Until the last few days, the weather in north-west England has been very unsettled, with strong winds, heavy showers and hopping up-and-down rivers.

Sea trout have been the main quarry on our rivers and I had six sessions in the month, three in the day with the water up but clearing and three in the evening (dusk to just after midnight). Both Lune and Hodder have had good runs, with lots of herling and fish in the 1-3lb class. Fishing small wet flies in the day I had a total of seven herling, but only one larger fish of close to 2lb. But on the Snake Fly I had one better fish of nearer three pounds (and a large brownie that would have pulled the scales down well past 2lb on the Lune). In the evening, the floating lure that I christened many years ago the Night Muddler, and which was also invented and named the Floating Mouse about the same time, has been my best fly. Which is surprising, for though floating lures will bring sea trout up, often they fail to get hooked. But I have had seven sea trout above the pound mark on this fly on three nights, plus two herling. Never ignore a floating lure!

The weather has not been conducive to fishing the evening rise for brown trout, and I went out only once, to the mid-Ribble. The evening was cool and the hatch of BWOs, spinner fall and sedge activity not great, as I expected. But I did manage to catch seven brown trout and a grayling (none of any size) and a chub of probably 4lb, all on a size 16 Kite's Imperial (I thought I would give the old CdCs and Elk Hair Caddis a rest!). Which brings to mind one fly fisher who said he gave up dry-fly fishing for trout because CdC made it too easy! Kite's Imperial still works!

I was Richard Thornley's guest for a day afloat on Stocks Reservoir on August 22. The reservoir is still as low as it was at the end of the Great Spring Drought, for the people of Blackpool have been using the water as it has flowed in from the upper Hodder. In the morning I had three trout on my Cork-bodied Daddy-long-legs and Richard, who was fishing loch-style, had one on a Soldier Palmer. So we went out with great hopes for the afternoon. But not one fish did we catch. The problem? The wind blew from the west, and the sun shone from the south-west straight into the eyes of the trout (that feed by heading up-wind). We were not alone: no one had a fish that afternoon.

On the 28th four of us headed to the Cumbrian Derwent for a day's salmon fishing. One of our group, Ken Maylor had caught two and lost one the previous week so our hopes were high. We got soaked through for our efforts and saw not one salmon! As I write, the weather forecast is for a bright Indian Summer week, so it is back to trout and grayling. Lord, more rain please?

Those of you who read my World Cup Diary in the September issue will recall that I spent 24 hours in Wigan Infirmary after my urine contained blood. The problem was identified last week, when a medic and I both saw a tiny tumour inside my bladder. I have a pre-op on the 16th before the bally thing is removed. "Tell everyone," the medics involved keep telling me, "the slightest trace of blood and head to your GP. Don't hope that it will go away! It won't!" So I have told you!