I spent a few hours down the river this afternoon, from lunchtime through till about 4.
Lots of flies coming off, mainly LDO's with a few of these scattered in amongst them
Not a fish to bee seen rising, so i set off with a March brown dry on the dropper and a Nymph on the point and went searching.
After a lot of nothing i sat and had lunch, the flies kept coming which is great, but still no risers
I even sat at the point i though most likely to produce a wee rise, still nothing......
So i'm making my way up through some pocket water when i get to the tail of the pool above the streamy bit i'm fishing and i spot what could have been a small rise, or the swirl from a rock, unsure i sit down and wait, the next LDO that floats down is being observed rather closely when up pops a large head and the fly is gone, a smooth back and a tail the 2/3rd's the size of my hand, barely a ripple except in my chest where it is all suddenly going mad. So off comes the nymph and on goes a Waterhen Bloa. The fish is only about 4 ft out from the bank so a careful cast puts the flies out......Nothing..... did i spook him
Lack of confidence in the heat of the moment, so i sit and wistfully watch pondering what i did wrong, did he not like the flies, was it the orange line (i'm still on the nymph rig and not swapped to dryfly mode) did he see me even though i'm crouched on the bank about 10ft behind him
Lots to ponder when A small flash about 4ft further out and i see the tail again. This time i wait.............. after about 90secs i cast again somewhere between where the two rises were, up he comes and the waterhen bloa is quite confidently Consumed. Bang he's on and going mental, what a way to christen the new 8ft Cane
After several spectacular leaps, i lost count at 8
each bringing its own minor heartattack and desperately trying to keep him out of the rapids with some well applied side strain I managed to get him up to the bank, a good 20-22" long if not a little more.. Now here starts my issue, i have only my small handnet which is great when you are wading, but when you are 2ft up from the water and kneeling on the grass its not so clever
So with the rod in my left hand and the net in my outstretched right i lean down to try and net him... this he is not to amused at and makes a final Leap...... Pop goes the dropper and i'm left staring at the water trying to regain some sort of composure
.
Awesome.... Probably the best Fish i've hooked since i came home, brilliant fight more like a sea-trout and i got to see him up close a beautiful golden brownie with the classic Don Blue blusher, Only thing i didn't get to do was land him so i could measure him properly and get a Photo to claim a decent fish
So i'm still to get off the mark, but things are looking up, and so it seems are the fish
But I now I know where he lives
Roll on the warmer weather next week
Sandy
