I was on the Rufford line, down at the council yard. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and everything was right with the world - or at least, as right as could be expected under the circumstances. I was even catching some decent fish which was where the trouble started really.
A bloke came wandering along the towpath with his dog, which came over to introduce itself in a very friendly way. Lots of sniffing and wagging of tail, followed by a quick dip of it's head in my bag to see what was on my butties.
Not wishing to see his pet eat my dinner for me, the bloke put the dog on it's lead and we had a brief chat about how the canal was fishing. He was local & knowledgable, so it was a good chat - unlike the stifled 'Morning...' type usually offered by most walkers. By this time. he'd moved to the other side of me and the dog was getting a bit miffed being tethered, so he let it off the lead and it wandered off down the bank while we continued talking. I hooked a fish and shipped back then unhooked it. I was just rebaiting the hook before shipping out again and I heard a very brief impersonation of a galloping horse before an almighty CRASH!!!!
In the time it took to look behind me, the greyhound had run straight through my pole - bursting the no5 & no6 sections. The bloke was struck-dumb, as was I. I just got up and stared at the devastation behind me. The pole itself had been blown off the roller and there were bits strewn all over the place. The poor dog didn't know what it had done, but us humans did. Until the last couple of yards I had no idea the dog was coming at us - I heard two lots of footsteps then wallop - a very expensive bill.
Happily, the owner took responsibility and gave me his address, etc. I've been to see about getting replacements and he's agreed to pay for them (& they're arriving tomorrow - well done BAS & Daiwa) so everything has been resolved amicably - thankfully the dog owner is an angler and he completely understood the situation. All credit to him; a very nice bloke.
I'd just got the buggers going too...
[EDIT] No Bob - I haven't got any tips for Belle Vue...
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