Well it is the season to be jolly and all that stuiff, when Christmas and the New Year festivities and colds, flu and sneezes roll round again, along with auntie Sam, Cousin Alex, Uncle Dan, our Heather, ‘little’ Sofia, Harrison and all the rest of the hordes of screaming exciteable grandchildren- ‘Aaah, bless ‘em’ I hear you sigh…. ‘Grrrrr’ is my humbug answer after ten days of ‘em !!!

Meanwhile, I’m recovering from Man Flu ( really bad!) and not to be outdone, Mrs Hope goes down with the female version ( even worse!). Apart from that we are simply having a wonderfull Christmas time!!! …..well, apart from the drain leading to the septic tack becoming blocked at half past three on Christmas Eve. requiring some serious festive rodding!!! aaaaaarrrrgh

Meanwhile, out in Erics other life of fishing adventures….there are changes afoot and historic shifts about to occur.

Without over egging the whole thing I have taken the original Doghouse off Bassenthwaite for at least the next few years. So apologies to all those anglers who graced the Doghouse with their presence and enjoyed some delightfull days out there on what was once one of the Lake Districts finest fisheries. As many of my regular readers will be aware the lake has not been fishing as well as it once did and while there are still fine perch to be had, the pike fishing has declined dramatically in recent seasons and big fish have been in worryingly short supply. Combined with a change of ownership of the land adjacent to where I keep the Doghouse and a proposal to build 60 new chalet/lodges on the nearby field it seemed the time was right to leave the lake. Besides which I am getting older and rowing up the length of Bassenthwaite in a big southerly blow gets wearing after a while! I will always have fond memories of the place and as I’ll be writing at length elsewhere, the lake will remain in my heart as the place where all this daft fishing business sort of started.

Don’t worry though because the Doghouse is not being turned into a garden ornament, shipwrecked and proudly filled with flowers, or up ended as an enchanting arbour overgrown by scented climbing roses. Nor is there is any hint of retirement, but is with hard to control suppressed excitement that she is moving….to somewhere small, sheltered, intimate with some very big fish and a place I have not fished from a boat since I was fifteen but am really looking forward to exploring. Especially as its only twenty minutes from home and will be an absolute delight to fish on a summers evening…

So have a great New Year, be nice to those who deserve it and a few of those who don’t ( Just to surprise them). And I’ll see you out on the water next year. But if you drive the scenic route through the Lake District watch out for the Doghouse and a smiling optimistic Eric fishing quietly ….on Grasmere…

Exunt Eric stage left …chortling!!!

Good bye Bassenthwaite for a while…at least

Wildlife moments..it’s the Geese!

Happy New Year!! I’m going equipped