It’s FINALLY stopped raining, and if you listen hard enough for a second you’ll just about catch a sigh of relief from the UK’s angling population carrying on the wind.

Now, I don’t mean to put bad luck on things, but the forecasts are promising a dry spell for the next week or so…I’m praying they’re right!

If the weather does manage to play ball (and I may be pushing my luck here…) then the Taff may be fishable(ish) by the weekend.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that I’ll be attending this year’s Monnow Social. If you remember, the first social took place last May (Monnow Social – aka ‘Sausage Fest: 2007’) and, due to its massive success, the same thing has been organised again for this May. I for one can’t wait!

For all those that read the brilliant online (and free!) fly fishing eMagazine Fish Wild, check out the latest edition – click here.

With the lovely British weather currently hammering us from all sides, you may want to grab yourselves a cuppa (or, in this case, a beer!) and chill out with the new issue of ‘This is Fly’; the not so quite traditional online fly fishing magazine.

There’s a rather good feature on the Missouri River in Central Montana (Page 53: ‘The World’s Largest Spring Creek.’).

Have a peek, it’s a refreshingly different read!

Last Saturday finally saw my first days fishing of 2008! Sam and I travelled a little further downstream for a few hours fishing on a new stretch of river which holds a decent head of grayling. Our home stretch of the Taff sadly does not, and as such, we are forced to fish further afield once the trout season ends.

After almost eight weeks of no fishing both myself and Sam had a slight problem containing our excitement as we almost ran to the river after tackling up. On arriving at the banks of the Taff it was as if the whole valley had missed our presence and chose to greet us with a sparkling river, a touch of mist, and a low but bright sun.

The River Taff: The early bird does indeed get the worm.

Conditions were far from the best, although this section of river offers a lovely series of runs and riffles perfect for grayling. Also, due to the heavy rain we’d received the night before, the river was up almost a foot and very coloured. Little did we know at that point that within the next couple of hours we would be hailed on and caught within a small thunderstorm!

That said, to be back on the river after an absence of eight weeks or so was an absolute delight (and it was kind of exciting fishing in the hail and thunder!).

After a few hours of exploring the waters with teams of heavily weighted Czech nymphs, we called it a day. It was beginning to rain again and I was developing problems with my hands (i.e. – I couldn’t feel them due to the cold!).

We did manage a few pulls from this session, or maybe our flies were just snagging on the bottom. Either way, eight weeks off can cause the cobwebs to build, so we missed them.

After packing our gear back into the car, we made a few detours on the way home in order to stop off at different sections of the Taff to check the river conditions and to take a few pictures.

Aberfan, which is usually my primary fishing spot, was again very high (around a foot more than normal), running fast, and very coloured.

One thing I noticed was the amount of wildlife still to be seen in this winter month. Kingfishers flashing electric blue, ducks taking to the sky noisily, and a multitude of other wildlife we were probably unaware of.

One thing the Taff is at the moment is that it’s looking healthy (even with the various colours of plastic bags currently in full bloom!). I can’t wait until March!

A few photos from our detours:

The Taff, with its high levels, crushing speed, and high colouration, will most definitely defeat yours truly if he even attempts to wet a line this coming weekend. But, I’m staying optimistic; even if I get an hour on the river, that’s fine by me. However, the current weather conditions in South Wales are far from cheerful.

Earlier today, sat at my desk, day dreaming slightly out of the window, all I could think of was ‘please rain, stop. Just until Sunday. I want to go fishing on Saturday. Please?’. Instead, Mother Nature replied to my plea with high winds, heavy down pours, and horribly grey skies…fishing this weekend is most assuredly off. Great.

Ah well. On a nice note I’ve just recently purchased a new rod specifically for those tight little streams that I had started to obsess with towards the end of the last trout season.

I picked up a Greys GRXi 7′ #2/3 for a bargain and when it was delivered I was immediately struck by the quality of it, especially as this is supposed to be a ‘budget’ rod. Okay, so it’s hardly in the same bracket as a G-Loomis, Sage, Winston, etc, but, bloody hell, for the price I don’t care! First impressions suggest it’ll do the job of delicately placing a small dry fly at the nose of a wild brown trout very well this coming season. Whether my casting skills will be able to do the same, we shall find out.

2008, I’ve already decided, is going to be the season of ‘Small Wild Streams & Even Wilder Brown Trout’. Only 54 days until piscatorial heaven begins in Wales. If I was any more excited, I may actually explode!