Sunday 20 January 2019

Back on the Water..

25th November 2018 was the last time I was out on the water and it feels like an eternity away, my fishing mojo has taken a bit of a knock due to it, I knew today was going to be hard as the river was at summer levels, crystal clear and not much in the way of movement. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come again this year






The first snowdrops of the year are now out in bloom.








I wasnt getting up super early so after a bit of a lie in I drove up the Dale to clear skies and a bit of sunshine. The river was very low, levels which I would expect at the peak of summer, not in the depths of winter and looking at previous weeks results there wasnt much fish being caught anywhere.

Undeterred I was out to try & get back some of my mojo which has disappeared since my last outing nearly 2 months ago. 

Starting at the bottom of the beat I decided to approach the low water with a couple of spiders on droppers and a single # 18 nymph on the point.  It was very hard going there was no denying it and I was wondering if a trotted worm below a float would have achieved anything better, as that is now almost another season over without me getting the trotting rods out, something that was unheard of in years past, and hopefully something I will have to rectify soon.






Almost an hour had passed before I felt a slight tug and lifted the rod to find that I actually had something on, and a moment later my hand had slipped under a small fingerling Grayling, the first fish of 2019 for me, it had taken the partridge & orange spider on the 1st dropper.






a few more runs through the same glide and I felt another fish.


No record breakers by any means but I was starting to enjoy myself again, the sights and sounds which used to excite me were returning, a dipper came and said hello by sitting on a stone some 15ft or so away from me and started singing. I was back in a happy place again and the absence had been far too long.






A few moments grabbing a coffee from the flask and I entered the water again where I had caught the previous two Grayling hoping for maybe a couple more. Around 30 minutes had slipped by before I felt the next indication of a fish.








a further 15 minutes or so proved fishless so I decided to head upstream in search of maybe another fish or two. Stopping off at various point on the beat resulted in no further fish but I wasnt too dismayed I was back on the water and enjoying it.

Deciding to call it a day after 3 hours was my way of keeping the interest alive as the river was so low and with only a limited number of places to fish, I wasnt going to flog them to death in pursuit of a fish and after all I had enjoyed myself up to this point & didn't want to spoil that feeling.




I would have been back on the water last sunday if it hadn't been for the high winds that had hit the Dales, and looking at friends results on the river Im glad I opted for a walk with the camera. It was bitter but by keeping on the move I was able to keep warm and enjoyed taking a few shots on my travels.






I may not have been fishing but I wasnt too far from the water with this shot looking upstream.






And no shortage of these fellows running around in the woods at the moment, as I was taking shots of him I saw movement out of the corner of my eye & saw that I too was being watched so very slowly I turned & managed to grab a photo of the culprit watching me.....






A Grey Squirrel.






A couple of wax caps finished off my walk last week.

6 comments:

  1. I know how you feel George, I've hardly been out because of other pressures but hopefully I'll get out after the perch this week. Mind you I said that last week! One of my composers has beautiful red worms in it, every time I look in it I think Grayling. happy New Year by the way. Regards, John

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    1. Happy New Year to you also John & many more to come. I kept using that excuse too, maybe next week! and before I knew it 2 months had elapsed. I appreciate we all get older and other things take priority in our lives, but I have to admit Fishing has always been my escape & I missed it immensely, Must try harder is my new year motto to get myself back on the banks again. The composter was my main source of worms in years gone by, last year & this year I haven't been out to even look at them but I will very soon as I've made a promise to myself that a centre pin will see the water before the end of the Grayling season. all the very best george

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  2. A lot of variations in winter.
    That rooster pheasant was quite handsome.

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    1. very true Alan, just over here we can generally rely on the British weather to keep the rivers at good heights in the winter, this year though has been very odd, super low during the summer which has now continued into the winter.

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  3. Hi George
    Wow two months without wetting a line, how did you cope?
    Good to see you out on the water and posting on your outing.
    Thanks
    Alistair

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    1. To be honest Alistair it wasnt that bad, I can't put my finger on it but it flew past so quick, but that must be me getting old as time is flying past these days, like I said on Alan's blog we need to meet up for a cast on the Tees this year.

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