Shaky start but finally got there.

This morning I was hunted out the house by the wife so she could get the rest of the holiday washing mountain completed, so I headed up the Dale for a couple of hours. I didn't fancy venturing far as the weather had predicted showers and strong easterly winds, but we all know what the BBC weather predictions are like! The river looked in fine fettle and it was only slightly raining but the wind was not present as predicted.

It  wasnt too long until the line went taught and the first fish of the day was on, however not the species I had come for but a lovely trout from this part of the river so a quick picture with the new camera and released without harm to go about its business.






I was hoping not to get amongst the trout and had purposely come to this part of the river to try & stay away from them but it seems they weren't told as the next 3 fish were trout.

Nothing of any size and no indication of them spawning yet. A couple of small stockies from this year and this wild fish which had no red spots apart from two on its tail the remainder simply plain black.

Moving away from the trout the rain started to die off and low and behold the sun came out and the view upstream with the autumn colours was quite impressive.

As I made my way upstream the fungi stood proud in the morning sunlight.

And the last of the wild flowers took advantage of the autumn heat.

I stopped at a place where I had hoped I might get the first Grayling of the day and sure enough around 5 minutes or so after arriving the first Grayling was safely in the net.

After 20 minutes or so and no more fish I decided to keep on moving and headed downstream in search of the Grayling, it didn't take too much searching before the next fish graced the landing net.

The fish clearly are well spread out and I never touched another fish so continually moving was the key to finding them.

A quick breather and rid myself of the wet-proof jacket.

As I said earlier I had a new camera on the bank with me today, whilst in Shanghai I seen it in a shop at a reduced price to what I would have paid in the UK so decided it would be the next fishing camera with the added bonus that its waterproof and shockproof so it wont mind if I accidentally let it slip into the water.





 I have to say Im quite impressed with the picture quality on the close up shots, the other pictures I feel are slightly dark but I've yet to properly play with it to get it set the way I want.

I moved from run to run taking more small Grayling as I went.

I got to the point in the river where I said I would stop and head back downstream, this part of the river is quite remote and a bit off the beaten path but it seems somebody has been there recently, leaving a few small artworks, either  a very bored fisherman or somebody with too much time on their hands.




The rain had started again and the forecast winds were now blowing in which made the temperature drop by a few degrees.

It didn't deter the grayling as a few more were caught on the journey back downstream towards the car.

As I was crossing over the river for the final time I seen something I haven't seen in years, somebody had lost a remote control speedboat which was now making its way downstream with the current.

I have to say I enjoyed seeing the kingfishers and dippers shooting back & forth up the river but this has to take the best of the day as its not everyday you see one of these float past you whilst fishing.

It was great to be back out on the bank after a few weeks away even if only for a couple of hours and Im really looking forward to the crisp winter mornings on the river in search of the Grayling.