If keeping a fly fishing blog needed justification, heading up the main reasons must be the fact it is an active diary. It is an invaluable tool to compare weather conditions, fish activity and hatches. The fact you can quickly recall your findings from 12 months ago is turning out to be a real help to my fishing. The fact others read and (hopefully) enjoy your journey is the icing on the cake.

As records suggest that April 2011 may have been the warmest on record, it is no suprise the seasons seem to be a little confused. Comparing last year pictures, it is obvious we have very little water in the rivers in comparison - obviously the lack of any significant rainfall for the last few weeks is cause for concern.

I fished this afternoon for a short time and was greeted with several May Fly duns (Ephemera Danica) peeling off the water. Alongside, it was pleasing to see a few Yellow May Dun (Heptagenia Sulphuria). Looking back at last year's records and I spotted my first Danica on May the 23rd: Recall here.






As I type, there is some very welcome rain tapping on the window. Perhaps this will freshen the rivers up a little and persuade the fish to look up and turn onto the early May Fly pickings.

~Dave