Balsam Bashing Then Stockie Bashing

The morning was spent balsam bashing along the banks of one of the becks. The amount of balsam has markedly decreased f the last few years but it's now mainly growing in among the nettles and hiding under the trees so takes a bit more work to spot. Persistence is the key.

After we'd finished some of decided to retire to one of the ponds for luncheon and a maybe a bit of fishing for the stocked browns. While the other two bobbed about in the boats I decided to have a fish from the bank.

While the other two fished a duo rig with a small PTN on the end I opted for a small sparkle tail Griffith's gnat as fish were rising close to the bank. The first to take my fly was one of the recent stockies at 16" which put up a fair fight on the weight three rod.  The PTHs were catching but I persisted with the dry. The next fish was lost when it throw the hook. The boat anglers were getting some unmissable bites that they missed. I the suffered the same. The fly was getting sucked under but I could hook them no matter how quick or slow I struck.

Time flew past pretty quickly and it was soon time to go. The nymph anglers had half a dozen fish to the net I had just the one on dry. A nice way to waste a couple of hours.