She's a Stick in the Mud

Had a couple of hours down the river today. Started by throwing a small deep diving plug bait, as I wandered upstream, in to the rather lifeless looking water. Looking upstream from a bend I noticed a pale patch on the otherwise brown and green bank which I hoped was bank-side foliage dying back as the riverside vegetation was making access to a lot of the swims rather awkward.
Having got as far as I was going upstream I headed back with a shallow diving plug on the line, hoping for better results. A few casts later and small acrobatic little jack grabbed hold. On landing turned out to have recently been attacked bay something much bigger judging by the fresh scars on either side of it. Unfortunately a bout of butter-fingers saw my phone heading towards the river as I was about to photograph it as slid down the bank after it I snagged one of the straps on the unhooking mat and topped the fish back in the rivers just as I managed to grab the phone.

I headed further down-stream to a spot where willows overhang into the river. This area normally produces a predator or two. As I headed down the bank I spotted the pale area I'd seen earlier, a cow which I initially assumed to be dead. A poke with the landing net handle confirmed otherwise. It was well and truly stuck in the mud. Not knowing which of the farms the field belonged to I decided to contact the police. The phone reception in this area is not good, to say the least, and it to 3 or 4 attempts to connect to the police non-emergency number. Eventually the farmer turned up and the poor beast was hauled out in a rather undignified manner. None to steady on it's eet it was ushered back to the farm so they could keep an eye on it.

As it was now getting dark I called it a day.