An evening fishing - more problems in "Jerome World"

After three and a half days of fairly intense intellectual effort in rewspect of the latest trading related matters, it is time to re-charge the batteries with a half day at Barnes Lake, just down the road

Conditions look perfect - good cloud cover, a bit of breeze. Could be ideal. And as I tackled up on the corner of the lake by the hut, there were several fish moving around the shallows. Some were behaving a little oddly, swimming close to the surface, with their tail and dorsel fin above the water. A good number of casts later and no luck with any of these fish. Indeed the situation seemed odder and fish would quite happily swim into the line without any concern.

At the far end of the smaller lake, I managed the first fish of the day on a Diawl Bach nymph, always my first choice - a standard stockie of about 1 1/2lbs.

A quick wander to the other lake revealed no fish rising at all, so I was soon back at the smaller lake, where the behaviour of many fish remained very odd. A possible hypothesis was that they were distressed due to low oxygen perhaps?

A second fish from the corner by the hut, which took about a yard from the edge of the lake. I got talking to a bloke who had just stopped by for a quick look, and we noticed that some of the fish at the surface seem to have white marks on their back - some sort of fungal growth perhaps?


Back to the top of the larger lake and I am found by the owner, John Barnes. He confirms that the problem is fungal and that the fish swimming at the surface are distressed, but there is not really anything that can be done about it. As a result of the poor fishing conditions, he only charges me £10, but is then surprised to hear that I have caught two. Apparently vurtually no one has caught anything for the past couple of weeks.

From the top of the bigger lake

The smaller lake

Later on, I managed a third fish. All three fish today took nymphs, though I think I did rise a fish to the dry on one occasion. And all the fish I caught were in good condition - maybe it is only the distressed fish that aren't feeding.

Meanwhile things have taken a turn for the worse in "Jerome world" where he has been preparing for a day in court where his custody arrangements for his children are due to be settled. He has had a strong expectation that the current arrangements will be set into law, but last minute, it appears that the mother of his children has launched a strike for sole custody.

I have decided to avoid finding out about the details of this, but it can't be good.