First Days Fishing of the Trout Season

Having been prevented from angling due to the partial lock-down today was my first real chance to get out since the restrictions were eased. I was not going to be an ideal day for fly fishing given the gusty wind and occasional drizzle.  I'd decide to fish the local beck rather than disappear into the back of beyond. The beck isn't the best of fisheries if catching fish is really important to you. It's can be a moody desolate place and seemingly barren.

The first sight to great me was the Himalayan Balsam. A lot less of it than previously, but I've been pulling it up far the last few years. I spent ten minutes pulling up this patch and several more throughout the day. The first fish I spotted was a tiny, nine inch or so, pike loitering besides some tree roots. As I crept a bit closer it sank beneath them. A steady wander upstream showed there hadn't been any massive remodelling of the beck during the floods, surprisingly. They had, however, washed a lot of the weed away again. Given that, for the most part, the bottom is coarse sand this isn't going to do the fly life any good, which there isn't a great deal at the best of times. Apart from the little smuts, I saw only a couple of uprights and a few midges all day.

The next fish I came across were a shoal of half a dozen dace, before encountering a trout hovering in the middle of the beck. It wasn't rising to anything in the time I watched it, but I had my first cast to it. The fish moved across and inspected my size 16 grey duster then moved back from whence it came. As the only fly life about was the little smuts I tied on a size 22 IOBO. Again it moved across and inspected the fly before returning back mid stream. As I pondered my next move a mallard swooped round the corner and crashed to the surface before realising I was there and, creating more disturbance, took off again. I would have minded so much, but the trout looked to be one of the beck's larger inhabitants. As I wasn't far from the car I retired for a spot of luncheon.

By the time I'd eaten the wind had got up and was rather gusty. I set off up the next section and soon spotted a fish rising close to them bank. Having watched it for a while I couldn't see what it was rising to so decide the IOBO was as good as anything. The first cast was blown off course with the tiny little fly landing near the opposite bank of this particularly narrow section. The second, however, was spot on and ignored. The third landed somewhere between the two and was taken almost immanently it landed on the water. A fish at last, but not a trout by the feel of it. Turned out to be a little grayling which flipped off the hook as I swung it up the bank. Nice to see especially as they are quite rare in this little beck, but not what I was after.

I continued my wanderings up the beck with the occasional cast into likely looking spots. As I turned a corner I spooked a Heron which took off, seemingly in slow motion, and somehow managed to weave it's way through  he trees and out of sight before I'd got my phone out of my pocket. Looking in the beck where it had been fishing I saw a large number of pin fry. I don't know if herons actually feed on anything that small, but there again they do feed on tadpoles which aren't much bigger.

Nearing the end of the section I spotted another fish rising. By the time I'd manoeuvred into position for a cast I could see it was a small trout at the side of a little riffle. I cast a bit too far upstream of it, but jsut before drag set in it took the IOBO and I was in, then I wasn't. As I sat cursing to myself a couple of perch took up station where the trout had been.

By now it had started to drizzle again, so I decided to give up as I'd reached the end of the section as well. Not the greatest start to the trout season, but still it was nice to be out and waving a rod about even though I'd missed the bluebells at their best. The next trip will be to a more prolific water and hopefully slightly less windy and  a tad warmer.