APRIL BLOG

Bit of a mix up getting the last blog properly posted so my apologies for that, and hence a quick update because of the rapid changes that have happened these past few weeks. Covid 19 has impacted all of us  and it’s going to be tough to talk about what I love most  -  going fishing  -  because we are all in the same situation of not being able to go for the foreseeable future.

It’s all the more frustrating when my job involves seeing fish every day, and here, at Dever Springs where I now live, there are two lovely lakes plus a stretch of river, and not an angler in sight.

Trout fisheries and fish farms throughout the UK are in a dilemma with thousands of pounds worth of stock which either isn’t being fished for or is sitting in ponds consuming food, and not being able to be moved.

Even more frustrating, is not knowing whether or not we will be able to travel internationally to go on holidays and fishing trips. The costs, and knock on effects, are going to be felt for a very long time.

However, it will all come to an end, and hopefully the fishing world will recover.

Happily for me I can isolate quite easily, and work at the same time. There’s stacks of jobs to do on the fishery and much of it wouldn’t get done in normal times so it’s a great opportunity to make the place look better, and at times do the little things that make the normal day to day jobs that little bit easier.

I like making things from bits and pieces and it’s satisfying to contribute towards the fisheries future.

OK so I can’t get out and about to do feature jobs or guiding, but fly tying is something to while away the hours and I have been building up stocks for guests on Alaska trips, as well as tying a few odds and sods for myself.

One of my favourite dries is the Renegade, and that’s all due to my good friend Lou Hegedus from Fort Collins in Colorado. It’s good to have friends all around the world and Lou is certainly up there with the best.

It’s amazing what you accumulate in fly tying bits and pieces. While sorting through some old boxes I found a few ‘blind eye’ salmon hooks which I will never use so I posted them off to Dan Jordan in Anchorage , Alaska because he makes the most exquisite classic salmon patterns. Dan befriended me over thirty years ago on one of my first Alaska trips an it’s nice to give to people who appreciate it.

I learnt to tie when I was 14 ( ye Gods, that’s the best part of sixty years ago), and it’s odd how you can switch from a size 2 salmon iron and lashing on strips of rabbit to make the Dolly Llama to then carefully putting little hackles onto a size 14. Maybe that’s what an entire lifetime of fly tying makes possible.

Whatever, I do still enjoy it, and before this shut down I had been doing a little tuition again. Fly tying classes were a big part of my life for a very long time and back when club nights were a bigger feature than they are now I often did demo evenings. They were fun too, until one evening someone stole my tying scissors, and that sort of put paid to that session!

Seems there’s always someone on the lookout for a chance to steal and a recent thieving incident here reminded me of occasions on the syndicate I used to run back in Surrey when things like a quad bike, chain saw etc would disappear within minutes of turning your back. Someone simply must be watching for the chance and the countryside community do their best to share information and catch some of the scum who steal.

On a brighter topic, this week I committed flights for next March (2021) to go down to Argentina to fish again on Lago Strobel for its immense rainbows. Taking guests on these trips is one of the most pleasurable things I do and the gradual build up prior to eventually getting on the plane is all a part of the overall experience.

Got to assume that by then we will be over this pandemic and the world will have worked out how to manage it.