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.

Apologies

 For the lack of posts recently 😒, I am still around but as all the fishermen amongst you know it hasnt exactly been the greatest of fishing weather with rivers almost dry in places, Ive done several walks to & from the river but the waders have not been on since July.

The walking boots on the other hand have had plenty of use...

 if your a social media type of person then the exploits can be seen at my photography page....(Due to spamming on my photography page, link removed)

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.

Nursing an Injury

 I was out n about last weekend and managed to aggravate an old knee injury which kind of spoiled where I wanted to walk to so I had to settle for IMHO probably the best vista in The Yorkshire Dales.

 

Not a bad view to sit & pass the time of day to, but wasnt where I had planned to go, as the sunset was meant to be glowing & I had a higher vantage area picked out but alas I had to settle for here....It was a hard decision! 😄

This week after a complete week of resting my leg (If ever I could in my job) & popping a few ibuprofen I had planned on a leisurely day at the fishing but  water levels were so low & the sun so bright I opted out of decided to head over to Swaledale & do some land rover track walking in the hills, plenty to go at & some interesting stuff to see if you know where to look.

1st place I came across was this old thatched barn which I thought was just full of character.

A couple of miles further on & we were into the mining area that swaledale was once famous for.

 

Old gang smelting mill with the long peat storage building high up on the hills.

some of the levels still accessible today , if you have the right gear & expertise to explore.

heading higher & deeper into the high moors its amazing what mining relics you come across with this old stone crusher still sitting where it once worked.

Time to chill for the night so what better place to sit than high up on the moors beside an 1820 built  dam that was once used to hold back water for the smelting mill far below.

14 miles in total, & the knee isnt too bad either.

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

Striding Out

 Managed to sneak away & get a night out where I could just switch off & forget everything, so headed to the far reaches of the Dales to a place I haven't visited before, after crossing over into Cumbria to park the car I walked back across the county lines and up into the hills.

On the way up I came across this sea of yellow, the gorse bushes in full bloom.

The view up Dukerdale 

I hadn't seen a soul for the full duration of the walk until  something caught my eye high above.

Surfing the thermals.

Couple of hours walking and my destination came into eye shot, 9 Standard Rigg.

9 stone cairns some over 10ft high sitting up on the fells at a height of 2,172ft, dating some 800 years but recently been refurbished.

Looking back on the cairns from the marker which was erected for the weeding of Charles & Diane by the Kirby Stephen Rescue team.

The top of the marker cairn showing what you can see all around with heights & names of the far & near places on the horizon.

Sunset, full moon & chilling cant get any better.

The walk back out next morning heading back across into Cumbria to collect the car

All I can say is they have some funny looking sheep in Cumbria.