Insects Take Bank Holiday Off Too

Easter Monday saw me, fly rod in hand, wandering the banks of the Esk again. What surprised me as I walked to the down stream end of the section was the complete lack of fly life and rising fish. Unlike my previous visit, which was cold and windy, there was very little wind and reasonable temperatures so I expected more fish to be rising. 

Once at the down stream end I decided to go with a small gold head PTN, as I'd just raised a pheasant, and to try out my new mono furled leader. It was a little while before I was into my first, small, trout. The furled leader worked well in the tight confines, turning the nymph over nicely. A couple more little'uns were taken, and a couple flip off the hook before everything went quiet.

As sat with a drink, pondering a change of fly, a hare bolted out of the hedge back and into the long grass. Gold head GRHE it was then. This resulted in a couple more before arriving back at the car. I had expected better with the day been reasonably warm, but the bright sunshine may not have help.

While having a bite to eat I had the pleasure of been battered by hailstones for a couple of minutes as the sky clouded over. Having had something to eat, I set of upstream and soon spotted a fish rising. Changing to a Grey Duster, which was taken the moment it hit the water. Which produced my first parr of the day. A couple more little trout followed before every thing went quiet as the wind got up. Despite wandering quite a distance I saw nothing more rising. So I called it a day.

With the rest of April looking a bit chilly I'm not sure if things are are going to get any better. I'm sure there must be something a bit bigger in there somewhere. After only two trips though I can't really complain.