Four Huge Trout ... I Love Fly Fishing!!!

12.15 pm. After not having fished for a week I'm having withdrawal symptoms, I'm irritable and have a constant headache, I have to go to the lake today for a bit of fly fishing.

It's windy and overcast but warm, perfect for me to top up my tan and to catch a few trout. I know this sounds obvious, but until recently I'd just pick a pretty spot and fish there, now I know I have to find the fish, where  they are jumping or swilling around feeding? Also my casting is so amateurish that fishing from the bank becomes very frustrating as I feel I can never reach far enough. I see a few jumps at the bottom side of the lake near the gate and decide to take a boat and give it a go.

Starting at the top end I decided to do 10 minutes at one spot where a few fish are jumping. Another guy is 100m away and I watch him pull in 3 trout within 10 minutes. It's too painful for me to watch - I HAVE to move away so I can't see him. Keeping to my original plan I put on a smallish black Boobie (it has green foam eyes that keep it on the surface) - that's what I caught my single trout on last Sunday. Nothing..

The old chap with the red hat is there again, he's been there since 8am and has nothing, the lady with the fizzy hair is also there, she's had 3 trout all on a Hare's Ear fly (I'd actually forgotten what that was, so couldn't use that). Off I go past them both and tie up to the white buoy. There are lots of fish around and they look pretty big too. Still nothing on the Black Boobie. Time to change to my Killer Gold Buzzer!!

Two minutes later I have fish number 1, it's huge and fights like a shark!! I using the Hywel Morgan technique of doing a figure of eight retrieve for a bit, then some short sharp jerks and then some longer pulls - a variety of retrieval methods. Then comes number 2, not as big. I lose one right by the boat, as I retrieve and am coming to the end I jiggle the line past myself to the right to prepare for the next cast, bam.... another take - but not hooked well enough and its gone.

Then comes trout number 3, then 4 - can I break my record and get 5? I lose another one and then decide that I've had enough. Four trout in one day!!! Wow I feel so good!!! 3lb, 2.12lb, 2.10lb, 2.12lb

Back at the jetty, Mother-in-Law (MiL) has just arrived so I can show her my haul!! I feel even better now! I give all four away to another fisherman as I'm sick of trout and it means I don't have to gut and clean them. I direct MiL to where I was fishing, give here the Killer Gold Buzzer and hope she also catches. She's as dedicated as I am and she deserves to catch loads!!!

What a day!!!