The Long Month

Two months down, one to go - the long one... The first three weeks of the closed season produced arctic weather, and I was secretly glad I couldn't fish - I would have been sat on the riverbank getting cold. But since then I've been counting down the weeks.

I haven't spent as much time peering into local ponds and rivers as in previous years, but work and weather have been against me, 28 days to go...


Reading Stuff
I have read a quite few fishing books over the past couple of months, mostly while sat on trains and the tube, and here are three recommendations;

The Old Man And The Sea - Hemingway, I read this to stop people saying 'I can't believe you haven't read The Old Man And The Sea' but it was great, an entire book on an epic battle with a monster fish. Tension only a fisherman knows and beautifully written.

Blood Knots - Luke Jennings, brilliantly written memoir chronicles the path of a fisherman from small boy, learning to fish from library books, through a series of teachers & events, and his continuing journey of discovery. In fact this is the second time I've read it, and probably not the last.

50 Fish To Catch In Your Lifetime - John Bailey, this book appealed to my setting targets and going for it. As well as an overview of each fish there is a diary entry the day one was caught. You'd probably need to win the lottery to attempt to catch them all - I've only caught 19... So far...


The Dangers Of Success
Stick Cricket SPL got to number 1 in the Apps List, not just the games list, the whole thing - which is great - take that Angry Birds!

Normal procedure after a game launch is a few beers and we drift off and do our own things for a few months, for me that's designing DVD sleeves, writing comic strips and most importantly fishing.

Not this time. Less than a month after the release a bigger team has been assembled and I find myself working on two more games - and neither one is a fishing game...


Trout, Tench & Weather
Spring is taking its time overpowering the harsh winter, there is the odd nice day or sometimes a few nice days but winter isn't going without a fight - I've zipped the lining back in my coat - roll on summer - please.

I've been out a couple of times chucking a fly at a trout, one blank and one fish, but I'm really waiting for a warm still day when the trout decide to rise and I stand a chance of picking one up on a dry fly. Trout fishing doesn't end when the course season starts so I'm just going to have to be patient.

And I think patience is also going to be the case for tench fishing, although Darren and I are hoping to fit a session in before the season opens (tench don't breed until summer so I've no problem fishing for them). We are both waiting for a run of warm weather but I'm thinking of just picking a day and going for it...