End of Season Musings…

What a strange season all round – I am not saying it was a bad season – just a very strange one. Dave from Cork  noted in the comments  that having a child (or several) definitely  cut down his fishing time however it made the times he went fishing a heck of a lot more special – I wholeheartedly agree with that!. Usually, I am targeting trout at least a few times per week on the Kelvin and then hitting the Clyde at the weekends for a day session. All you have to do is compare my post count over the last few years in June and July in my archives to see the difference in session amounts.

However, this year I seemed to just catch a few hours on the Kelvin whenever I could and hit just one spot on the Clyde when times allowed. My catch rate is definitely down probably due to the fact that when you have one poor session with less than favourable conditions the next one a day later usually makes up for it. If memory serves me right I seemed to manage a lot of early season trips when the conditions were poor and then this tapered off as the conditions got better – due to increased baby duties.

So what have I learned for next year? How to be a good father and yet still get some quality fishing time in – I think the key might be to target small streams – the trout are lot more obliging for a start and “usually” the action starts on day one rather than after a couple of months of the water heating up. I know one guy (no names) who fishes a small stream (no names) who always catches trout on dries on the first day of the season. A few hours scrabbling around on rocks with tricky casting is just what the doctor ordered.

Of course – that is for day time shenanigans – evenings can be spent on the Kelvin or one of the tributaries – not that I had a great year on the Kelvin, sure I caught a few trout however certainly none that particularly stood out in my mind.

Trout that did stand out? There was my first trout of the year that I caught on the dry fly – in fact it was caught on my second cast of the season (or was it my third?) I was on my lunch break in the middle of nowhere after attending a meeting – I was standing on a bridge watching wee trout rising consistently – “why not” I said to myself – pulled my waders on, strung up my Orvis Superfine – had a cast – fly missed the trout – recast and the trout took my fly – trout then leaped all over the pool – it was sweet.

Another memorable trout was from the same river – fishing buddy assisted with hero shot with that one. In fact – the guy I have been fishing with most (who also has a baby of the same age – we are kindred spirits) actually carries a camera for a change – so even if the writing is pish at least you get to look at nice photos.

Pike trips have been few – I had a couple of trips over the Summer – one of the days I caught a couple which was great fun.

My last trout trip of the year was very similar to last years – it was great! It felt close enough to the end of the season that I decided to end the year on a high as opposed to a blank.

Over the coming months I am going to get my shit together and start tying flies – I am now armed and dangerous with Singlebarbed’s fancy new sixth finger.

And from the word go (ie the start of the tying season) I have my J Vice to start on the troops for the new season. All in all a lot to look forward to.