Monday 11 June 2018

A Few Hours

With things happening at home this weekend which took up the majority of my time I was restricted to fishing time, but in the end it actually paid off better than I had hoped for with a good spread of fish throughout the evening and a few surprise photographs which I was more than pleased with.





I headed up the Dale just after 6pm and on route was met with the flock of geese being in the exact location I was hoping to wet my line as there is normally a trout or two lying in under the bushes feeding so that put paid to my opening plans. I moved on up the river leaving them to the cover of the bushes.





There was a good hatch on the river but not many fish looking up and feeding on them, the ones which were actively rising were all small fish and after a few misses I managed to connect with one of the small fish, only to find it was actually Dace which were rising.


With nothing else actively rising on the stretch I decided to leave them to it and head further upstream.







I came across my favourite wild flower, the mimulus (Monkey flowers), nice to see them still growing wild next to the river.








After scanning the river for rising fish I spotted one fish rising hard against the far bank, so a bit of tactful wading was called for until I was comfortably within casting range and I dropped the dry fly almost on top of it and instantly it reacted and I was rewarded with the first trout of the night.


A right little porker with a full belly.





The hatch was well and truly on with various types of Mayfly & Duns hatching all over the river but like before not many fish were taking advantage of the banquet.

As I walked through some long grass I seen a few of the most beautiful creatures dancing around on the stems of the grasses so sat down & see if I could grab a few pictures and these were the results.






Balancing on my Boston hat in all its glory, a male banded demoiselle damselfly.









I managed gently to tease it onto my rod handle before it took to to the wing & flew off.



Damselfly & Jingler










With that over I got back to fishing and it wasnt long until the next trout gave away its position and I duly covered it and another in the net.


With nothing further moving it was time to chill on the bank and take in the surroundings and await to see if anything would start feeding on the continuing banquet of flies which were hatching off.





The thistles showing off their colours amongst all the grasses.









Having to roll my sleeves down as the small biting critters from the long grass were having a field day on my bare arms, to keep me from scratching my arms raw and keep me sane I got back into the river &  I was rewarded with two more trout, one of which did not fancy a photograph and released itself just before I managed to net it, but the 2nd one was quite willing.


A couple of scars down its flanks towards the tail, shows its been through the wars at some point in its life.




As the sun started to set behind the tree further up the bank  and I stepped into the pool before making my way downstream in the direction of the car.

Nothing further to show but I wasnt caring, I was more than happy with the sights, sounds and fish the river had given me tonight.




2 comments:

  1. Great images George.
    The damsel fly is outstanding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Alan, It was great to see it, I managed to get a picture a few years back but haven't been as lucky until the weekend and it all came good again.

      Delete

Your comments will be added after verification by the moderator.