The hard winter has severely curtailed my fishing efforts. Fly-fishing on a lake that would comfortably support the weight of a herd of elephants isn’t a practical proposition. Even my local river froze on the edges. The brief thaw was occasioned by rainfall of biblical proportions which turned the water into thick, opaque soup.

My wallet imploded as guiding was impossible. I suffered savage withdrawal symptoms and scanned the five day weather forecast, desperate for relief.

I am an eternal optimist – an essential characteristic for a fisherman! We now have a proper thaw which I am sure heralds some first class pre-spawn pike fishing. My guiding diary is filling nicely and I am looking forward to feeling a real bend in my fly rod. Hopefully there will be a blog post in a few days time to report some lively sport. Last winter was similarly frustrating and the one before wasn’t friendly either – I pray that we aren’t witnessing a long-term trend.

This time, it has been especially aggravating as the autumn fishing on the old estate lake was getting back to its former standard. There had been a water quality problem caused by excessive nutrient getting into the lake via the feeder stream. This was the result of poor practice on the intensive dairy farming unit on the neighbouring estate further up the stream. It meant that the lake was permanently coloured and the pike fishing deteriorated. It seems that the problems were addressed and the water was recovering to its normal quality. We caught some splendid pike and I was anticipating more monsters throughout the winter.

This year, the Spring Fly Fishing Show is being incorporated with the British Shooting Show at Newark on February 26 and 27. I will be tying pike flies there and would be delighted to meet people. Whilst, in truth, I would rather be fishing, shows such as this do provide a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and to keep up with developments in tackle and tying.

Synthetic materials have made tying large flies for my pike fishing a much more realistic job. They shed water, making them easier to cast and are pretty resilient. Whilst I do still use rabbit fur zonker strips and fluffy, mobile marabou, these creations are reserved for special occasions. H2o Slinky fibre has been a godsend! An enthusiastic chap by the name of Andy Smith delivered me a quantity of new material that he will be marketing in the near future. I will be tying some flies and taking them for a swim next week. I’ll post some pictures and a report in a few days' time.