My season is now over. On the 29th, I took myself down to Wiltshire, and in the shaded areas below the hatchpool of SDAC’s Durnsford, beat 18, and in a remarkably hot and sunny afternoon, I took two stocked browns as well as a handsome, but unexpected, roach of 1/2lb, on weighted nymph, then a small wild fish on an elk hair caddis. Dinner with Fraser at the Peat Spade Inn was a delight. On Friday the 30th, we headed to Amesbury, on an equally hot, bright and sunny day and, and not surprisingly, we struggled. However, it seemed fitting that my last fish of the season was a solitary wild brown, and on an Adams!!
…’Til April, then! Although, I have Argentina to look forward to in January.
It has been a good season. I have fished on forty days in the six months and enjoyed every second…seen beautiful sights, been in glorious settings, and met some splendid folk, and returned all my catch, to grow on, and multiply! I have caught browns and rainbows, a sea trout and a cut throat trout, grayling and whitefish (the salmonids), as well as a chub, a roach, and several dace, all on the fly.
To complete my ‘mission’ I have to ‘net’ the three counties in the North East and Cheshire, too, and I think this is do-able. More challenging are the Isle of Wight and West Midlands, but research this season has revealed some potential ‘wheres’…much more challenging are Bedfordshire and Essex, and especially, Merseyside, for which any help will be greatly appreciated!
I have netted fifteen counties this year, and I offer enormous thanks to all who have helped me, Andrew, Jonathan , John, Paul, Rob, Terry, another John, Chris, yet another John, Mike, Keith, Julian and another Andrew, David, and Stuart, Roger, and some fellow Forum site users of various ‘nom de plumes’, and the map now looks like this – County Map September 2011
# 37. September 22 Cornwall, the Inny
# 36. September 8 Suffolk, the Lark
Aaarrrggghhh! The end is nigh. It is September now, and who knows what my end of season planning may yield….??? A couple of these, may be…
Come what may…and whilst in generosity, some rivers now stay open into October, I would argue – “Why?”…the fly life is, well, where ?! And which Halfordian cares too much about shrimp? My ‘Close’, is on the 30th! So, fish on…the surface film.
OK, so after the hot shiny, fish shy Summer (sic), there has been more progress, and, with thirteen new counties netted this season, I have now, just eleven more, to go!
# 35. August 31 Greater Manchester, the Goyt
# 34. August 30 Nottinghamshire, the Meden
# 33. August 15 West Yorkshire, the Colne (and the Holme!)
There have been no new counties ‘netted’ in July, although I have cast a line into streams in Bedfordshire and Essex, so my ‘map’ outline is updated! County Map July 2011
I am off to Montana in days, for a new overseas adventure, with the Fraser man !
‘En retour’, I will have quite a few weeks to play with….we will see…but, Notts, W Yorks, and the North East, all beckon…this is such fun, and the planning is as much fun as the execution.
A month on – County Map June 2011
# 32. June 28 Warwickshire, the Swift
# 31. June 23 Northamptonshire, the Willow Brook
….and May is going fine, too – County Map May 2011
# 30. May 25 East Yorkshire, the Driffield (West) Beck
# 29. May 14 Shropshire, the Byne Brook
# 28. May 7 Rutland, the Gwash
# 27. May 5 Norfolk, the Wensum
# 26. May 4 Cambridgeshire, the Cam
The season has started well and I have netted (in) three new counties, already -
# 25. April 18 South Yorkshire, the Don
# 24. April 8 Worcestershire, the Leigh Brook
# 23. April 4 East Sussex, the Dudwell
