[Ali Mcewan]

Them "things" don't count sandy 😂

[Sandy Nelson]

Aye well, it looked like a beautiful day to go on a trout hunt



Water still high, but temperature up to 12 degrees and clearing nicely. Any hatch that actually took place was all over by 12.
I managed to hit one rising fish which was a cracker, but i dropped it from a high bank as Mr B was getting organised with the net.

So lunch happened and much chinwagging until we dispersed to try and find a fish or two, not much luck with anything showing, so i went back up to the car and got the streamer line to have a mess about.

Well messing about is one thing...... but this turned into something else................... All ended well though, even though halfway through the struggle  i had to Phone Mr B who was 800yds downstream and he had to run back upstream to help me with a much bigger net!!





Not bad on a 7ft6" Bamboo rod!!!! My first Springer on the fly and my biggest tourist on the fly ever 34" bar of silver.
Still got the jitters now thinking about it.

Sandy

[Mike Barrio]

Note to self ...... fish nearer to Sandy next time, getting a bit old for the 800 yds     

[Allan Liddle]

Stunner Sandy, well done

[Euan Innes]

Nice going Sandy.
Good to see the Bamboo can handle that size of fish. That picture might be the closest I get a springer this year!

Euan

[Sandy Nelson]

Tis the rod we were talking about in the carpark. Definatley proving to be a seriously versatile piece of stick.

[Jim Eddie]

Great stuff Sandy, cracking fish 

 

Jim

[Sandy Nelson]

Nipped down after dinner tonight for a few casts, just to see if there would be anything rising after the warm day.
Didn't see any significant rising fish, but went pocket picking with a PTN and picked up a couple



Using the rod for what its supposed to be for this time



Lovely evening, you could easily forget it was mid April.

Sandy

[Euan Innes]

The rod is indeed a thing of beauty Sandy, aesthetically and physically. I am surprised that they knew anything about fish in the old days  Love the slightly swelled butt (ooh err)
What's the reel that you use on it? Thought you had a Perfect? Lovely wide spool.
Euan

[Allan Liddle]

Very nice Sandy 

[Sandy Nelson]

What's the reel that you use on it? Thought you had a Perfect? Lovely wide spool.

Euan it's a Hardy MLA 350, i picked one up with 2 spare spools for a steal over the winter, lovely piece of kit, just the right weight for the rod

Sandy

[Sandy Nelson]

Finally after 3 days of trying i got it right this morning.
Turns out the hatch was from 11 to 1145 and not much after, although i had to go home to do some stuff and not burn up too many brownie points in one go.
Lots of March browns and LDO's coming off in 2 bursts, fish lined up picking them off in a few areas, just had to walk a bit to find them.



Sunlight on gold



Dryfly rules again......



So all is right with the world again  although a few of the fish this morning had Bird damage, you can see it in some of the pictures.



Sandy

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff ........... backs up our thoughts from the other day Sandy

[Nicolas Carles]

Well done! Great stuff.  Action on the dry seems picking up !
We were a bit too early 😩
We noted also the same type of what we supposed to be bird injuries on many of our trouts. Does someone know something about this ?
Thanks
Cheers
Nicolas

[Ashley Thomas]

Woke up thinking will I or won’t I, I’m glad I decided to venture out in the end.

Fished a beat I’ve only had one other crack at so far since starting on the rivers - I turned up a little late than I would have liked as the water was already alive with a prolific hatch of  MB’s and LDO’s, with a surprising flurry of OU’s.

Fish were already showing, feeding in pod-like formations and I set myself the challenge of trying to wiggle out the better ones of the bunch.

After a single cast, and my first on the Don with the 476, this beauty eventually sailed into the net !!

A move of position and a few more casts later saw another cracking fish get itself landed.. not the biggest but the markings on this fish were pristine.


No points for guessing what this one took either... 


Nice to be out after finally getting some free space from work.. and for the season to have finally begun 

Ash

[Scott Cumming]

Good fun on the dry for me too



 
Scott

[Allan Liddle]

Excellent stuff guys 

[Sandy Nelson]

Sneaked out this morning.
Same deal as yesterday, 2 breif flurries of flies between 11 and 12 and the fish fed hard for the 10mins that the flies were hatching.
Then very little afterwards.
Still it was a fun 20mins.



Accidental photo, but i thought it was cool.

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

AT LAST....I finally broke in the glass rod and caught my first fish of the season.

Hatches were almost non existent with literally 3 or 4 splashy rises followed by hours of watching!

Managed to get a slash at a Klink, missed it, followed by a hit on the PT underneath it on the next cast. That fish was 2.5lbs Lost another similar sized fish that thought it was a dolphin and shed the fly on a jump.

Went dead so I went for a walk. Saw a very small dimple on a section I would normally walk straight past, so on with a small olive DHE, second cast, fish of about 1.5lb.

Dead again for another few hours. Back to where I got my first fish, saw a rise...same place as before, and the PT did it again, but this time fished on a yarn indicator.  Another fish, this time about 2lb.

And then it really went dead. Tried fishing through a couple of runs but only picked up tiny fish.

So nice to break my duck with the glass rod. Happy days.

[Iain Cameron]

Sloooow going so far. Had four Don sessions; two blanks, with nary a rising trout to be seen nor targeted.


Two sessions with brief spurts of MBs and some LDO spinners that flitted about when the wind dropped. Had a few fish - best went 2 1/4lb. Did have 3lb+ trout, but as it was a silvery sea version, and clearly a kelt, it disnae count.


Still, been enjoyable getting out, chatting to folks, and topping up the sun tan too.

[Allan Liddle]

still a troot Ian so does count 

Great stuff guys, interesting the hatches are so early with very little after, Deveron very similiar

[Rob Brownfield]

Took the boss out for a fish last night, he still has not had a Don trout...and did not manage last night either

No flies, no rising fish, and a cold wind AGAIN!

Fished a bit where I would normally not spend much time on and hooked but lost a really good fish. It hit a klink just as I was lifting off, stayed on for 3 or 4 jumps before popping off.

Still, I learned that the fish lay in that section so I will try again as it was a fairly easy wade and drift to fish.

I just want to see a proper hatch!!

[Rob Brownfield]

Eleven troots last night and 5 or 6 dropped.

Nothing huge, most around the pound mark, but interesting sport from a stretch that does not look as if it would contain fish.

All fell to PTNs with a wee touch of a special colour beneath the tail...and its staying a secret as it really does seemed to have "lifted" the humble PTN to another level (for now).

Very few rises again, but one hooked and lost on a olive DHE when it ran towards me and the barbless hook fell out on a jump.

River dropping and extremely clear! Always amazes me that if you are stealthy you can catch trout a rod length from you.

Liking the glass, missing the extra reach of a 10 foot carbon.

[Scott Cumming]

[/quote

Eleven troots last night and 5 or 6 dropped.

What time have you been fishing Rob? Unusual for trout to take the nymph in evenings at this time of year?

Well done
 
Scott

[Rob Brownfield]

[/quote
What time have you been fishing Rob? Unusual for trout to take the nymph in evenings at this time of year?

Well done
 
Scott

Hitting the river about 5, fishing until about half seven, roughly.