I arrived just after 8am as the red coloured moon was dipping behind the hedgerows.
The first sight of the river looked grim, where had all the water gone!
It looked more like a babbling brook than a river and the sight of 5 cormorants lifting off the shingle as I exited the wood really did sink my heart, for goodness sake Im high up in the middle of the Pennine's nowhere near any estuary. Its about time these birds were brought into line as the powers to be certainly wont do anything until our rivers are completely devoid of all natural fish.
Anyway with that aside I started making my way upstream and stumbled across the first snowdrops I've seen this year about to flower.
Almost 3 hours had gone past and not a sign of any fish, not even a pull and I was fishing hard and looking in places where I wouldn't even bother about if there was water in the river but alas nothing. It was time to sit and have a coffee and absorb the surroundings if nothing else. A couple of dippers joined me and were hopping from rock to rock and bathing right in front of where I was sat against a tree, I love these little birds and the show they put on for you.
Whilst sitting having my coffee I noticed that there was a lot more oak moss around than normal, probably due to the lack of a cold winter so to speak.
The fish might not be in the mood but that certainly didn't stop the enjoyment of the day on the riverbank.
After a coffee and a short walk up to the next pool which had some water in it I was rewarded with a Grayling on the 2nd cast. A very welcome sight indeed
So that was it for another week but certainly not disappointed in anyway, it was hard work but thats fishing, as for the Grayling well that fell to a spider pattern that I tied up midweek and had on as a dropper whilst the nymph searched the bottom this searched the middle layers.
Dont you just love spiders patterns for producing the goods on a hard day.
Hello George
ReplyDeleteTough going there and you probably did well to catch one. I'm half glad I never ventured out now.
It's a queer time of the year on the rivers.They can look very inviting but there's no fish to be seen. Still, it's always nice to be on the bank finding it out for yourself.
Regards
Dave
Hi Dave,
DeleteOh its hard going country wide I think, I keep in touch with a lot of guys north of the border and they are having the same troubles as us, Im not too fussed though as I've not had the trotting rod out this year and everything has came to artificials I've tied myself so I knew it was going to be tough, just a little more than I had anticipated though but still nice to be out no matter what.
cheers George
Tough conditions. All seems better after a cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful spiders. That first one has been working well for me lately.
certainly were tough Alan but as you say a sit down and a coffee brings all into perspective and I still enjoyed myself no matter what. The spiders have produced for me over the last couple of trips, I dont normally fish them this early in the season but this year it has paid off for me. Hope all is well.
Deleteregards
George