The stocking on this particular part of the river is non extinct, which virtually guarantees most of the fish are wild as there is nothing big and a fish of half a pound is good going and generally I never see a single person there and its been like that for well over 15 years.
I started off fishing the duo and almost immediately had my first small fish from the head of some fast water.
The picture doesn't really do the colour of this fish justice as it was almost a bar of silver in appearance, I knew it wasn't a small sea trout as they cannot get that far up the river.
It was great to be back on familiar territory catching small trout with total peace & quiet from all man made noises and not a single sole to bother me.
As I made my way up the river the small fish kept coming to the dry fly so I dispensed with the duo and fished upstream dry, a method I love to fish, just picking my way up stream between the rocks covering the small fish as I go.
Just as I was approaching this particular part of the river, I stumbled across 7 Roe deer all crossing the river in formation one behind the other and as soon as they seen me they went like there was no tomorrow scattering in all directions and slipping & sliding in the shallow water. Nice to see that the wildlife is flourishing as combined with the deer the number of Mallard Duck and Dippers I saw in my few hours I lost count of.
I stood and watched a fish rise for almost 30 minutes but due to the location of the fish I could not cover it properly and it took some stealth and patience to finally put it in the net.
The fish was rising directly behind the rock in the middle of the picture, you could not cast upstream to it due to the overhanging branch almost touching the water behind it and every-time you cast above it the line caught the rock and produced drag on the flies, I tried coming in from the side and ended up the tree, I tried to cast a long line and was hooking branches on the back cast.
After a sit down and a local light refreshment, I was formatting my plan of action as this fish knew exactly where it wanted to be and I knew it was not a big fish but it was a challenge and great fun trying to outwit the fish.
It took me almost 20 minutes of gentle stooped wading to get within a rod length of the fish which continued to rise and I was able to flick the fly, bow & arrow style right on top of it which immediately it came up and took the fly and the fish was on.
Not a big fish but the most rewarding fish I have taken on dry fly in a very long time, the challenge just to capture it was superb.
As I made my way around the next bend what I saw was the first in well over 15 years......another angler on this stretch!
I got chatting to him and he doesn't fish the stretch I was fishing up to that point, but does fish upstream from the point we were at as he has found an old deer trail which is relatively clear which he negotiates down to the river, I told him about him being the first angler I had seen and the same statement came from him, he sees nobody in all the time he fishes and like me that's why he fishes the stretch, not due to the size of the fish or anything else but for the sheer peace & quiet and enjoyment of the surroundings.
After a few moments of reminiscing of times gone past we parted company as I was turning to head back the way I came & he was heading upstream.
A few more small trout came to the dry fly on my way back downstream to my starting position, where I called it a day and after almost 5 hours of creeping around in the shallow water I had taken 14 trout to the net and probably lost the same amount, a lovely few hours and very enjoyable.
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