If you enjoy this blog then please support me and be generous to the BHF!

I am cycling 50 miles for the British Heart Foundation on Sunday 2nd November! Please support me by giving generously!

WHY?

I am doing this event for a number of reasons!

I want to raise money for the BHF because without their support Mr Graham, my consultant, would not have been able to save my life the way he did, with the technology that he had at his disposal and when he did!

I was lucky - 2 weeks from diagnosis to CABAGE x 4! Mr Graham told me that my Aorta was almost blocked and that if it did block up I would be history! Fortunately I did not have a heart attack - if I had then I probably wouldn't be here now! Good enough wake up call, hey?

Yes it was a big big shock to me and my family! I owe my life to the forethought of Dr Horton my GP, to Mr Graham my Consultant, to the BHF for all their good work over the years and their part funding of the Cardiac Rehab Clinic at Kidderminster Hospital and finally to my wife and children without whom I wouldn't have survived the trauma of the operation let alone come out the other side wanting to live! I believe passionately that the BHF can and do make a difference to peoples lives! All the support from their publications, research, PR etc is vital to reducing the impact of this 'silent killer'!

At least two people who I have been close to have died unexpectedly from Cardiac Arrest! A long time friend of mine from work, who was about my age, had a fatal heart attack without any notice as such! He was unlucky! I was lucky!

I have a beautiful granddaughter called Sofia who I love dearly and who I want to be healthy and live a full life! I don't want her to go through what I've been through! I want her, like millions others to eat sensibly, exercise and be healthy without the threat of this evil killer hanging over them and I know that the BHF can help turn things around in time!

Has it affected my life? Before my diagnosis I was tired, worn out, lifeless, useless, knackered and more!

Now I am fighting fit, full of life, enthusiastic about my new job, mad on fishing, mad on photography, mad about Sofia, mad about taking my wife away for holidays and long weekends, mad about cycling, mad about my kids and their wives, mad about my allotment!!! MAD, MAD, MAD MAD!!!

Thank you BHF for letting me live, giving my kids their father back, giving my wife her husband back and most of all - giving my granddaughter Sofia a GRANDAD who would do ANYTHING for her no matter what the consequences!!

Sorry - gone a bit 'over the top but can't help it'!

By the way - a heart by-pass gives you back your heart a million times over!

4hrs - 36 mins to beat!!!

YOU CAN DONATE SECURELY AT

www.justgiving.com/andrewholmes1


PLEASE DO IT NOW!

Cerith cracks it again!

Cerith had a 'cracking' salmon last week! Here is his brief report!

'Had an 8.5lb salmon on the worm earlier down the bottom, lovely clean fish which gave a good fight on 8lb line. Had a few good knocks as well before three otters disturbed the pool completely for about 20 mins'.

Cerith

Let me have a picture Cerith!

My report from the Golden Grove Fishery!

I have just returned from a days fishing at the Cilsane Beat at Golden Grove and thought I would report on the fishery for the benefit of any of you who may be considering fishing there.

I met the Ghillie on the bridge at Llandeilo at 8.00 am and he showed me the beat, car parking places and an outline of the river and pools. The water had fallen to about 300mm above summer norm so I was not overly optimistic of catching especially as it looked like it was going to be a sunny day!



This section of the river is slightly wider than the Llangadog water but has a nice mix of water with fast flowing runs and glides that looked very good. There is some canal type water that I would imagine would hold sewin well in the season especially under the trees or alongside occasional obstacles. There is a car park at both ends of the 2 mile beat and one in the middle and fishing is from both sides where appropriate. Fishing alternates from side to side so some river crossing is necessary which would be a restriction to the angler in high water I think. The canal like water represents probably about 40% of the whole and looks extremely good for holding big fish and for night fishing!

I fished all day in bright sunlight and didn't see any fish at all! There were Red Kites about though so there was plenty to entertain me. All in all I can see why GG has such a good reputation and I am looking forward to fishing again in early October.

Tight lines.

Day time fly fishing success at last!

John and I fished Saturday 13th September. The water looked good! A little bit of colour and about 2ft on the gauge and falling.

It was quite misty when we first started fishing. I kicked off at about 8.30 am with a 7lb sewin on a teal, blue and silver double size 8! John followed suit at about lunch time with a bar of silver 5lb grilse caught in bright sun light on the very same fly pattern! I lost another fish of similar size!

I can't seem to raise a fish so I've decided to raise some more money for the BHF!

I'm riding 50 miles for the British Heart Foundation in Coventry on the 5th October and I need loads of money!

Please be generous and donate safely and securely on line.

www.justgiving.com/andrewholmes1

Tight lines

My 100th Post on this BLOG!

Because I had a business appointment in Bridgend today I thought I would pop over to the river and do a spot of fishing!

I got to the river by about 4.00pm. The water level was up about 600mm - 1000mm from normal which was hardly surprising since it hasn't stopped raining now for weeks! I was pleased to see that the colour was what I would call 'cloudy'! It wasn't muddy but had started clearing and you could see a Toby lure quite easily when retrieving near the bank! There wasn't any rubbish floating down either! I would say that the conditions were good for spinning and worming!

I was spinning for about 3 hrs from the Car Park Pool down to below Crewel but with no success! It was windy and rained on and off. I have never seen such sodden fields in all my 20 odd years fishing on the river! Even the cows were struggling up to their knees some times in the field - not the river! Muddy on the river bank? Not half - the worst I have ever seen! I parked my car up the lane halfway between the river and Colin's farm in an effort to avoid the mud which consisted of mud, cow shit and cow piss all nicely mixed together - lovely!

There were no other fishermen to be seen!

Tight lines!

Rod sends me his latest 'bleak' report!

Rod says

"Went down the river on Wednesday for a couple of days equipped with worming and spinning gear knowing I wouldn’t be able to use the fly as water up quite a bit. Had to wait about half an hour before I could get out of the car to tackle up Wednesday afternoon as it was p*****g down. Water a good height and nice colour for spinning and tried under the railway bridge and above Crewil using different spinners, but saw nothing.

Went out again Thursday and water up a bit from day before but looked okay for spinning. Tried above and below Crewil with different spinners but saw nothing. Then went down where the cattle cross and then by the tin hut, which I used for shelter during some heavy showers and strong wind. Saw one nice fish 5-6lb move along the opposite bank but couldn’t say if it was a sewin or small salmon. Joined Cerith further down who was fishing the worm and thought he was bound to have a fish as looked ideal for the worm as beginning to colour up and also rising slowly. Cerith saw a couple of fish move in the quieter water on the opposite bank but couldn’t tempt them with spinners. Packed up about 7pm and back to the pub.

Friday was horrendous. Went to Road Bridge and water rising and colouring all the time. P*****g down again and river rose about a foot in the 3 hours I was there and got very coloured.

I left the river about 1 o’clock and a good job too as the other side of Llandovery the rain started to get much heavier and the A40 from Sennybridge to Brecon was horrendous and worst driving conditions I've ever been in. Lots of local flooding and one point I almost stopped on high ground to let the rain stop. However I decided to press on and good job I did as I later learned the A40 was closed between Sennybridge and Brecon. Rain eased a little the further east I went. Despite the bad weather an enjoyable coupler of days. I will try and get down again before the end of the season as need to break my duck!"