On a still, warm morning at the end of September I was walking along the bank of the river Tech.
As I arrived he had a fish on his line and was bringing it in to the river bank, very slowly and carefully. He took quite some time to land it, both to take care not to lose the fish as well as not to damage it.
I watched the process with interest and, having asked if he minded, took a few photographs.
With the fish alongside, he called on his son to bring him the landing net; the boy was small and the net was large.
The fish - a large carp - was gently transferred from the net to a landing mat where the hook was slowly removed from its mouth.
The fisherman then held the carp up to show me. He said it weighed around 7 kilos - it really looked a handsome specimen.
What impressed me most was the fastidiousness with which the fish was handled and returned to the river. Clearly the angler took nature seriously, and preservation and protection were uppermost in his mind.
I have seen carp swimming in the Tech many times - there is a particularly good viewpoint on a bluff above the river - but have not been standing by when one has been caught.