me take up cave diving!)

* Dennis Gray's  'Rope Boy' a wonderful account  of hard climbing in the 1950s and 1960s (much more than an account of climbing but is a record of young lads growing up, working hard, playing even harder, drinking, partying, making friends, falling out, laughing, fighting and where getting to the hills was as much an adventure as any climb undertaken there)

* Dave Brown and Ian R. Mitchell brilliant evocation of Scottish Mountaineering  'Mountain Days and Bothy Nights'.

I am looking forward a decade or so for the follow up  

[Wildfisher]

I should mention at this point I am not really a fan of angling literature which mostly seems to fall into either the Paul Procter/Stan Headley school of technique/scenery description, self importance or endless wordy tomes on technique.

Could not agree more. I for one stopped reading that kind of stuff  years ago. Reading any article written by someone who has no genuine passion for or affinities with the places they are writing about other than catching fish leaves me cold. I suppose there must be a place for it though as it's what makes up the bulk of magazine articles.

[Buanán]

There's a limit to the number of manuals I can digest on any subject. You have to get out and do it. Beneath the Black Water conveys that wonderfully in my opinion, out there doing it, the places the people and the relationships, the obsession. It's a book that inspires you to get out. That chance meeting or casual observation, that can make all the difference, isn't going to happen sat in the house.

No elitism either, all about the journey. That really struck a chord. Doug Scott in his book "Big Wall Climbing" talks about "being out there" as an end in it's self, and observes that no matter the standard with which we operate or pursue our interest (he was talking climbing of course but a point I think relevant to most things in life), getting "out there" and doing it brings us all to the same place: the extreme mountaineer on his last legs operating at the edge of their ability on the roof of the world  shares with the hillwalker lost in the Pentlands with poor weather struggling to find a way off the hill; a similar  extreme experience. They are literally in the same place mentally despite the difference in technical ability or location. They're both out there.  

It's similar with fishing I think, some are better than others at the actual techniques involved etc, some have more enthusiasm, but the vast majority of the overall experience is often common enough to all who take part, enough to enable us to identify ourselves as fishermen regardless of competence level. I think thats what I saw in Jon's book; a good bit of myself and good bit of the others I'm known to fish with, or not as the case maybe.