The year's fishing has begun.

At last, the rain clouds have cleared, the sun is shining, and the air pressure has dropped. which means I could take my tackle to Robin Wood and finally wet a line.

For the first session of the year I decided to use the first 'proper' rod I bought as a child - although this wasn't the actual rod, as that was stolen from the garage - a 10-foot Shakespeare Omni Match, which I paired with a Mitchell 206 S reel. The weather was unseasonably warm, 17 degrees and I float-fished maggots over some groundbait on lake 3, peg 12.

There was only one other piscator on the lake and I'dd seen him catch a small Carp so I was confident of my first fish of 2025. I saw some bubbles over where I'd got some groundbait and a some free offerings and after a few casts my float disappeared.

After quite a short fight a chunky, fin-perfect Carp graced my unhooking mat. I watched some of the early spring wildlife including butterflies and a buzzard and missed several bites then decided to call it a day.

Another purchase from my brother this month was this 17-foot mottled tortouiseshell affect rod, that I think may have started out life as a pole. Then the line guides and small reel seat added later. I deceided to remove the line guides and reel seat, give it a good clean, a new coat of varnish, and give it go on the canal sometime. Drum roll please...

Ta-dar!! The brass ferrules came clean quite nicely and will get another clean. Overall, I think this rod/pole looks quite good. It is quite heavy, though, as you might expect, and if I'm feeling strong enough, I'll give it a try soon.