Chasing shadows

I decided to fish a section of river I haven't fished this year yet so headed up the Dale, the river was very low, clear and the sun already up by the time I got onto the river just before 0800hrs making conditions difficult and I wasn't hopeful of getting many fish as I sat and looked over the bridge at the top of the beat.

It was the tail end of last season I last fished this part of the river  and not many people have been on the stretch by the look of things, the paths are overgrown and a couple of paths completely blocked, so I had to walk along the edge as far as possible before heading up under the old railway which used to run the length of the Dale many years ago.

Its been many years since the last train ran over this bridge.











I got to my vantage point which allowed me to view about half a mile up the river and as I sat and looked for movement I noticed that not far from where I had sat was a wild gooseberry bush dripping with gooseberries so a feast as I sat and watched. This reminding me of my childhood job in the holidays where I used to walk down to the Clyde valley to pick gooseberries for pocket money at one of the many fruit farms that used to adorn the banks of the Clyde.

I sat for over an hour observing but nothing moved at all, so decided to start making my way up upstream, past the falls.

nothing moving as far as I could see.











As I walked up through the woods I remembered that I needed to check to see what the state of play was on the sloes I pick each year for my sloe whisky, I'm glad to say they are coming along nicely and it wont be long till I'm back with my bucket collecting them for my brew.

early signs indicate that its going to be a good year for the berries as the bushes are heavy with them.










I was almost back at the car before I seen the first fish rise, tight under the protection of an overhanging tree, but it did allow me to get a fly in above it and drift it down over its head and as the fly drifted over up it came and obliged, saving the day from being a blank. Nothing big but totally wild and beautifully marked.

As I neared the car it seemed as though I had been chasing my shadow all the way up the river.

 But no matter what it was still nice to be out for a few hours in the sun and seeing all the sights along the riverbank at this time of year....As Arnie says" I'll be back" but with a bucket for my sloes!