A few hours..

 As close friends know & anyone who follows Bedale & Beyond on social media, I have been out the game for the last 7 weeks with a torn ligament in my knee, so no walking or fishing. 

Last week after 6 weeks away I decided put my knee to the test & stretch the legs on an easy walk around upper Swaledale..

Never far from water

And with views like this certainly makes the pain disappear for a short while

Today after paying my respects to many unknown warriors and fallen colleagues now gone to the great Battery Bar in the sky, I wanted some alone time & I knew just the place....

Some peace & tranquilty without any real stress on my knee. The river was carrying a lot of extra water but that did not deter me & I headed to a run less than 50m in length which I knew fishes well in heavy water & it didnt disappoint.

Miniature Perfection for the 1st fish of the session getting steadily bigger

Oh how I have missed the beatiful Grayling

A couple of out of season trout took my flies followed by a couple of grayling which I lost & all I had taken was probably only taken around 8 - 10 steps since entering the river.

Another lady showing off her beauty.

they kept coming and I kept missing a few also.

Best fish of the day & a cracking few hours of peace & tranquilty.

Dry Fly Magic

 I had a decision to make yesterday which was either head to the hills with the camera or pull on the waders & hit a very low river, the low river won as the urge to flick some dry flies around was too much.

As I walked down the river 3 little egrets lifted off, which was a pleasant surprise as Ive only ever seen 1 around these parts.

The river was as expected on its bones almost and very clear but after sitting scanning the river, some fish were popping up from time to time albeit I knew they would be smaller fish but that didnt matter so putting on a small CDC dry off we went.

A small Grayling was the first to make an appearance.

Lots of small Par followed, so much so I actually stopped counting but they were progressively getting bigger in size.

I flicked the dry fly upstream under an overhanging tree & the water erupted and a decent trout had hammered the fly, so much so the fly actually was unusable again after the release of the fish.

Walking upstream I came across my favourite wild flower, the monkey flower (mimulus), not too abundant in Wensleydale where upon a few Dales north in Teesdale its common as anything in a variety of colours, I wonder why so not as abundant here.

Walking through some long grass I interupted a young lady having her lunch...literally! A Banded Demoiselle having lunch & was not interested in anything apart for its prey.

Back on the river a few more trout fell to the dry fly.

All in all a very productive few hours & I was so glad that I took the river option as a nice change from the hills.

Back in the Water

 Having spent the weekend getting things around the house & garden done then, taking the wife shopping yesterday to the Metro centre, today I had some Me time & that only meant one thing.....Fishing!

I did not want to be chucking nymphs around as I think this is what has added to my reluctance to get back to the fishing, nymphing just bores me dearly, so today it was all in for Dry fly fishing, hatch or not that was my chosen method.

Ready for the off.

I sat in a sheltered part of the river as there was a downstream wind blowing and waited to see if I could see any hatches and about 20 minutes into the waiting & watching I seen the first signs of a hatch, very sporadic & not much to talk about but fish were moving.

1st of the day, & they can only get bigger..I hoped!

There was a lot of small Grayling moving in the faster water, it was obvious they were Grayling by their smutting the surface & before long they started to interfere with the dry fly.

All in pristine condition but this wasnt what I was after so I headed away from them heading upstream to see what I could find.

 Making my way upstream it was evident that the river needed a good flush as there was weed all over the bottom of the river making the footing slightly hap hazard but I seen a decent fish rising at the top of a run, so getting low tot he water I sneaked up to within casting distance and after a couple of runs through it sipped the dry fly down.

Fish On, a nice brown trout

I sat for an hour scanning the stream to see if I could see any further fish moving and just as I was about to head home I seen a fish rising below me at the very bottom of a long flat, so waded down to I was just below him and started casting to him, the wind making things slightly difficult but after a short time, nailed the presentation and he took the fly on that pass.

A couple of lovely tout & a few hours back on the water with the dry flies, it was great to see the Oyster-catchers on the shingle banks & even got to glimpse 3 white egret flying downstream which was unusual as I only normally see one in this particular area. 

The hatch was very sporadic but did see a few yellow sallies and a couple of Mayflies hatching but nothing in any numbers.

A nice few hours back in the water

A slower pace

 Swapped out the walking boots & rucksack this week for the wading boots & fly rod and had a dander along the River Ure after a very busy week at work with no staff due to Covid & sickness. Water was clear but at a good height & reports were poor from the guys who had been on the river, many dry netting & struggling to find any fish at all.

Sitting at the top of the beat I sat & observed for any signs of life & had a brew whilst waiting & the 15 minutes not a single show of any fish at all, above or below water that I could see from my raised vantage point.

Fishing down through the first pool the line stopped & I struck into a fish, nothing of any great size but I was glad to be off the mark.

 Almost immediately I had another fish but this time an Out of Season Brown trout in a relatively poor condition with a lot of tail damage so a slip of the hook & it was gone again. 

