‘It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it…’

IGHT now, I’m scouring the Scottish streams for salmon—but, earlier this year, I had some fine days down in chalk country. I began the season in late April on the Itchen, at a gorgeous club water where, until recently, I was a member, although now the roles are reversed and I was a guest of our esteemed Editor. The air was chilly, but still we greeted the new season with beakers of Bollinger at the top hut, where there is a nice stickle that often holds overwintered fish. A few olives were coming off and I was hopeful of some hawthorns (those terrestrials