To Flee or to Float

This week I had all intentions of going out with some fresh nymphs I had tied up midweek.

A copper Pheasant Tail Nymph

White Beaded Pheasant tail Nymph

But by the time Friday came, I was undecided, to be perfectly honest I think it was boredom, (if I can call it that) was setting in as I've fly fished all year and I really needed a change, so on Saturday I had a change of mind and decided that I would have a break from the norm so decided the trotting rod would make an appearance.

I headed up the Dale and made my way down to the river, it was relatively low but very dark in colour. As I sat for a few moments absorbing my surroundings something caught my eye on the opposite bank, a Stoat. I've not seen one of these little creatures for a long time and sat and observed him moving from rock to rock before finally ascending a nearby tree and out of eyesight.

Before I started fishing I did a quick intro for the video I wanted to try and put together today, more for me to try and learn how to use it as well as the software I had been recommended and so the first flee & float short intro had been done, now it was time to try and get some fish.

The chosen bait was worm as I had some fantastic results on it last season with no need for maggots and it was a challenge, unlike loose feeding a few maggots into the swim from time to time this was more river-craft and thinking where the fish might be without any free helpings for the fish.

For the first 40 minutes or so I never seen the float dip once so moving downstream a few steps at a time I had positioned myself in some deeper water and the first signs of fish movement as I seen a solitary fish break the surface sipping down a fly from the surface, just my luck!

Thankfully though it wasn't a sign of things to come and soon afterwards the float dipped away and the first fish of the day was on.

Thankfully the species I had come for.

Continually moving a few steps at a time seemed to be paying off as it wasn't long until the next fish drifted over the net.

Again another decent sized Grayling.

The Grayling kept coming with the odd out of season trout thrown in to the mix. A lot of smaller Grayling showing which is always nice to see but the bigger Grayling kept appearing also just to keep things interesting.

Before I knew it the morning had slipped past with the odd shower from time to time, am so glad that I wore my jacket despite the advice of the weather forecast earlier in the morning and it was time to find a suitable place to get the kettle on for lunch.

No matter what anyone says you cannot beat a fresh cup of coffee on the bank and the 1 pint storm kettle makes that possible, small & light enough to fit in my vest or bag and there is something about brewing up over pouring it out of a flask.

I really do love this time of year when natures colours are amazing, looking upstream after lunch this tree just stood out amongst all others with its autumn colours.








The afternoon started off as the morning had ended, with small fish to start with.

I actually lost count of how many small Grayling came to the net in the next couple of hours, and as before the larger fish kept my attention.

The amount of fish coming to the worm with no loose offerings proves that bait fishing doesn't always need to be...get to the river and catapult as many maggots in as you can fit in the pouch, with some thought and knowing the river you can still quite easily enjoy trotting a river knowing that you haven't fed off all fish and if other anglers are in the vicinity you haven't spoiled it for them either, thoughtful angling!

I purposely left this underwater photo to last as the new camera the wife bought me I've been tinkering and getting to know it better so hopefully I can achieve better results and add a new avenue of interest into the blog, as well as still photographs I've been brushing up on my video skills, even though I did feel an eejit doing the intro and ending for it but I hope it will bring a smile to your face and you enjoy the short underwater footage that I took, I can safely say David Attenborough's job is quite safe, and as I said the last time, they can only get better.....viewer discretion is required....lol



To view the video I have uploaded it to YouTube for ease of access and to save space on the blog, please click the link below.

Flee & Float Video....Dales Trotting