I took Ernie fishing today for the first time since June; he has been very poorly and had two stays in hospital. It was quite a challenge for him, as he now walks with two sticks and is very unsteady.

I took all his gear down to a seat and then got mine down, whilst he got settled. I caught the first fish on a modern Wooly Bugger. It was quite a small fish which went back very quickly. Ernie had a couple of tugs, as did I. Ernie then put on a Flexi Legs Bloodworm and on his first cast he got a fish. Unfortunately he switched his concentration to his line, not the fish, as a result the fish swum towards him and it was lost.

I put on a last fly, which was a Black Bead Tailed Zonker. After a couple of casts, I got a tug, then another and than the fish was hooked. I made Ernie get up and land it for me.

All in all we had a good time; Ernie walked further than he had at any time in the last few months and got out for a good time in the fresh air.