Looking ahead

With the dawn of a new season on the horizon, Alan Jarrett is remembering the excitement of ‘First’ days gone by; with those spent on the foreshore holding particular appeal.

- ALAN JARRETT

Last month found me lost in a world of saltmarshes and flighting duck, and some wistful thinking about what the season ahead might bring. That is by no means uncommon during the long warm days of summer, and any wildfowler worthy of the name will pine for the cold winds and shorter days of winter.

Yet as I write this piece, there is more than a tinge of sadness within me as this particular feature was to have been about what would have been my recent May trip to Santa Fe, Argentina in pursuit of duck!

But coronavirus arrived and all such trips were summarily cancelled. At least we are healthy, and it is as well to remember that there are more important things to worry about than a holiday!

So time to draw a line under any disappointment and look forward to what will almost certainly be the fun and adventures which lie ahead. In particular, I am already studying tide tables and thinking through where I might be going and when.

At present, my thoughts are dwelling on 1 September, which happily falls in midweek this year. The reason I say ‘happily’ is because it gets us away from the weekend rush to the coast, and the jostling with others for the peace and tranquillity on which so much of sporting enjoyment depends.

It has been many years since I have spent The First on the shore, with inland trips governed by the strictly laid out dates of the small club syndicates to which I belong. Those opening days are invariably productive, and in terms of bag get me off to a good start to the season.