Paul Arden | Monday, 18 May 2026
It’s been raining and the lake level has risen a few feet, maybe even a metre or more. This could/should be enough to trigger the Snakehead to spawn. I can’t remember a rise in water levels at this time of year before, so it’s definitely more of a maybe than a given. But I would be very surprised if we don’t actually see Snakehead babies appear within the next week, or days even.
I’ve positioned the Battleship in a part of the lake that I haven’t fished since David was visiting back in January. I’ll fish here this week and then make a decision on where I want to be after that. It’s a nice change of scenery. This particular bay is also excellent for Gourami as well as Snakehead babies. It’s also a nice bay for swimming too and I certainly need to start training this skill properly again.
As if I haven’t already got enough on my plate, there is a 100km ultra marathon fairly local to here with almost 5000m of climbing and lots of exciting mud, in September, which is tempting me. Whether I do it this or next year I’m unsure. I do fancy these ultra runs; I’ve made some long runs before but nothing like as potentially hard as this. At least in theory I can practise by actually running in the jungle!
Nick officially leaves his job on Friday and will be working as a full time coach at Sexyloops. So if you are interested in taking your flycasting to the next level/s then please get in touch. I imagine that Nick will be as completely full as I am very soon. At least he is slightly more flexible when it comes to time zone differences with Eastern US time, which is where most of my students reside — and no doubt his will too!
Andy is of course already working full time for Sexyloops building rods in Texas. So if you want to buy one of the finest fly rods ever made, then please also drop me a message!
And finally… my wife is leaving her job at the end of this month too!! Yes, you can also guess where she is coming to work next! I certainly need her help organising, because I am chasing my tail.
In the meantime I have a bunch of stuff to catch up on today. Oh talking of which, we have a finished Tornado 8 in stock. For some reason I thought a customer had ordered a 6. First come first served. It can be shipped today!
Have a great week!
Cheers, Paul
Today’s POD: as nimble as an elephant.