Balsam Bashing (Again) & Rainbow Bashing

I arrived a bit early for the Balsam bashing session so has a bit of a chuck about with the fly rod and a dry fly. A size 16 Elk Hair Sedge to be precise. There wasn't much sign of fish. I tried to keep the fly as close to the bankside vegetation as I could as I suspect that's where they were hiding. It wasn't until I got to one of the three foot deep holes that something stirred. Third cast and one of the larger fish grabbed the fly. A very lively 11" escapee rainbow that did a sterling job of dodging the net. At one point it managed to get between my legs, but was eventually in the net. An autopsy revealed it has been eating Baetis & BWO nymphs along with the odd gammarus.

After some three hours of serious Balsam bashing and nearly falling in as we splodged about in the beck I was time for a cuppa. We'd covered about 200 yards of bank. Bank we'd been over at least twice before. No doubt more will pop up over the next month.

After lunch I had another go along the stretch but this time with a nymph. I'd kind of hoped that Our splodging about would have stirred up the nymphs etc. and have the trout feeding. It didn't work quite as I'd hoped, but I did hook a couple of rather small fish which managed to flip themselves of the hook. I don't know why I have such a hard time keeping these little rainbows on the hook.