Having last week procured a wee small stretch of the river Wylye, Warren and I looked forward to an afternoon of some much needed graft as a precursor to fishing it for the very first time.

What an absolute calamity, I chose an entry route through an access field down to the river, stuck it in 4X4 ultra low drive and immediately grounded my vehicle on a pile of rocks and s**t (for want of a better description). So twas to shovel some s**t we went… for all of about an hour.

At last – down at the rivers edge

All tooled up, strimmers, saws, loppers and other implements with which to do ourselves harm

Some work to do both in and out of the water

Oops… not quite the right oil to petrol mixture me thinks… cough!

With Warren using my strimmer due to his having gone caput!… I go all Grim Reaper and scythe

We’re engulfed by strong, sweet smelling wild Garlic so prolific along this river bank… mmmm!

With a silt like river bed I anticipate good hatches of fly life from the burrowers

No Not these… tut!

these… our first Mayfly

Canopy slightly trimmed as the growth of foliage makes for weighty low hanging branches

She’s looking pretty, prim & proper… and oh so inviting, here’s looking to our first fish on Thursday

I’m hoping for a little less of the wet stuff so this stretch can drop a little and clear up to make its inhabitants that much easier to see… if there are any that is.

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Where is the middle of no where? … Oh yes, here it is, halfway between Madagascar & Mozambique

‘ Bassas Da India ‘

Unchartered Waters – Bassas Da India was 3 years of planning and 15 months in the making, 6 guys go fishing ‘somewhere’ on an atoll consisting of no less than 10 rocky islets, no vegetation and a reef synonymous for bringing to an end the hope of many a passing ship.

An 80 minute DVD packed with infectious fisher folk joining an equally excitable captain surrounded by nothing more than sky, a reef and an almost crystal clear ocean hosting some of the best fish species on the planet.

Two accompanying camera men make the most of underwater and top of the water photo action as the guys battle Wahoo, Sail fish, Black Jacks, Tuna, Barracuda, Parrot fish and more in a bid to out wit some formidable prey whilst putting some of the best made kit through its paces.

With a mixture of point of view camera action on board their 46ft Catamaran, and shallow reef flats fishing, the DVD captures what can be made possible with perhaps a once in a life time journey

You’ll be engrossed and laugh along with the guys as they bust blood vessels trying to pull some of these lunkers in from distance, yet sigh as some of the flexiest rod bends go limp as sneaky sharks make mincemeat of their catch… is there an easier prey than that anchored to your line?

Grab yourself a copy and sit down with a cuppa, I’m not normally a fan of other peoples holiday snaps but this is great fun and definitely worth the watch… well done guys!

If that doesn’t wet your appetite… here’s the trailer

This is hot of the press and will be available from Sportfish and Farlows very shortly… in the mean time email Jonathan Tomlinson for a copy at jatstanic@aol.com

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A return to a more local and favoured river with Warren that teetered on the edge of just about fishable. The recent downpours have been very welcome all be it less so in their immediacy and volume, it is however thankfully running off at pace… with that pace comes better distribution of fish and the clarity with which to observe them.

The morning was spent testing some recently built leaders. Warren’s a great sounding board and from discussions I seem to have procured the best leader I’ve ever constructed in terms of turnover and versatility… a combination of extenders and tapers to suit any length of leader from 7ft through to 20ft… some wee titivating still required but it’s almost there ~ awesomeness

So with a ‘techy’ morning completed it was to an afternoon of play… the impact of recent weather visible throughout the river make for some challenging fishing

Warren fishes in what were the shallows!

With a good hatch of Olives early afternoon and having acquired a number these fine variable imitations from Warren, the only honourable thing left to do was to share its qualities with the locals

Warren did try nymphing for a few minutes with a ptn before changing to a similar olive imitation

Concentrating in the lower reaches, plenty of fish sacrificed themselves to our offering

With almost zero clarity, fish had no problems honing in on the fly

A stunning Coln wild brown trout

The joy when using a #2 weight… size matters not

Fishing and teaching on the rivers has been nigh on impossible over the last few weeks so today was what I hope to be the start of a return to normal… or as normal as normal is whatever that means.

Dear Mayfly… anytime you’re ready from here on in then please

Bugger: just seen a forecast for tomorrow and it’s yet more rain… the teetering continues!

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