Took the Pin out for a Spin..

Last night I was sitting wondering what to do today was it either clean the oven like the wife asked me to do, or see what the river was like, needless to say it was a no brainer...The measuring station I use hadn't been updated since the day before so wasn't much use and the downstream one was reasonably high still so I decided to get the Pin out and take it for a spin for a change, so under torch light last night the midden (compost heap for my English friends) got turned over and a load of dendrobaena worms were soon in the bait box.
No matter what anyone says there is something a bit special about trotting a worm under a float in search of Grayling, a time honored tradition.

Armed with my cane trotting rod & one of the many centrepin's I possess, I set off up the Dale, as I was walking down past the old barn I noticed some fern clinging to the wall,stuck nicely in between the cracks in the mortar.

Surprised to see it still in good colour and not dying like the ground ferns around.








Just after 0930hrs I was sat beside the river which looked in fairly good condition, a bit high still but it seemed to be thinning out nicely after the heavy water on Monday.

Before long I was trotting my first worm down and after a short time the float ducked away and I struck into my first Grayling of the day, I just love feeling the Grayling twist & turn as you retrieve the pin with your fingertips.

A nice sized Grayling and hopefully the first of many for the day....

Note to my personal friend Munro....Observe the float rubbers, and the positioning, I'm sure your budget can stretch away from the elastic bands you use!





It didn't take long in the run again and soon the cane rod was bending into another fish except the wrong species and a nice spotted trout was soon slipped away to continue its business, after a few minutes had elapsed another Grayling obliged, not quite the size I was hoping for as some of the worms were actually bigger than the fish, but sport for the future which is always nice to see.

I wandered off down the river with a pair of dippers hopping from stone to stone to accompany me with a couple of robin's giving me a rendition of their morning song to fill my ears and before long had arrived at my next chosen spot to run the worm through.

Soon the float disappeared under the surface and I struck into another fish and after some twoing & frowing in the fast current I eventually seen the tell tale dorsal fin break the surface.

I fished on in the run and started to hit a few trout so moved away as no further Grayling came to the net.








I decided to double back upstream and go to a place Ive not been in quite a while, a 20 minute walk would be needed but if the Grayling were there I wouldnt need to move around too much so it was worth the gamble.
Before long I was standing in my chosen spot and as I was hooking the first worm a salmon head & tailed  2 foot in front of me, not what I was wanting to see but a nice sight nevertheless, I just hope it leaves the worms alone as I didn't fancy re-tackling as the heavy rain had just started. Almost instantly the float dipped and I struck into the first Grayling from my new spot.

Another nice fish which gave a good account of itself in the fast turbulent water, but to get a picture of it I had to cross some fast water to reach the bank which I couldn't do every time I hooked a fish so looked for a place I could take picture without having to crisscross the turbulent water, and as you will see for quite a few pictures I found a small rock outcrop just off the the main-flow which I built up with rocks from around, at least I could take pictures without the fear of going for a swim.

I was only back on the stretch a matter of minutes and the next Grayling graced the net.

And the first of many to sit on the rocks and get their picture taken. Over the next two hours or so I managed to capture 4 trout all in mint condition which were released immediately and 49 Grayling of varying sizes, needless to say I'm not going to post pictures of them all but here are a couple.

It was getting on and I hadn't even stopped for lunch that the fishing was so good but it was starting to take it toll and my back was aching so decided to grab a rest for a half hour and reflect on the last two hours as well as grab something to eat.

After a late lunch and a check of the remaining worms which were diminishing now I decided to fish the opposite side of the run and see what that would bring and it meant I didn't have to wade.

Soon I was amongst the Grayling again.

What happened next led me a merry dance and I had to end up wading back upstream and across through the turbulent water to land what I though was a big Grayling the way it was fighting, I hadn't seen the fish as it had stayed deep and the current was all in its favour using the big dorsal to do what it wanted.

I landed the fish after almost 20 minutes of playing it in the fast water but it wasn't a Big Grayling as I had first thought but a trout exceeding well over 5lbs and too big to fit in the small pan net so it had to be unhooked in the water and almost immediately slipped back into the depths of where it had come, a lovely fish and will be a joy to try & catch next trout season.

I decided to stay on this side of the turbulent water and fish on with the last of the worms remaining and was rewarded with a further 15 Grayling all being I had to start chopping the worms in half to continue fishing.

The light was starting to fade and the worms had been expended so made haste to cross the fast water whilst there was enough light to see what I was doing.
Who would have thought that a day out with the Pin and the worm could turn out to be so enjoyable and a day I will remember for a longtime to come with in excess of 80 fish.

The old traditional anglers who swore by the worm knew what they were talking about, and I doubt if I had taken a pint of maggot could I have matched the fish I caught today which proves that  responsible bait anglers & fly anglers can fish the same water without interfering with each others fishing as no loose bait was put in the water at all.