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News from the river

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
May 19, 2018

It was very nice to meet up with Simon Thompson on Wednesday evening and to spend a little time with him on the river. Work and other commitments made it a pretty brief visit but we managed a couple of fish between us and Simon was out again on Friday and had some more.

Today I was at the river again and had a mighty tussle with a carp. I had been given the cold shoulder by a bunch of carp on this stretch of the river a little while back and felt that I had a score to settle. View full article »

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New boots

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
May 13, 2018

My neoprene fishing boots have seen better days. They are full of rips and tears. In places they seem to be hanging on by a thread. Thinking about it, my neoprene chest waders are just as bad. I took these waders on an outing to Concepción reservoir after work on Friday and it turns out that, despite my best efforts to patch them up, they have nearly as many holes as my landing net. When I finally dragged my arse out my float tube after three hours casting to largely indifferent black bass, my legs looked like water balloons and the water sloshing around inside the waders was waist high. View full article »

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Fishing two rivers at the same time

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
May 6, 2018

Yesterday I managed to fish in two rivers at the same time which, when you think about it, is a hell of a stunt to pull off. Geographers tell us that when one river flows into another the “new” river conventionally retains the name of the larger of the two and the river with the lesser flow is meekly assimilated and its name disappears from the map. View full article »

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No flies on me

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Flies and fly tying, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
May 1, 2018

I ought be be honest with you. Until very recently I have felt rather ashamed of my box of flies. Whenever I meet up with another fisherman I am invariably shown fly boxes with everything in order – nymphs, dries, lures all in neat rows. Everything ship-shape and Bristol fashion. View full article »

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Kay´s last hen

Filed under: Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 5 Comments
April 30, 2018

My neighbour Kay is down to her last hen. She used to have a bunch of them but most are now kicking around in that great hen coop up in the sky. One of those hens just disappeared under mysterious circumstances one time we have no idea what the hell happened to it. View full article »

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Crossing paths with a slug

Filed under: Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 6 Comments
April 22, 2018

Yesterday I came across a slug out walking the dogs. I realise, on re-reading this first sentence, that it is open to misinterpretation so let me state plainly that it was me out walking the dogs and not the slug. The slug just happened to be crossing the dirt track which links two sections of roughly-paved road. The track itself is little used. In the recent rains it becomes very slippery and so vehicles tend to keep off it and, as a result, plants grow freely down the middle. View full article »

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Out on the river with Paul Reddish

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
April 21, 2018

I have just come back from the river after spending a very fine afternoon fishing with Paul Reddish. Paul is excellent company and is a very accomplished fly fisherman. Today we were accompanied by Paul´s wife Fiona and her sister Shona who is over from Australia. View full article »

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Opening my account

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying, Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 4 Comments
April 7, 2018

On Thursday I opened my annual account with the carp on my local river, the Guadalhorce. I made a single withdrawal of what I imagine was about five pounds, or maybe a little more. It was a typically spirited fish and slugged it out like a heavyweight before I managed to ease into the bankside shallows and beach it. View full article »

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The Río Grande revisited

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying — 4 Comments
April 3, 2018

I visited the river about four days ago and found the Guadalhorce to be off colour but the Río Grande running clear. There were fish in the first stretch of the Río Grande that I came across but they would have nothing to do with me. I spent a very absorbing afternoon trying this and that, ultimately to no avail. I showed them nymphs of various kinds along with dries. I fished under an indicator. I fished without one. I cast long. I cast short. If I thought anything would shift the odds in my favour I gave a whirl. But the fish, like I say, would have none of it. View full article »

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Pissing Rain

Filed under: Other bits and bobs — 4 Comments
March 9, 2018

It´s been pissing rain here on and off for over a week. Rain, rain, rain. Please don´t think I´m complaining because here, in the arid south of Spain, rain is manna from heaven. We had been worried here that reservoir levels have been steadily falling and local farmers were thinking that prospects were bleak.  Now these guys must be joyfully beckoning each dark bank of rainclouds, as farmers have been doing for longer than anyone can remember. View full article »

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