Nearly Time....

The anticipation of a new trout season is now close to becoming a reality.  Its been a strange sort of winter.  good because I think I have managed to fish more for grayling than I ever have and I have had some nice fish .  No two pounders although I have come close not more than an ounce or two short.  I have hooked  one specimen and been connected to it long enough for both me and my host to be convinced that indeed the fish was well in excess of two pounds.  I thank Dave for his patience on that occasion when he invited me to fish that delightful chalk stream , on the day my casting was poor and my over eager playing resulted in a release at distance, finally to his amusement I managed to land the only small grayling we saw all day.  I suspect I wont have heard the last of that achievement.  

My trout  fishing can start on Sunday although only on the Ure,  The other clubs dont start till April the first . Not sure yet if I will fish on Sunday . Start day has always been on my local beck its a silly personal tradition but its sort of important to me.

Looking ahead this years plans include a long delayed trip to the Monnow and a day with Peter of walks and Fishes on a river yet to be agreed although I keep looking longingly at the Usk. Also hopefully a trip or two to the North East, the upper Tees and the Northumberland Derwent are rivers I look at longingly.  I hope and pray that our local beck gets some serious rain this year , I understand that not a single sea trout came to any of the rods last year , please god send rain.

Locally I have resigned from one association after only fishing it a few times last year.  But have at last gained membership of another small club with waters on the upper Yorkshire Dove.  A small wild fishery that looks most promising.

As for tackle and flies strangely I find that although I am fishing more the number of fly patterns I am using is getting less and less but those fewer patterns are in more sizes.   I am now a real CDC  fan the F Fly and the JT olive in a big range of sizes accounted for many fish last year.  Also north country spiders now have a permanent place in my armoury.   Lets hope the mayfly appear in numbers this year there is something magical about them.  Will the fish show much enthusiasm for the Grammon this year strange that such numbers of this big mouthful can be so easily ignored by the fish and I look forward to the hawthorn flies I love fishing with those the fish seem to fall of them with such abandon.