I have had some success if your measure of success is catching fish but honestly, when the mornings are as beautiful as they have been, I pack up at 6:55am and head for work just as happy (well, nearly as happy) as I would if I had caught.
The wheels nearly came off! No damage to the boat or the car but the trailer axle is confirmed to be f#cked! So that’s now say waiting for a part with a lead-time of around six weeks. The bank balance is also in for a nasty shock. The joy of boats!
The sunshine has come at the right time. Time to get back on it and get my fishing head on. It’s the time of year when the dawn chorus is amazing, the trees and flowers are coming to life and it’s just good to be outside. Blink and it’s gone. The lightest day of the year will be here and it sounds crazy but, the nights start drawing in and there’s a feeling of, damn, I missed it! I don’t want to miss it!
We were sooo lucky with the weather. In the sun, out the wind and it felt, dare I say it, warm! It was lovely to welcome back familiar faces and some new ones too.
for a brief moment I thought a Hollywood style wave was about to wash me from my spot! I scrambled up the bank to see what was happening. The storms drain we’re running at full bore and whilst it wasn’t exactly the tsunami I pictured in my head, the fishing spot was definitely f#cked.
For the first time in years, despite being what normally feels like a really long, January has flown by. It’s been a real mix of weather that’s meant the fishing has been really varied and it’s had a little bit of everything.
Looking back, like you do at the end of a year, 2023 has been a lot of fun. The fishing lessons saw loads of people catching their first fish and in my own time I’ve enjoyed a variety of fishing with a few really good fish along the way. I’ve learnt a few new things which I’ll carry into 2024 and as usual there’s a few more new things I’ve pencilled in that I’d like to try.
There’s still lots of good fishing to be had but there’s no doubt it gets a little bit harder and being smart with time is more important than ever.
Third cast and here come the “wild swimmers” to whom I remarked, “which one of us looks more daft, you or me!?”. It was 6:30am, dark and fresh. I kind of admired their adventure but I wasn’t about to swap my fishing rod for a pair of speedos!
September, autumn, less day light, crowds gone, big winds, big seas and, if you get it right, big fish. That’s the theory anyway.