May contain traces of nuts.

Once in a blue moon one goes in the pot. Jack and I enjoyed a meal of trout. Cream, white wine, red pepper and mushrooms just to name a few of the ingredients. Washed down with a good wine.

The 50 Metre River Sprint.

training complete.

released...

landed and unhooked...

across and down...

across the river...

out the other side...

through the tree...

under the tree...

still going...

further down...

down-stream...

Hook-up...

Today I did some training for the up and coming, down-stream Olympic river sprint.

What are they eating? Anything!

Quite a smorgasbord.

Jack with a hen.


Pete with a jack!

Two lovely trout today, sunny skies and good humour. Life couldn't be better....

Not Quite Spring

A cold blast of weather brought fresh snow to the mountain tops. The wind chill is freezing and winter is trying to return. Once the cloud burns off, the sun tries its best to warm up the day. My fishing skills are still a bit cold too, missing another good fish yesterday! My indicator seems to dive under much quicker than I ever remember.

It's great to be out and getting some sun on the face.

Cane Rod

I bought this 4 piece cane rod off a guide. It was made by a Japanese guy from Osaka. This morning I set out to catch a fish on it. I haven't really fished a cane rod before, so it took a while to get into the rhythm. My leader was about 15ft and when the first fish took I missed him completely. The fish grabbed the nymph right infront of my eyes as he swung up and out of the deep run. I had so much line on the water all I could do was to watch as he shook his head, spitting the fly out.

The lesson was learnt. Cane rods move slower and leaders need to be a lot shorter in a small sprightly stream. Eventually getting the feel of the rod, I spotted a nice fish, which willingly took me twice. I missed the first take and after a change of fly and a minutes rest he jumped on a small mayfly nymph. It was exciting to feel the rod working and taking up the strain for the first time. It reminded me of the glass rod I had started out on all those years ago. Definitely a lot more feeling through the rod.

I missed one other fish today, just swirly water and as the rod moves a little slower I guess I need to pay a bit more attention when setting the hook. Maybe set a little faster.

I thoroughly enjoyed using my new cane rod.

There's a Moose in the Hoose.

Tie a clump of deerhair in then work the butts under with a few raps of thread. Stack it each time get the tips and taper of the hair on top.

After tying in the ears and eyes tie in a large clump on the top and bottom, followed by a final spin around the front near the eye.

Trim them up...be careful not to cut your ears off!

I came up with the idea to put foam ears on these guys. Which means they ride lower in the water, but are unsinkable even when the deer hair gets water-logged. I tried it yesterday and it swims well. The intruder loop I put on was a little long, I got a few tangles on the tippet, so next time I'll just tie the hook on a single line and make sure it's close to the back of the fly. All you need is shortish leader and away you go. The only fish I tried it on didn't even move. Ha!

Oh well always handy even if you never use it!

Opening Day - 1st of October.

I guess you're off down-stream!

Same fish as below, very chunky.

The second fish of the day, great condition for early season. the results of a very mild winter and a healthy diet.





Another magic brownie to end the day.

The morning was overcast and cold, but the promise of a fine day lay behind the early morning fog. The sun did eventually come out, but was a bit patchy. When the sun hit the water it was time to move up a little faster and spot the likely places.

I used a peacock quill bodied mayfly nymph. #16 TMC 5263. It was great to be out on the river again, casting, walking and catching trout. This was my second fish of the morning. 5.5lbs.