“I’m playing catch-up after the long layoff”
Anything will do as long as I’m back fishing!
WHAT a delight it was to get back on the bank this week! Wednesday and Thursday saw me down on the river, obviously not wetting a line because it’s still the closed season on running water. Instead, I was catching up on the changes the vast amount of water we had last winter have made to the features of the Severn.
Whole gravel beds have moved, some the size of a tennis court. Trees that were in the water have been washed away and new trees and snags have taken their place, creating fresh swims to catch fish from.
Haith Brown, the famous Canadian writer, said that a river never sleeps, and that sure is true of the Severn this year. But the biggest surprise for me was the general landscape. Normally I’m out there five days a week and see the countryside mature day by day in front of my eyes. This year, lockdown has kept me indoors and there has been no lead-up to the summer parade of country blooms and smells.
It was delightful to breathe in the wild parsley and garlic – even the smell of cow dung was welcome those first couple of days! Then, on the Saturday, I went on my first actual fishing trip, and that was for trout.
There were just three of us on the lake – owner Andrew, his father Bob and me. We were like kids, excited at the anticipation of a few takes on the fly. But the fishing was hard, very hard in fact. That was only to be expected, given the hot weather and clear skies overhead.
Any other year we wouldn’t have been trout fishing in these conditions, but we just wanted to get out, meet good mates, chew the fat and be safe.
In the end we all had a couple of fish. I hooked four trout and landed three, all taken on surface flies fished static in the shaded areas of the water. There was virtually no chance of a take in the open water in the heat of the sun.
The best fish was about 4lb, but you can see from the photo what that first fish after lockdown meant to me!
The same day the wife played her first round of golf for eight weeks and that evening we talked of how easily we can be lulled into taking life for granted. Today we were happy just doing the simple things once again.
If the virus has taught us anything, it’s to make every moment of every day count.
A couple of days later I went floatfishing on a small farm pond, catching 2lb carp, roach just a few inches long and the odd gudgeon. I just wanted to see a float go under and put a bend in my new float rod.
Next week I’ll start getting serious and try to catch a better kipper or two, but for now I’m just thankful to be back on the bank. God, I’ve missed it!