It was almost 40 minutes before the indicator stopped again and a small Grayling came to hand.

Fishing all down through the beat I never touched another fish until the very last set of glides where again I struck into 2 Grayling in quick succession.

Almost identical circumstances to the first couple of fish with the larger fish coming first followed by a much smaller fish.

And that was it, 4 hours on the river at a much slower pace to last weekend but just as enjoyable with Buzzards hunting overhead and the peace & tranquillity that nature & its surroundings bring.

Until next time, tight lines everyone.

A couple of ladies & their little sisters

 I decided to hit the water today seeing as it was at a decent height & get away from the house for a few hours, I had toyed with the idea of heading onto the hills but the urge to go fishing was greater so threw the gear in the back of the car & headed up the Dale.

Its been a while since this lot last seen a riverbank. August was its last airing & I was hoping the Ladies hadn't forgot me.

I needn't have worried within 15 minutes of being in the river the first lady slipped into the net, albeit a small fish I wasnt going to complain.

Dont you just love when the rod tip is bent into a fish, definitely  a bit bigger than the 1st little lady.

The fish were getting bigger and I wasnt complaining although the next couple of fish went the opposite way before the rod tip really did bend round and I knew the next fish was going to be a better stamp of fish.

At 1st I thought it was an out of season trout the way it was behaving but it soon became apart when the dorsal fin broke the surface it was no trout.

A lovely lady graced the net & I knew then that they hadn't forgot me.

a couple of quick photographs & off she went to fight another day.

Another couple of smaller fish followed and fishing up through many of the runs resulted in nothing at all. I decided to walk to the top of the section and see if any fish were moving to surface flies as generally this is a good indicator & I needed a coffee to warm me up a bit.

There was a few small fish breaking the surface but not in any great numbers so I decided to stick with the set up I had and merely swapped out the point fly which I would later reap the rewards for.

Another hour or so had passed without much movement so I dropped down into a shallow glide which has always been good to me in the past & once again it did not disappoint, 2nd time through the indicator stopped and I tightened up, point fly change had done the trick.

Again I was graced with another decent lady and a couple of pictures and she was gone to where she came from.

I fished down through the pool & connected with another smaller lady before I finally decided to head home and call it a day, 9 little sisters & 2 ladies were the tally for 5 hours and I was delighted to be back out & connecting with such lovely creatures again.

Feet Wet

 With all the media hype of football on TV & Radio,  for somebody that cannot abide the game at all no matter what nation is playing I had to get away & currently carrying an injury the mountains were ruled out so after a long break (9th April) being the last trip out with the rod. 

I opted to get my feet wet again.

The rivers were are low and I knew it would be a day of not much fish moving but I was determined to get a wet net.

I certainly didn't need any net for the first 5 fish that rose to my small dry fly.  Par seemed to be the only thing taking terrestrials off the surface.

I made my way down the mile & a half length of club water I was fishing without seeing any decent fish break the surface so at my turning point I opted to go sub surface & adopt a nymph set up.

Moving back upstream to the first decent bit of deeper water I concentrated on the high oxygenated parts of the water & sure enough within a few moments lifted into my first decent fish of the day, which turned out the be a Grayling.

I continued to fish the faster water & struck into a further 3 Grayling but on my haste to get out I hadn't charged the battery on the camera, thinking that it would be OK, I was wrong the camera did not even have enough power to open up the lens shutter. Not to worry they were OK fish but no record breakers so I wasnt disappointed about not getting a photograph but I did manage to get my net wet & thats what I had come for.

A nice couple of hours away from all the media hype  Now the TV is off & Im sat typing up the blog, what could be better.

Walking the Rod

 Well today the hill walking boots were taken off once again & the wading boots put back on.

The river was exceptionally low & clear and I sat for almost an hour before finally seeing any sort of hatch, which when it did come was sparse but I saw one fish move at the tail of the pool I was observing, not a big fish and I decided to see if it would come up again, It did not.

Nature all around was waking up to the sun today with this bee covered in pollen from the willow buds starting to burst into life.

The view upstream looked just like a summers day, with the flock of 50 + geese honking in the field opposite.

No rest for the military though as the occasional noise from a spurt of GPMG fire carried in the wind from the military ranges close by & helicopters flying overhead.

With no further hatch coming off I decided to head downstream & see if I could find any feeding fish, I found one fish tucked at the back end of a willow bush which was sitting in the water just off the main current & when I cast to it , took my dry imitation almost immediately but alas a small Grayling which generously set itself free on the retrieval. I decided to call it a day, I had a couple of hours on the river which I was thankful for & to just sit and soak up the surroundings was reward enough for me.

On heading home I heard the sad news of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh's passing on the car radio, I was saddened to hear this, as one military man to another I appreciated what he had done for this country & the many thousands of kids which participated in the Duke of Edinburgh's awards as I had done when I was younger. 

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting him twice during my military career & he brought a smile to all our faces when he visited us. 

Sir I salute you & may your R.I.P.