Martyn White | Thursday, 6 February 2025
It's been absolutely freezing here this week, but we've also had a decent bit of rain too which has got the river in decent shape for the coming weekend. It's also getting to time for the crayfish to start waking up and the early season smallmouth fishing.
Unfortunately it's also time for the cedar trees to start shedding pollen. I never used to suffer from allergies, but over the years they've developed here, apparently there are so many cedars here that it's pretty normal for this to happen. I can still fish, but I'll be eating anti-histamines like smarties over the coming weeks.. it's grim.
I think Chuck has already been out and had a couple of smallies to hand. I might make my first trip out after them this Monday, which means I'll be trying to get my boxes and gear back in order rather than trying to fish around work this week. I'm not sure why, but in recent years I've really fallen behind in my organisation. It used to be I'd be anticipating the different parts of my season, the different fish and types of fishing and making sure I had flies tied, lines swapped out or replaced and leaders tied. Now I seem to be rushing around at the last minute getting things ready and tying just a few flies for the week I'm on rather than enough for months of fishing at a time. I'm not sure if I like the change, I like the secure feeling of having everything good to go, but it's less hassle to find an hour to tie and sort out the gear, tie leaders etc. for the week. I don't think it's affecting my fishing so, it's not a huge issue and certainly there's nothing providing me the impetus to go back to my old ways. Maybe it's just getting older and being more interested in just going out and enjoying myself. Maybe it's to do with confidence, which might mean I need to find a new challenge or target, but whatever it is I can't see it changing back in the foreseeable future.