The first day of a new decade is a good time to make plans. Not resolutions, they can be negative. Holidays, fishing trips and other positive stuff needs careful thought.

I have a couple of months to edit my 2019 diary, print each section and take it to Otter Bookbinding in Midhurst. I like to read each entry as I format the text, it sets the scene for the new season.

My fishing was reduced by a third last season. The heavy rain kept me away from the Rother and the extreme summer heat limited my time on the lakes. Nevertheless, 2019 was an eventful year and I plan to make 2020 even more memorable.

The season opens in mid March. It will be good to wander around the Estate lakes and see how the winter has changed my favourite places. The Rother opens in early April and the constant flooding of the last three months will have changed the contours of the river bed. Last years debris will have been washed away only to be replaced by this winters fallen trees.

I am excited about my first season as a Rod on the Itchen. It will be a new world to explore even in the most extreme weather conditions. It will be interesting to see how the Mayfly season varies across a chalk stream, a lowland river and the lakes.

Dartmoor beckons. I plan to explore some of my old haunts on the moor and in the steep wooded valleys along its western edge.

I will take more time, slow fishing is best. There will be more cane, less carbon.

It’s time to clean my fly line, oil the reel and tie a few more flies, only ten weeks to wait.