The Incompleat Return!

Well this is novel, I’m actually sitting down to write a blog for the first time in months! You know it’s been too long between blog posts when you have to do a password reset because you can’t even remember your login… I’m genuinely sorry to those of you who have subscribed to my (ir)regular wafflings on this little patch of the interweb – I’ve not left it this long out of malice, it’s just that the Incompleat lifestyle seems to have got in the way! Work, family commitments, women (woman), fishing – it all makes blogging that bit harder. My promise to you all is that from now on things will become a little more regular!

Like I said, it’s been a busy few months! Much of my effort has been directed towards my guiding business Andy Buckley Angling Service, which has taken a little more teasing and coaxing than I had hoped. The great news is that things are now full steam ahead and I’m busy guiding both fly and lure anglers, as well as writing for various magazines, online publications and also increasingly tying lots of flies for specially commissioned orders.

Robbie was finding trout fishing in East Anglia hard going until he received his first order of flies from me – now he’s unstoppable!

I’ve been really lucky to guide a whole host of great people and each outing has been enjoyable and memorable in its own way. I get a real kick out of teaching somebody a new technique, or guiding them on to their first of a species – including Paul and his first pike and Robbie who accidentally caught his first grayling – out of season granted but a first is a first! Having ordered two batches of flies from me Robbie decided to travel to Derbyshire for two days guiding on the Dove, and what a two days it was. He primarily wanted to learn the french leader but the dry fly fishing was so good that we split the days in two – the improvement in his skills over the two day was huge – to me this is what being a guide is all about.

As pretty as they come and totally wild – a fair chunk of Derbyshire gold for Robbie

Things have gone so well with the guiding business that I’ve been backed by some of the finest tackle manufacturers going! All my fly clients now use the newest and best kit from Scandinavian brand Scierra, while my lure fishing clients get to use rods and lures from Savage Gear and Okuma Reels! The quality of kit ABAS has at it’s disposal really is top notch – it makes my job so much easier knowing I’ve got the very best tools at my disposal.

A gorgeous Slovenian rainbow – as wild as the hills

I’ve found some time to do some pretty cool fishing of my own – don’t worry about that! In May I made the journey to Slovenia to fish with renowned Slovenian guide and good buddy Uros Kristan of Urko Adventures. We caught a heap of cool fish, had great laugh and made some very, very exciting plans for the future. I really couldn’t recommend Uros highly enough, this guy was born to be a fly fishing guide.

Wild Browns a plenty from a river that I had never heard of – cheers to Uros for the help on this one!

I also made another trip over to Florence, primarily to help my old mucker Oliver from Fishing in Florence. If you’re a regular reader then you’ll know that Ollie and I have worked really hard working out how to catch giant Wels Catfish from the Arno river in central Florence. Unfortunately it didn’t work out this time due to the river being way above normal level, but those big moggies are still there and we’ll be back for them!

Domestically I’ve done as much as I’ve been able to. For the first time in years I didn’t make my trip down to the Usk for an early season dabble, neither did I make it for my May trip (I did say things had gotten in the way!) but I’ve done plenty in Derbyshire – mostly around teaching my good lady how to cast and fish a fly – she’s got an eye for a picture that girl!

Mayfly poured from the rivers of Derbyshire – one really ought to make hay, non?

I’ve done plenty of lure angling too, including a new PB pike on a lure (unweighed, estimate +/- 25lb) as well as a few other real crackers. I’m focusing on some large venues that have taken some time to crack but each time I venture out I learn something new and slowly but surely I’m getting to grips with the skills required to crack the code! It has been great getting to test out some of the new Savage Gear lures in the last few months – let me tell you that the predator angling world is in for a treat, though the predators themselves should be worried!

A very steady mid double on the Savage Gear Hybrid Pike – the lure which has now claimed my three largest lure caught pike

Last but by no means least, I’ve been working hard on a film project with friend and digital media producer Ben Blood, the details of which I can’t give much of away at the moment. What I will say is that we’ve already shot a heap of cool footage, caught some amazing fish on camera, and there are drones! What more could you want? This is all TBC, rest assured I’ll keep you in the loop with how thing progress here.

An angle of me you thought you might never see – good work Drone-Cam!

So there we have it – you’re all caught up! As I said, I’ll endeavour to bring you good people of Internetland more news, views and product reviews in the future, as long as you’re cool with putting the last few months behind us? It’s looking like a busy and productive summer ahead of me and I’m excited to share the whole thing with you through this humble little blog. I’ll catch up with you all soon!