Fishing Lock down Continues

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and coping with the lock down situation as best you can. A big thank you to those key workers amongst you, especially those of you who work within the NHS, or like myself, have a partner who does, as I certainly know how worrying this can be in these difficult times.

"What fish look like"

Although there isn't any fishing going on at the moment I think it is important to stay connected and therefore I just wanted to touch base with you all. First and foremost to wish you all well, and secondly to at least give you all something to read before cabin fever sets in.

As you probably all noticed, as soon as we went into lock down, the rivers came back into good order again following what had already been a very long period of high (and often coloured) water conditions, "Typical". 

However it's not all doom and gloom though, as the weather conditions we have recently been experiencing, i.e. bright sunshine, although very enjoyable, (given our current situation) is not necessarily ideal for fishing, especially when accompanied by a persistent East wind, (albeit slight) as this almost always contributes to what would generally be a period of difficult fishing in terms of catches. 

This is due to the fact that in these types of conditions the fish usually switch off, or at the very least are reluctant to take our offerings, and where trout are concerned, hatches tend to be very sparse indeed (which would explain a lot). Yes you can sometimes tempt a fish or two to take a weighted nymph during these periods, (as we have done many times before) but this often then becomes a searching game. 

The salmon also tend to switch off during these periods, for reasons that are up for debate, but they definitely do! So we can at least take some solace from this for the time being, however this wont last forever, so lets hope we can get back out there soon, even if it is just on our local fisheries whilst adhering to the social distancing rules until further notice.

"Relaxing in the Countryside"

In the meantime I have been missing our fishing sessions so much, that along with the many chores recently undertaken during lock down, including a plethora of painting jobs (which I am sure many of you can relate to) I have also indulged in a couple of jigsaws (something I haven't done for many years) in an attempt to remind myself of (a) what fish look like and (b) relaxing in the countryside. I think you will get my drift from the pictures attached.

Anyway, hang on in there and let's hope we are all back at it as soon as it is safe to do so, and I look forward to catching up with many of you on the river bank when the time is right. "Stay Safe".