Being a Boy Scout rather than a Guide.

I had made promises to a friend called Roger last year that I would take him up the Dale and act as a guide, but I like to think it was more of a Boy Scout role than an actual guide, and recently I had to ask a favour from Roger which is his nature he duly did within 24 hours of asking so after a few emails, we arranged today would be the day where I would return the favour.

I would normally leave a lot earlier than we did this morning but seeing as Roger is in later stages of life than I am and in his own words is on bankers hours, and awaiting a heart valve replacement,  I thought it better to make it a little later than normal,  so we arranged to meet up at 0830hrs where we would then drive the 30 minutes and be on the water around 9am. We wouldnt be going to far up the river as the Old Stag as he called himself wasn't quite up to the challenge quite yet but it would be great to see him on the river hopefully catching a few.

We drove to the designated area and set about getting ready, now I'm unsure if Roger did this on purpose or whether he actually fishes with a cane rod all the time but out the boot of his car came this wonderful cane rod, a nice sight to see, you know how I do enjoy my cane rods.

As we walked down to the water the usual flock of geese that frequents the area were there and off they went across the field to take to the wing, always a nice sight to see.

The sun was hot and the river was low and I knew it was going to be a difficult day but like always it was just great to be on the river with such stunning surroundings and being the guide as I duly informed Roger, I wasn't expected to catch, however as he was being the guided he was expected to catch as I would be putting him in all the best places, no pressure there then Roger...lol

With the rods set up and everything ready we sat and watched a hatch appear on the river and sure enough the fish started to duly rise to take them. I put Roger in the starting pool and wished him well as I wandered downstream to try my luck in the runs coming off the bottom of the pool.






It was wonderful to see the abundance of wild flowers all out in there glory in the hot morning sunshine.

I was gone about 10 minutes when I looked upstream and seen Roger stood in the river and am sure was returning a fish, Phew I could breath easy he had caught, there is nothing worse than taking somebody to a river and not seeing them catch anything.
 I fished through the runs without even seeing a fish and decided to return upstream to see how it was going and I'm pleased to say it wasn't just one fish Roger had returned but two Wild Brown Trout just below the pound mark, I could definitely relax now.

As I sat on the bank watching Roger in action there were a few fish moving in the faster runs above so left him to it and ventured upstream to the runs.

It wasn't long until I was amongst the trout with my first trout no bigger than the palm of my hand but it was a fish and it was a wild fish.

I had only gone about 100m when I bumped into two other anglers, the first anglers I had seen on this stretch in a very long time so as usual we stood and chatted and they had been fishing since early morning with nothing to show for it so I was chuffed that Roger had two closely followed by myself with a small fish.  The gentleman admired that I was fishing with Cane and commented that he hadn't seen a cane rod being used in years, Wait a second and you will see two cane rods being used was my reply as Roger made his way up to join us.

After a break for lunch and a natter I let Roger pick which water he wanted so off he shuffled as I sat watching the local wildlife, this what looked like a young thrush almost coming all the way to my feet looking for titbits.

 Thankfully it wasn't long till I was into my 2nd trout of the day, again not a big fish but in these conditions I wasn't complaining, and after a quick snap it duly swam away, the scores were tied, not that I was keeping count anyway, but it was a bit of banter towards Roger.

I made my way downstream to join Roger whom  I'm sure had 40 winks on the Riverbank in my absence, he says he was sat perfectly still looking for rising fish...any old excuse...lol

The day wore on and the hatch became non existent and the fish stopped showing and we sat around chewing the fat in the hot sunshine looking for tell tale fish rising which one or two did but not as frequently as we would have liked so decided enough was enough and we would call it a day. I informed Roger I would follow on behind him as I wanted to fish the runs up through before finishing, as Roger set off within 2 minutes of him disappearing I hooked a Grayling.

Roger doesn't know this as yet but he will when he reads this, Cant go up the Dale & not get a Grayling after all you know how I adore them, and anyway like I said I wasn't keeping score....lol

A very hot day in trying conditions with excellent company and stunning scenery & wildlife, & this was meant to be me returning a favour, Roger your more than welcome any time you know that & hopefully the gift of the floats as we packed up will encourage you to come out after the ladies of the Stream. Thanks Again.