Long time no blogging and to be honest there has been little to say since well before the end of last year. I don’t need to remind anyone just how bad the weather has been of late but I do think it will be interesting to see how it has reshaped the coastline and whether it has had any lasting effect on our inshore waters. I’ve seen, heard and read stories of beaches being washed away, rock marks being obliterated, etc. and I suspect a lot of previously accessible places may now be out of bounds… but maybe some new marks will have been born? Who knows what it has done to the inshore ecosystems and how that will in turn affect the fishing? We can only speculate at the moment I think.
Two possible good things spring to mind about the weather being as bad as it has been…. one, it has been generally mild and nowhere near as cold as it was last winter so hopefully the water temperature will recover quicker and the bass will be around, in numbers, earlier than they were last year. Secondly, the conditions in the English Channel and approaches can hardly have been good for the commercial boats to get out in so just maybe the bass stocks have been spared a little for future years. Time will tell on that front too.
In other news, I have recently arrived back from a work trip to the US and whilst there managed to pick up a Patagonia River Salt jacket which I had been eyeing up for a while. It’s a little better price-wise in the US than it is available in the UK which made the cost a bit more palatable so to speak.
Granted, it’s still not cheap but I’ve never been completely satisfied with jackets I’ve used in the past for fishing so hopefully this one will prove to be a sounder investment. First impressions look encouraging as clearly it has been very well constructed with some nice features throughout… of course I will reserve my final judgement until I have been able to give it a proper test. Looks good for throwing on for wet dog walks too so hopefully I will get my money’s worth!
Other than this I haven’t had the chance to get myself back in full fishing mode for the season ahead but no doubt that will slowly kick in over the next few weeks when I’ll start thinking about what bits, if any, I might need/desire this year. Hopefully, Winter won’t have a sting in it’s tail and Spring will soon be in full swing!
Until next time…
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers 