Down The Bottom And In The Woods

 As I wandered down to the bottom end of the stretch looking for signs of life in or on the water I spotted the flash of a fish. I got myself in a position to have a cast at it. I had a klink 'n' dink rig with a small gold head PTN on the bottom. Second cast and the Klinkhammer skated on the surface and I was into a fish which turned out to be a 7-8" out of season grayling which kindly flipped off the hook as I grabbed the leader. It was certainly livelier than the previous grayling I'd caught.

As no more fish were forthcoming I continued to the bottom of the stretch. There was still no fly life. I cast into all the likely places to no avail. About half way back I'd cast over to the far side when I thought I saw a fish jump. I forgot about the flies that had now swung into the near bank. Another little fish jumped the other side of some trailing roots. The rod tip then jagged about. By the time I'd realised what was happening the fish had vanished. I had a couple of casts by the tree roots but ended up getting snagged and ended up wrecking the swim retrieving the fly.

 

Nothing more was forth coming on that stretch so I retired for a late lunch. After lunch I headed up to the woods. I'd changed to flies to an Elk hair caddis and a lighter copperhead olive bug/nymph. Quite why I'd changed I don't know but a change seemed like a good idea. Again there was no fly life about nor any sign of fish. Again I just cast into the likely looking spots. The trees we layered a few weeks back had come into leaf and new shoots showing.

Further up the beck the first sign of fly life fluttered past. A olive upright. Still no sign of fish though. A couple of bends later and the caddis shot under the water the moment it hit the water. A swift strike and I was into a reasonable fish. A lovely 11" wild brown trout eventually graced the net after a bit of acrobatics near the net. It must have hit the nymph soon after it hit the water. A few more casts in the same area produced only a twig.

I continued on but my right leg was now feeling decidedly wet. The deep wading had found another hole in the waders. When I reached a spot I could climb out I decided enough was enough. I had managed a couple of fish so called it a day. Apparently there had been a fair bit of fly life furtehr upstream just not on the stretches I'd fished. That's trout fishing for you.

They Should Tidy Up The Fallen Trees

When ever I go through the gate onto the unmade road I have to suppress the urge to go full Stig Blomqvist down the track When I arrived at the parking spot another vehicle was already there. They were fishing the pond, with out a great deal of success at that point. I readied myself and headed to the beck. I didn't pick the best route down through the trees as it was a bit boggy but eventually got to the beck. Where the first thing I did was spook a couple of trout.

There isn't a lot of room for casting in these parts. A lot of it is only accessible by bow-and-arrow casting. The first few swims were rather tight but I managed to get my Elk Hair Caddis into most of the right spots with out getting hung up. Eventually, have spooked a few more fish, I got to a little beach with a bit of casting room and had a couple of nice drifts with the fly. Third drift down a little trout shot up towards the fly. It missed it but leapt clear of the water and disappeared under some tree roots. Another cast to the top of the riffle produced a positive rise and a seven inch wild brown trout was soon in the net.

 

 A Few more spots were tried, but mainly I just seemed to be spooking fish as I tried to spot them while walking. Not a good idea as I either walked into branches or was tripped by brambles. I then spotted a nice slack but the only access was right above it. As I took a bit of a detour to avoid spooking any residents I came across the feathery remains of a a kill that a small bird was picking over. Presumably for nest lining. Round at the slack I lowered the fly into the water. It had nearly reached the fast water when it disappeared. A strike and I was in to something. The line had got caught on a trailing briar. The little trout quickly flipped itself off the hook.

A few more swims were tried with out any action. I then got to a smoothish glide where the fly attracted the attention of a small trout which had a splashy rise at the fly. Next cast the fly had only drifted a couple of inches when if was snaffled. A little spotty of around five inches. I managed to raise another little fish in the next riffle. I was now thirsty and hungry so made my way back up to the road ascending alongside an old moss covered dry stone wall.

After lunch I had a short session on the pond as I'd seen a couple of fish rising. Only one of the anglers was still fishing and he lost is only fish of the day taken on nymph. After they ignored my caddis I tried a small Dynamite Harry. This too was ignored. I then spent a little while using it on the section of beck than runs by the pond to no avail. Clearly not all the fish are looking up yet. Another angler had a couple on nymphs following me.

Clearly there are a fair few trout in this beck as evidenced by my spooking them. I'll have to get my stealth mode practiced some more. As for those big creatures in the pond. I think they're best ignored for now.

What the fishing now needs is some settled weather and less rain as I would like to get up to the Dales as well.

New Club, New Water, New Season

 Technically it isn't a new water as I've fished it in the past, but this is the first time I've fished it legally.  The weather forecast left a lot to be desired. It was basically various variations on rain, light, heavy, drizzle, etc. Quite why I fish the first day of the trout season I don't know. In the last ten years, when I've fished the first day, I've only caught once on opening day. To add to the problems I intended to fish dry fly in the morning and change to nymph in the afternoon if that didn't work. After a relatively uneventful drive I arrived at the parking spot as the rain started, and it was quite heavy. A cuppa was called for.

Once the rain had stopped and the cuppa had been drunk I headed to the river. I had been down here before on a work party so had some idea what the beat was like. I'd set up a 7' rod with a #4 line. The fly was to be a CDC & Elk Caddis as I'd been assured this was the fly for the water at this time of year. It wasn't long before I got my first take. It took me rather by surprise as I'd lost sight of the fly and thought it was somewhat nearer to me. Needless to say I failed to connect. Still, at least one was willing to rise.

I continued along casting at likely looking spots. It was some time before I got my next take, close to some tree roots. This time I connected and was into a small but lively little wild brown trout. Safely netted it was smaller than I'd thought at only 7". Still it was a trout on opening day and taken on dry fly as well. It even ejected the hook in the net. Mission accomplished.

A quick photo and back it went without really leaving the water.

The rain started again and began to get heavy. As it was around lunch time I retired to the car and had a celebratory curry. After an hour or so the rain eased and I had another go up the beat. I stuck with the dry fly as it seemed to be working. In the same swim I'd missed the first fish I elicited another rise with which I connected but it managed to squirm off the hook. Halfway up the beat I connected with another rise. This one looked bigger than the previous one but was quickly netted. While rummaging for the phone the little bugger managed to leap from the net. It was nearly one and half time bigger at 10". That was it for the day as the rain started again and it was nearly going home time.

Considering the chilly conditions and the rain nymphing would probably have produced more fish, but I really wanted a dry fly fish on opening day so was rather pleased at raising four and landing two.

You also get to see and hear steam trains if you're into that sort of thing.