As the title says it’s warming up nicely. Which as the central heating suffered a
catastrophic failure a few weeks ageo is actually a very good thing. Then the February short very mild
spell was a bit of a false dawn and the amorous frogs appearing in the pond
disappeared just as quick as they were
definitely a couple of weeks or so early in their noisy nuptials. Things are starting to happen though. These are often some of the first flies to appear around here . Just two more weeks to go. then there will be something decent to write about...
But I do love these days of lengthening hours and the rising
sense of piscatorial anticipation that comes with it. February was the month of fishing club bills
landing on the mat, of annual general meetings and particularly my local clubs
AGM and annual duck dinner. A great
night of renewing friendships, banter, fishing stories (some tall and some
real) and reminiscences. Also as club
chairman an evening when I can pretend I know what I am talking about. All topped off with the annual fund raising raffle.
last month also saw me attend for the first time the annual
BFFI (British fly fair international) a grand gathering of fly fishing and fly tying
businesses wares and a tiers row of over 50 fly tiers from all over the place giving
live demonstrations. I spent a good few
hours there and quite a lot of money on fur feather and tools. Tools wise after watching Swiss Mark
Petitjean demonstrating his CDC magic tools and having the chance to talk to
him I bought the magic tool clips etc. Once
I get to grips with them I am hoping it will increase the range of CDC patterns
I tie, (Initial results are promising). Also
this season I intend to fish a lot more for salmon and sea trout than ever
before and have joined another syndicate to pursue that, so suitable materials
and hooks had to be purchased. It was
great to be able to actually get your hands on the stuff you’re buying instead
of the usual internet experience that so much materials buying has become.
Recently I had a bit of a tackle check and overhaul before
the season starts. How an earth I have
managed to collect so much gear is beyond me.
Dozens of rods and myriads of fly boxes. After a big sort out I seem to have 6 fly boxes holding probably a 1000 flies and whats the betting on my first trip I wont be able to find the fly I want. So a very late new years resolution is to thin it out the rods and reels . Trouble is after creating a spread sheet
cataloguing all the rods and reels I can find a reason to keep every one of
them. Yet I probably only used a quarter of them last year.