Warren tentatively suspended above our section of the Wylye at the weekend, I am of course safely on the bank watching in anticipation (Ready with a camera for that YBF moment)… I pleaded old age being the excuse for my inept ability to leap up into branches and brave it’s instability.

What a complete calamity the day turned out to be… the scrapes, the scratches and the tearing of waders & shirts… oh yes! and a note to self for future reference: “When throwing rope attached to a clunking great piece of metal over an unwanted branch, don’t stand directly underneath it when pulling the other end ~ you plonker”

This I did and consequently split my head open as a result, ***kinell that really hurt – thankfully Warren came to the rescue with a first aid box full of wet wipes, eye patches and finger bandages.

Mind you, for all the pain we’d incurred the river looked exceptionally stunning once we’d finished.

The remainder of the week has been somewhat painful for other reasons… short term cabin fever almost set in as the high winds and heavy rain put pay to many planned days of guiding and teaching. I did however manage to get out onto a lake with Steve and his partner stripping damsels on sink tip lines which seemingly was to be the only way of getting in touch with a few of the lively residents.

Yesterday was back to the Wylye with Warren. Winds of 34mph and with not much hope of any fishing we went to check on how our previous cutting, lopping and churning of trees and vegetation had progressed. I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re both fiddlers… any misplaced twig, weed or surface debris has to be dealt with for fear of it looking unsightly, crikey! I’m not that tidy at home.

Having fiddled we spent time just observing the liquid beauty that is the river, some tiny Mayfly were hatching… so tiny we almost mistook them for Olives at one point. Never forgetting the rod, the occasional rise did call for a cast, and there were many… most of which saw nothing come to our imitation, all but one however which nailed a Grey Wulff placed tight under an overhanging branch…(Need to trim that branch when we get a chance – strewth)

A finely finned and fettled troot

With a break in the weather today it was great to get back out teaching on the river with Erica…

…her first time fly fishing, an occasional gust did little to dampen her enthusiasm or perseverance. With nothing rising we looked to a size 16 PTN to get amongst low lying trout in marginal cover. Numerous takes to the fly were reacted to with great speed but being as yet unaware of the need for the agility of bringing the hands, line and a flexing tip together as one, this unfortunately accounted for the loss of numerous fish before we managed to net this fine specimen… how’s that for a first?

Spurred on and with a few more missed takes… one in particular being a lunker of a fish that came to the fly twice before refusing all further attempts will forever haunt us… size mattering not, a few little feisty treats did succumb putting an end to what has been a superb day – well done Erica.

Looking forward to the next 2 hectic weeks… tomorrow is a day of admin and the sorting of some leader design stuff, then it’s off to host a corporate day with Vic Knight at Lenches lakes on Tuesday, followed by a trip up to Cumbria fishing and catching up with friends Tony Riley & Paul Procter… back down on Saturday for a day at the British Fly Fair International before then flying off to Spain for a week.

If you’re up at the Fly Fair this coming Saturday come and say hello, I’ll no doubt be lingering by the AAPGAI casting pool… Tight lines till then ~ Jim

…pretty much describes how the frazzled face looks this morning having spent the last 5 days solid on the river with clients. A veritable mixed bag of visitors: Carsten from Denmark, Steve from Michigan, Seven wonderful guys led by Tom out of London, Harkman from Bosnia and Andrew all the way from Malmesbury just down the road.

A river full of superb brown trout, what they lack in size is made up for in an uncooperative strain of aggression that makes our light line tackle work hard, a truly awesome weeks fishing.

With the water high, a wash with colour and pushing through at pace…

…It did nothing to otherwise deter fish keen to munch on an easy offering ~ Andrew looks pleased.

Rob was the star of the ‘Magnificent 7’ ~ reaching out the fish suddenly looks bigger

With a beating Sun, very little cloud cover and the water at a comfortable 15.6 D/C, all just wanted to stay put if nothing more than to just keep cool. The urge to dunk thy self almost overwhelming.

Jimbo with his first – all be it unfortunately the only grayling from the ‘M7’

An unimpressed resident…

…rooted to the spot for obvious reasons ~ future ranunculi gorgers in the making

Master angler Steve from Michigan ~ he has a passion for wild trout from small rivers back in the States ~ he feels at home. An active TU supporter and exceptional fly fisherman.

Carsten ~ his short line dry fly tactics pulled him in an incredible number of fish on Sunday

Although Mayfly were in abundance they were by no means the focus of the fish over the last 5 days, more fish were taken on a red neck pheasant tail in a #18 than anything else… the fish just not yet quite on the ever increasing hatch. June however should be an absolute fish fest if this keeps up.

Nothing more required than a simple Wulff for those few interested in surface feeding.

Carstens first ever time on a river provides him with an incentive to return

His red letter day will be difficult to match… a few of his finest

I dare not calculate how many miles I’ve walked in the last 5 days back and forth along this river, I should feel fit and not totally f*****d… oh yes that’ll be it ~ an age thing.

I hope your fishing is plentiful and you’re making the most of any mayfly ~ see you on the water.