Day Eighty One...

I got out of bed at about quarter past five this morning and creeped off for a shower. I put on my clothes laid out the night before. I did this in the spare room so I wouldn't wake the missus. Then I headed for the kitchen and made a huge racket as I mixed up breakfast.

I left the house around quarter to six and headed off fishing. Unfortunately I had to go via work as I needed to pick up a few things. I drove down the M3 in good time, it's always very quiet at that time of the day. When I got close I had a few minutes to spare, so I stopped off in Stockbridge. The River Test runs right through the town and there is a spot where the tourists throw bread into the river. There are always at least 20 huge brown trout waiting for the bread. Whenever someone throws a bit in, they go crazy fighting each other for it. It's an amazing sight and instills hope that my day will be good.

After a chat with the river keeper I find I am allowed to fish with nymphs, so it isn't just dry fly today. That will make things a lot easier. As soon as I arrive at the river I get changed, set up my rods, check my line, examine my fly box and pick a few favourites before walking to the river. I set up one rod with a dry fly, a big daddy longs legs imitation, and the other, my new rod, with a Czech nymph.

The first stretch of river looks like it has no fish, and I use this to make sure by dry fly presentation is ok. By this I mean that the line sits properly in the water without coils and the fly is buoyant. It normally takes me a few tweaks to get it perfect and today was no exception. After a few casts it was fine and I started to fish for real.

I found a part of the river well covered by trees and decided to have a cast upstream with the nymph. Ont he first cast I got a small bite, but I lifted the rod into nothing. I did the exact same cast, this time more alert, the bite happened at exactly the same point, I struck much faster this time and was in contact with a fish. I was delighted. This was my fist hook up with my new rod and reel and it only took two casts. The fish gave a great account of itself and took a lot of line from me. I hadn't adjusted my reel properly and it caused me two over-runs which can leave your line in a huge tangle. Luckily I got away with it. After about 10 minutes I had a fish I'd estimate at between 5-7lbs in the net. I quickly unhooked it, took a photo of it with my camera beside my new rod and released it. After about 30s in the water, it flicked its tail very hard and swam away leaving me with a splashed face. I caught another about five minutes later using the same technique. As I moved out of the shade and into the morning sun the fishing got a lot harder. Then I saw a trout right at the edge of the river. I sneaked up behind it and dropped the daddy long legs in front of it. The second my fly hit the water the fish swam straight for it. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I struck to early and the fish missed it. However the fish returned to the same spot and was not spooked at all. I repeated my cast and this time didn't make the previous mistake. After a couple of minutes I had my third fish.

The day continued like that until I decided I'd had enough and drove home. I caught six trout. Three on the dry fly and three on the nymphs. I was pretty chuffed as I drove home.

As soon as I got back home I had a shake and went for a lie down. Although I was knackered I tried not to sleep since I knew it would ruin my sleep later. Unfortunately I dozed for about an hour and a half after which I forced myself get up and watch a movie. Eventually I went to bed around eleven o'clock and slept straight though with no interruptions. An early rise and a days fishing outdoors tires me out like nothing else.

I should also note that before going to bed I needed to nip off for a #2. Ouch. Really, really ouch. It was sore before, but last night was agony. My bum is still in discomfort today. I'm sure I'm shitting sideways as the moment. I wasn't sure if this was down to having one day where I only drank half the recommended amount of water but I'm going to have a look at the tips offered the last time I mentioned this.