Allsorts

I took a walk up the river on Monday, I thought the carp might be back to normal feeding after the spawn and certainly some seemed to be. But there was still a lot of thrashing in the shallows.  There were a few really good shot-opportunities but I didn't cast at any of them. Another week and those fish will be on the road to recovery, then I'll catch them. A few weeks and they'll all be back in decent shape and I'll start really chasing them.

We've also had several days over 20 degrees now and dispute the odd cool rainy day, it's fairly reliably into double figures most of the time now so while I leave the carp alone a bit longer I'll go and check out some of those frustrating things. I've a few places in mind where I know they go and feed, I just need to figure out the right tides. It'll keep me out of the pub at least. 

I also had a visitor to Tokyo, a guy I went to primary school with but now lives in Orkney.  We went out for dinner and bored his Mrs senseless talking about wild troots, sedgehogs and peach muddlers. I discovered he's part of the global soldier palmer conspiracy which isn't surprising, there are a lot of them up in the islands trying to convince people it's a worthwhile fly. It can't just be me who hates it.. Can it? Certainly a bit surreal doing it in broad Ayrshire Scots-that his Orcadian wife was struggling with- while sitting in an izakaya smashing plum wine and tuna jaws. 

And of course, Ollie Edwards got away. I didn't know him well, certainly less well than I'd have liked to. There have, unsurprisingly, been many tributes paid to his flyfishing and flytying. His contribution to both was phenomenal really, he had the rare combination of both wholeheartedly maintaining traditional methods and skills, while also being a true innovator, pragmatically embracing new materials, gear and techniques.The way he held Pritt's book of north country flies in near religous reverence while also developing his semi realistic, but tieable and fishable nymphs from modern synthetics for example.  For me though, it will be how down to earth and at ease he seemed with himself and others, his instant likeability and humour that I'll remember him for rather than his flies. I don't have a good picture of him, so some spiders will do. I think he'd have liked them.