Small Streams & Big Ladies

With a pocket full of painkillers and my knee strapped up like a ham joint I headed up the Dales to a spot which I knew would be easy walking in search of some peace & quiet. As I drove up the where the car was to be left the rabbits were scurrying around as I had upset there early morning feeding. The thing that struck me the most when I opened the car door was the lovely smell of the wild garlic that was filling the air in the early morning sunshine,as I walked down to stash the bag containing the evening meal, the carpet of colours on the woodland floor was a lovely sight of every colour imaginable. I made my way the short distance from the stash point to the first pool which I knew would be holding a bit of deep water sat for a few minutes watching and it didn't take long to see the residents coming up to feed.

 It didn't take long for the first trout to attach itself to my fly, not the biggest trout in the world but every bit as beautiful and wild.

A few more small trout were rising and as I picked my way through them it got me thinking if they had ever seen an artificial fly in there lives before.

As the day wore on and a bit more moving around some lovely glides and pools which I had never fished before produced some lovely fish including some Big ladies for such a small river.

A lovely sized Grayling and showing no signs of spawning whatsoever and she did fight hard, which led me to believe at the start she was a good Brownie and 10 minutes later her sister joined her on the bank

Another pool in the wood produce another couple of small brownies coming from the shade below the roots.

 By this time it was well into the afternoon as it had been slow walking most of the day which was taking its toll, so the stashed bag got brought out from its hiding place and the kettle was put on.

As I lay down in the hot afternoon sun and shut my eyes all I could hear in the distance was the call of a cuckoo and the world was definitely a wonderful place for about 30 minutes as I just lay soaking up the late afternoon sun,where if it wasn't for Mrs Mallard and her brood passing by I would have defiantly fell fast asleep.

After a rest I fished on for another hour catching another couple of small but pristine trout.

Heading back towards the car I lost probably the best couple of fish of the day, a couple of better sized brown trout that liked a bit of acrobatic work and the final fish of the day was this grayling which fought like a wet rag but probably because she hadn't fully recovered from spawning so was never removed from the water.

All in all a very enjoyable day, none of the bigger brownies wanted to show but the ladies certainly shone through all on the dry fly, nothing better.