I am having a shocking season. As you probably know i love to stalk big fish, but due to babies etc i havent been out much, but when i Do get out, i can't buy a fish! Down at avington today, i stalked and stalked a fish of about 15lb, he took twice but inexplicably didnt hook up! eventually, even if i say so myself i got a cracker of a cast at him, from right under a tree, bent the cast to the right and about a metre in front of him! sure enough, he sucked the fly in and i hooked him. 2 awesome runs and he came wallowing to the net only for the fly to pop out at the last second... later in the day i pursuaded a huge brown that had been flogged all day to take and he jumped half out to show me his awesome bulk before again the flagging fly fell out!!

Add this to the other missed/lost fish this year and i'm having a shocker! i guess that's why we fish, but it doesnt make it any easier... oh and my Iceland trip's off due to lack of cash this year...

Anyone else having a poor year?

I feel your pain bb . Its one of them bad runs mate, it will all sort itself out in the end and the law of fishing will balance the books and the fish rewards will be all yours. I went through the baby stage a few years ago and fishing took a back seat, but now they are 5 and 6 they are showing a few signs of wanting to fish so hopefully i will be dragged out fishing by them lol. I am having a cracking year so far, but i feel the wheel is about to fall off tomorrow on chew lol.

Big time.
I am river fisherman, mainly sea trout and salmon, fly fishing.
have permits for many rivers.
due to work commitments can only take wednesdays or thursdays off
this year it has rained every tuesday/wednesday, and rivers have been unfishable!
has been a washout for me!!
regards
bert

Sorry BB, but I'm having a bit of a purple patch this year: had my first sea trout, first rainbow on a dry, first wild brownie on a dry, first pike, perch and roach... but if it makes you feel any better, I have frozen my nuts off failing to catch a grayling.

2011 is somewhat better than 2010,but there are some major downs .
Monnow social booked ,then forced to work that weekend ,unfortunately not that secure at work to be able to put my foot down and go ,The thought of being unemployed like most of 2010 makes me rather wary of upsetting my present employers.
Even worse is having lost "my" bit of the Kennet,The beat there was the first bit of chalk I ever fished ,found it in the small adds at the back of T&S mid -late 70s and have been going back ever since ,the last ten years I have been doing my grayling days there in the winter ,lots of fun memories ,some great days fishing ,never zero fish caught by the assembled group,fabulous banter at lunch time ,many friends made ,people networking fishing ,some thousand steak sandwiches served ,washed down with wines from 2 for a fiver to vintages one dreams of.
Really unsure what i will do on autumn winter Sundays this year.The chalk is the only place one can fairly guarantee not being washed of ,and distance from home is a major consideration ,time and fuel price factor in .
On the upside young Hugh is really enjoying being out ,casting is now OK and last weekend he had his first tubing day on Ravo (thanks to the loan from the Cocktail cabinet Cambell),a couple of fish-less days on the Wye and a few drifty boat days including a very wet and windy day on Draycote,Latest is he wants to go seatrouting next season or an odd day this year .

__________________
Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

For me, not quite as good as 2010 but still pretty good so far.

BB if it's any consolation, the sort of trot you're in happens to all of us - I've experienced the same in the past, for work / relationship reasons... If you are fishing less, you don't suddenly become useless, instead the fine edge goes; the sort of instinctive feel that turns poor days into moderate ones and moderate into good. I bet that if you'd been at the peak of your form, both the 15lber and the big brown would have been in your bag.

Maybe go somewhere a little less challenging for your next couple of trips, just to regain confidence ?

__________________
"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

I would say a poor summer overall certainly. I think Lechlade provided me with a good start to the year but since April when the dry and warm weather came, it has been mostly a disaster, although some of this is down to going fishing on very warm days, or when the algae has been a problem. Apart from my first sea trout in Wales (albeit on a spinner, not fly), a very disappointing summer. Hopefully will change the fortunes on the next trip out!?!?

A.

Poor season here too, but that's down to the fact that the reservoir I got a £250 season ticket for is so badly run.

It's 7½ acres have only been stocked with 400 fish this year. The second, and last, stocking was at the beginning of May. Needless to say, I won't be joining next season.

__________________
*
How poor a thing, sometimes I find,
Will captivate a greedy mind - Isaac Walton.

~~*~~~~~
*****©(