Nice Timing

Yesterday I got the tying vice out, the first time in a while.
I started hatching my plan which was to tie up a few of the classic spiders I like to fish with but  with some new dubbing that I got given to me so just adding an added thorax behind the hackle to see how they would fair today on my trip out.

a couple of partridge & orange with added thorax, snipe & purple with added thorax and a couple of olive spiders with thorax.










I had planned to head out today for a few hours,  far up into the Pennines and the headwaters in search of some small wild brown trout to kick start the season. As I was getting higher up into the hills the temperature was dropping and the sky was becoming darker with every mile I traveled, It wasn't looking good but I continued on and caught sight of my first Curlew this year so nice to see them back in the region again this year.

I arrived just after 10am and set about getting myself sorted, there was a cold and blustery downstream wind which wasn't helping any and after sitting for 30 minutes observing the water & the surroundings  there was nothing moving at all, no hatches or fish showing so it looked like the tying's last night would be put to good use straight away.

Second cast upstream with the spiders and the first trout of the season came to my hand, nothing of any great size but I had expected that and it was as wild as they come, so beats any stocked fish for me anytime.

It certainly makes it sweeter to catch them on flies that had just been tied the night before. This one fell for the small olive spider on the point fly.

I continued fishing upstream for some way but touching nothing as I went, my nostrils on the other hand were taking a pounding from the aroma of the fresh wild garlic that was appearing everywhere.

The riverbank was literally covered in carpets of the stuff, so some foraging on the way home to bolster the soup pot.







This high part of the region is definitely a few weeks behind lower down the Dale as most Daffodils and flowers are still in bud with only an occasional one or two showing their flowers, predominately in sheltered spots.

Some daffodils I found sheltered out the wind












And some wild primroses poking out the tree roots.

I fished on for another hour before stopping for some lunch by a pool with no further fish seen or touched. As I sat behind a tree stump out the wind and having something to eat I saw one or two olives starting to appear on the river, then after five minutes or so another few, so hoping that there might be a hatch I changed over tackle to dry fly and waited to see, slowly but surely small fish started rising to the olives which were hatching, then I seen the first couple of march brown's hatch off too and the river was starting to wake up.

A couple of fish started to rise to the hatch so I slipped down into the pool and started covering the fish and was actually missing more than I should of, but it was nice to be back fishing the dry fly so early in the season  and some of my efforts did connect with fish.

I managed a couple more very small fish and as fast as the hatch had started it was gone again lasting all of 20 minutes and the river was silent again.

I laid the rod down and continued with something to eat before swapping back across to the spiders and fishing back downstream to my finish point. I never seen or touched another fish for the remaining time and just proves if you are in the right place at th right time then the rewards can be plentiful, in this case some lovely small wild brown trout....Magic.