I spent the morning doing boring admin and after lunch I felt that I had earned a few hours fishing. The gentle south-westerly breeze would be funnelled up the river valley and I took a Barbour jacket to keep warm. This time last year the country was locked down during a long, dry heatwave. I chose to fish the Tavy because the stunning scenery would compensate for a lack of Trout. The water level was good but the crystal clear river was too cold for the fish to move around and I would have too put a fly on the nose of a fish to get a take.

I had a new Rio line to christen. I had stretched the line and glued a 7lb tapered leader to the braid core. The short head would load the rod on narrow streams and help with tricky casts.

When I arrived at the river a couple of young lads were chucking rocks into the top of the Beat. We’ve all done it. I wandered downstream and chose a run below a big riffle to swing a nymph down-and-across. The line worked very well even with an upstream breeze. It suited my fast and low casting style.

I covered a series of pools and enjoyed the sunshine. The noise of the river was a comfort. A few flies hatched, mainly Grannom and Olives but the fish didn’t rise. I eventually reached the big deep pool below the fisherman’s shelter and sat on a rock working the nymph along the seams in the current and the clefts in the rock. There was no response despite my concentration but I was not disappointed, I knew at the outset that it would be difficult to find a feeding fish.

It had been a relaxing afternoon. The sun was warm and the mossy banks were dry. I saw a couple of buzzards performing aerobatics and a mother Mallard with two ducklings. I forgot to take the temperature of the water but with the weather forecast of high pressure and sunshine, the water temperature should soon rise and get the fish moving.