A month or so of on-and-off bad weather, two weekends away fishing ‘foreign’ waters equal – not a lot of time available for the Taff.

I feel as if I’ve been neglecting her of late. So yesterday evening, at last, saw me finally on my home water which I love so much.

Always an underrated river, and who can blame people. Over the past few hundred years it has been subjected to the cooling of iron furnaces (meaning the water was then returned to the river, scouring the river bed) and dumping of industrial waste during the industrial revolution, ran black with coal during the mining era of the South Wales Valleys, and in the background of both of these mighty events, was subjected to the dumping of raw sewage from the local inhabitants. For many years the Taff was reported as a ‘river incapable of supporting life’.

To say the Taff is now a magnificent river is an understatement (although I’m slightly biased). Litter still is an issue; as the trees start to shed their foliage during the winter months, the blue bags underneath, deposited long before, begin to flower. But, we can always tackle this problem with a gun…I mean education.

So, a short drive after work to my new ‘favourite spot’ on the river , a walk down stream to a good looking starting point that would eventually lead me back to the car by the time it went dark, and a survey of the water for 5 minutes marked the start of a beautiful, if rather hard, evening of fly fishing.

Weather was a tad sunny, and again, the good old CDC & Elk was the culprit for the two small but wild browns caught.

A hard evening, but I’m glad to be fishing my home water again after such a long absence.

It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve added a new ‘Magazines’ section to the links. No, the new links haven’t got anything to do with guns or warfare, but are internet-based magazines.

Fish Wild is a brilliant Scottish based e-magazine, and also worth a read is the American based This Is Fly…a rather entertaining interview with the AEG guys (Trout Bum Diaries) on page 55. Both these magazines are released monthly and are well worth checking up on !

Is it possible to be totally exhausted and yet totally relaxed? I believe the words I’m looking for are ‘at peace’.

After two long weekends (1 day in the office between them) trekking up and down Scotland and Mid Wales fishing, my body feels as if it never wants to be used again. And yet, I feel totally re-energised. Such is I suppose, one of the main goals/feelings that accompany our so called ‘sport’…but mainly, our passion.

Two brilliant weekends which enabled me to finally meet up and fish with Alistair of The Urban Fly Fisher and his friend Alex. The weekend after saw more fishing mayhem with the guys from the Complete Fisher Forum.

I’m going to put a proper post up very soon, however, please feel free to visit the new Photo Gallery area of the blog to view the photos. Click here or click the Photo Gallery tab at the top of the page.

Well, Scotland was awesome! After 1,180 miles now added to my car, a 9 and a half hour drive home, I’m absolutely shattered!

I’m currently writing up the experience, although I’ll have a few photos of the trip up soon.

Tonight though, I’ll be rattling together more flies ready for another busy weekend of fishing up in Mid-Wales…so, hopefully by next week I’ll have photos of both trips up.

That is unless I die of exhaustion first! But then, I’m rather enjoying this all fishing no working lark

So it is then that the adventure that is Scotland has finally come around. All gear is packed, tent’s checked for leaks, and enough flies have been tied to open a shop. Myself and Sam (who is joining me on the trip) are also behaving like a couple of excited kids at Christmas!

Sam and I will be leaving good old South Wales at 5am tomorrow morning and will be heading up to Scotland to fish a few rivers and one loch in two areas of Scotland, and, over four days. We will also be meeting up with Master Bloggers Alistair and Mike from The Urban Fly Fisher and Tamanawis respectively for a spot of action on Friday evening…however, this location is staying a secret, and possibly even the photos as well

So far the weather’s not looking brilliant, mainly a mixture of light and heavy rain, with a lot of showers thrown in for good fun!

Area #1

Area #2

So, wish me luck, whenever I do somthing like this, somthing always finds a way of going wrong! But hey, it wouldn’t be an adventure if it were easy!

At last! This rain is beginning to get bored and move off! And with great timing too!

Next weekend myself and regular fishing pal Sam are off to Scotland to try our hand at a couple of rivers, and hopefully, a loch. And boy am I getting excited!

All accommodation is booked (campsites), most of the breakfast and evening meals are organised (Super Noodles, Bacon, Beer), and all my fishing kit has been assembled (along with the army of flies I’ve prepared!). The only thing left to do now…is to go!

So, in preparation, flies have been tied, and due to the recent drop in rain, I’ve managed a few sessions on the Taff. Both tough nights, only a few rises, although noticing more and more yellow duns over the water.

In regards to the fishing in Scotland, over four days we will be fishing 2 rivers (one of which I am sworn to secrecy not to tell, the other river being the Tummel), and Loch Tummel. Quite how you’re supposed to fish the river Tummel I have no idea, it’s HUGE! Still, am looking forward to finding out how.

A weekend of fishing, fry-ups, and beer…only 44 years until retirement, then I can do it all the time!