My first trip of 2017 reinforces my passion for the sport!

It been a long long winter but now it seems summer is coming and my attention is turning to allotments and sea trout fishing! They are both hard work and frequently end in disappointment but I guess it's the challenge that spurs me on.

I've been fishing the Towy at Llangadog for over 30 years I think? I say 'I think' because following a quadruple heart by-pass 10 years ago I was left with a very poor long term memory! I can remember many of the exciting and funny experiences that I had with my pals John and Rod over the years but I can't remember the dates or times. One thing for sure though is that I will never forget the pleasure that I have had fly fishing for sea trout at night on the River Towy at Llangadog!

Having completed the required maintenance and cleaning of my fishing tackle over recent weeks I thought I was ready for my first trip. Little did I know that the felt sole on one of my wader boots was about to come free from the toe to the arch of my foot and start flapping about as I walked! It's not easy to walk through long grass with a flapping sole believe me! Having arrived on the river my attention turned to how I might remove this offending sole. I tried an elastic band first to hold it in place but that only worked for about 2 minutes! There seemed only one solution! It had to be cut off! It took some hacking off with my blunt knife ( I must remember to sharpen it) but eventually I succeeded.

The night was mild and dry and was free from the blustery wind that had plagued us for many days. I met up with Tim Wilkinson who I hadn't seen for a few seasons so it was nice to catch up with him on everything while we were tackling up and waiting for dark. I put on a floating line and a shortish leader of about 6ft. Fly choice was my usual one - Secret Weapon / flying treble style with black and peacock wing and silver body. The water was running clear and despite being quite low the fly still came round at a reasonable pace! During every cast I felt that I would get a pull. The conditions just seemed right. My fishing method is to keep moving so I will fish through a pool and then go off to another one but then keep returning to each pool in rotation. The reason I do this is because the lower beat of the Llangadog water, below Crewel Pool, in my view doesn't hold fish for any great length of time so it's best to keep moving from pool to pool in the hope of picking up a running fish.

I fished for about 3 hours - I would have stayed longer but I had to return home for a family Sunday lunch. I didn't get any pulls or see any fish but I found the trip enjoyable and worthwhile in that it was useful to see the river and the changes that have taken place over the winter. I can't wait till my next trip which will follow a flood hopefully fairly soon!

One thing that I find very annoying is the way that humans abuse their natural environment! The piece of polystyrene is lilo size and about 100mm thick! I would love to know which arshole chucked that in the river! Also and I've mentioned this many times before and so as fellow angler Rodney Byles but no one seems prepared to do anything about it, I am now convinced that we will soon loose some of the best pools on the lower beat of the Llangadog water due to the actions of one farmer! We already have 2 rivers at normal water levels but it's only a matter of time before we have 3 but neither the Club or the EA appear to want to do anything about it. Surely the Club officials could speak to the offending farmer and convince him of the error of his ways? Once we loose this section of the beat I and many other anglers will probably leave the Club leaving it in an even more precarious position! Sad!