Christ I'm bored of winter. It's 3.45pm, it's going dark, windy and cold. It rained all weekend and the rivers are in flood.
In a few weeks time we'll be walking about in shorts and very much taking for granted the sunshine, the warm and long summer evenings, the babbling brook and the splashy rise of a wee broon troot or two. Next season I'll be fishing more rivers than ever before, the Derbyshire Wye, the Dove, the Churnet, the Severn and possibly even the Laggan but there is one stretch of river that beats all the rest for me and it's on my doorstep....the Churnet upstream of Leek.
Last season I really enjoyed walking down to the river and spending an hour or two stalking fish in the stunning surroundings of the upper reaches of the Churnet valley, where once an abbey stood and where the Roaches can be seen dark and gloomy on the distant horizon.
I'm hoping that the trout come back stronger than ever and that the winter was not to cruel to them. The river is pushing through strong today, and once it settles back down again, I hope to see more evidence of fishy activity.
Roll on summer......
