Well here we go at attempting to keep this blog upto date with my fishing exploits, I just hope I do a better job at it this year after last years miserable effort !!I've been out for 2 weeks now,basically thats when the ice cleared from the local canal, however the temperature has been really low all winter and the local water is taking ages to warm up.Today I checked and it had lept up a whole 1 degree to 5C !
Only another 1.5C to go and the fish will be feeding and active again.However I have failed the past 2 weeks to even get a nod, still using the Ultra Light equipment with all types of lures. 
Yesterday it was blowing a howler and for some mad reason in this wind I decided to give it a bash in the evening..well 10 minutes in and bang! a 40cm sea trout...lovely! No pics I'm afraid as the wind was now storm level,besides trying to prevent myself going in the canal it really was hard work getting organiised. Try casting a Panic Minnow on 3.5g jig head loaded with nanofil...it disappears into the sunset!!
As always early April we drove upto the summer house,to make sure the winter has'nt caused too much damage or hopefully none at all.The ground is solid still,frozen from the harsh winter but this time of year the local stream is in full flow ready for migrating salmon and trout.It appears this winter has taken its toll in a strange way...the stream was hardly flowing the levels way below normal.It may have been cold but we have hardly any snow,or rain for that matter.So now I wonder when or how will the fish migrate.Or will they simpy wait and hold up in the lakes....

Pictures of the canal,river and a local lake this winter....


This is the edge of the lake,as you can see the water level has dropped to leave an ice block.....

 

The same lake,you can see the size of the lake totally covered with ice,and a guy walking on it..

 

The local river with ice patches flowing out to sea

 

The local canal,in the distance a guy in a red jacket is ice skating !!

 

 

At last,we've had some sun and good clear skies that have kicked the fish back into season,I've been down to the canal and ajoining river a lot but without a bite.Today was perfect so after work I trotted down with my fishing mate,7 year old Carl and gave the canal and river a shot.Plenty of takes by small fish but 2 good results by these 2.The perch from the canal and the Sik,which I have no idea what it is in English,from the river,but can tell you in Latin,lol.Must say the Sik was a beautiful looking fish with a nice pull on the bigger rod,coming in at approx 25cm in length.Not sure wy the picture makes it look small though.
The Nanofil is great but any snags it seems to fray,I presume thats due to the way its made.Sensitive yes,fantastic for city fishing.

Well,I'm afraid the weather has turned cold again since our last outing to the canal.I've tried a couple of times but it was bitterly cold and nothing going on at all.I just hope the sun heats the water up and kick starts them.Never the less,I'll keep trying,and obviously let you know what's happening.In the mean time I'll try and post some pictures of the area's I'll be fishing.

Sorry for no updates but this time of year its pretty quiet over here unless you enjoy cold windy weather,afraid I don't but we've managed to get through.Its been a strange couple of months,the ice melts from the river and canal then freezes again unexpectedly.Anyway fishing,spent lots more on tackle and a new tackle bag,Savage Gear Pro Roadrunner Gear Bag .Love it!Perfect for me and my needs for local fishing in a city.So this week with high temperatures and low winds I've been out with the UL kit.It has been a great learning pattern with various shaped jig heads,to be honest never expecting to catch a thing as water levels over here are low equalling the UK levels.

So yesterday,Wednesday the weather was great,nothing at work and my 7 year old who "assists" me has gone through a bad cold and just needed fresh air.So i took him down to the river,20 mins later,left handed he's casting like a pro.UL rod, 0.5 to 5g rod,2.5 g jighead and nanofil line.....hmm thank God he did'nt catch...but I did ;) a nice 33cm sea trout!And did that outfit perform...fantastic.....all on a panic minnow
from AGM.what a result......weather here has deteriated again for the Easter weekend,but I'm determined...thermals and waterproofs here I come...have a good Easter everyone..tight lines.

A little extra,I'm also kitting up my other rod 5 to 25g, my old mate Colin is bringing me back another delivery,no not cream eggs ;) but lures so I'll photo them and up load this week.These lures are for the lake and stream fishing,I've never caught a pike and this year I'm determined.

This afternoon I decided to test the rod armed with nanofil and a 2oz lead,just to get adjusted to this type of fishing.What hit me most was the casting distance,totally gob smacked!No effort at all the rod,reel and Nanofil casted further than I truely expected,biggest problem...eye sight lol damn trying to hook up was hard work but thats no fault of the equipment just my eyesight,too many hours and years manually drawing and now using CAD really screws your eyes,Age no...nothing to do with it..lol,Anyway I was extremely happy with the performance of everything,so now I need the water to heat up by 2C and hopefully fish on.The surface ice broke away last week so obviously its still cold,what is interesting is that back in Shoreham thefirst mackeral was bagged,that is early,and the long nose silver trapeze artists,garfish are appearing as well..looks like we are on for a good year folks,fingers crossed and tight lines...by the way,those that don't de-barb,unless you are fishing for the final result in the kitchen why not,it's easier to de-hook as well...and if you fish properly,its not a problem ;)