Paul Whitehouse, who you'll know from Gone Fishing, has kindly written the foreword to our NEW River Fly Anglers Almanac - which we're launching today. In it, he describes arriving at a new river and going through what I suspect is a fairly universal process. Paul's version of a 'new river' is probably a little more upmarket than mine, which is usually the next beat upstream from the one I usually fish.

But the problem is exactly the same. You're standing there, rod in hand, and you haven't got a clue what's going on.

Fish rising, but you can't work out what they're rising to? Bung on an Adams, a Klinkhammer, something black or even a daddy.

Nothing rising? Start with a bead-headed GRHE.

Can't decide? Klink n Dink it and hope for the best.

Paul calls it "chuck it and chance it", which is a polite way of describing what I've been doing for most of my fishing life. But now there's no need, and no excuse.

And that's where this comes in ...

The NEW River Fly Anglers Almanac

Some of you will remember our original Almanac. It was good - 12,000 words of practical, month-by-month guidance on hatches, fly selection and technique for UK river anglers.

But "good" has a way of nagging at you. So about six months ago, I sat down, read it cover to cover, and thought: "I can do better than this". What started as a tidy-up turned into a complete rewrite. From scratch. It's been a bit of a labour of love, if I'm honest, late nights, endless revisions, and more cups of coffee than I care to count, but I wanted to make it the best it could possibly be.

The result is 142 pages and over 17,000 words of completely new content. No padding, every extra word earns its place. I've gone deeper on fly selection, added more on watercraft, presentation and techniques, and covered things we either skimmed over or missed entirely first time round.

Ok, So What's Different ...

Other than rewriting the whole thing, the biggest addition? We've added a dedicated watercraft section for every month of the year.

This was the bit that kept coming up in conversations, anglers wanted to know not just what to fish, but how to read the water at different times of year. What does a river look like in February versus June? How do conditions change, and what should you actually do about it? That knowledge usually takes years of being cold and confused on the bank to accumulate. Now it's in here.

As a Special Launch Offer - for today and tomorrow only - our Almanac comes with a separate 52-page 2026 Diary featuring a monthly Catch Return and Notes pages, so you can keep building your own personal watercraft season by season.

Our River Anglers Almanac

Is a journal to accompany you throughout your fly fishing year. Something you can annotate and make notes in, allowing you to refer back to in years to come — helping you 'crack the code' on those difficult days. We've called it an Almanac as it takes its inspiration from a few different sources, think of it as a crossover between:

• Old Moore's Almanac - An annual publication that prophecies what will happen throughout the year - only this one is fly fishing related.
• The Fly Fisher's Entomology - A seminal publication from 1836 by Alfred Ronalds, the first to detail river fly life from the angler's point of view.
• A Moleskine Diary - As used by Van Gogh, Picasso & Ernest Hemingway

Our River Almanac follows the river fly angler's year - starting in March and ending in February - detailing the hatches, watercraft, and flies to use for each month.

Oh, and one more thing ...

We asked Paul Whitehouse to write the foreword. And he only said yes!

For those who don't know (and I suspect most of you do), Paul is one of the most recognisable faces in fly fishing thanks to Gone Fishing with Bob Mortimer. He's also a proper angler who fishes because he loves it, not because there's a camera pointing at him.

As Paul puts it: "Keep this great guide with you at all times and your experiences with a fly rod will surely improve".

I can't really argue with that ...

*** Special Launch Offer ***

Buy the River Fly Anglers Almanac today for only £15.99, and we will include the 2026 Diary & Catch Return completely free of charge.

This offer runs until the end of tomorrow only; after that, the 2026 Diary & Catch Return will be available separately for £3.99.

A quick note on stock: we've initially printed 200 copies for this first run. Once they're gone, there'll be a wait while we reprint. I'm not trying to panic anyone, just being upfront so nobody's disappointed.

We are today launching The River Fly Anglers Almanac. It's 142 pages long, includes over 17,000 words of completely new content, and features brand new monthly watercraft sections. We have two editions for you to choose from:

• Paperback Edition (incl. 2026 Diary) - only £15.99
• Digital Edition (pdf) - only £6.99

You can see more sample pages below, or by clicking on any image or button contained in this email.

Here's a sample of what's in store for March ...

Not convinced yet? Here's what some of our customers said about our previous edition - and this edition is significantly better ...

I'm a firm believer that each river has its own nuances as far as fishing (and the fish contained within it) are concerned, and that the most successful anglers on any given stretch of water are the ones with the most experience of it.

Generally in life, there are no shortcuts, but there are ways to help your experience along a little quicker - and owning The NEW River Fly Anglers Almanac is one of them!

Happy reading.

P.S. If you owned the original Almanac, thank you. I've spent six months rewriting this from the ground up because I wanted to make it genuinely worth your time. Same spirit, completely new content. I think you'll notice the difference on your first read.

P.P.S. The trout season opens in March. Get this in your pocket before opening day and you'll be ready from the first cast.