A Snap Shot no More

I wanted to step up my photography skills so recently I bought myself my first DSLR camera. All my photographs on the blog up to now have been point & shoot and although I've had many great shots I wanted to challenge myself more, so today was the first time the new camera went with me to the river.

It was a lot to take in with which settings produced the best photograph but I had a great day split between fishing & taking pictures, and although some are not perfect I'm definitely enjoying the experience for sure.

I decided that after the all the rain and the river being really coloured I wanted to head up the Dale to a place where I knew there was some waterfalls etc to practise my shots on and it will be the first time up there since the start of the new trout season.

On arriving the first sight I was met with was the extended family of Geese on the stretch.

After they decided to move away from the river and head to some marsh land in a field behind me I settled down to observe the river and see what was happening. A few moments sat watching saw me observe 3 fish rising, not big fish but that made my mind up, dry fly!

The river was murky after all the rain of friday but the levels were perfect for this stretch and the colour was not putting the fish off the feed.

There was a fish rising under an overhanging tree on the opposite bank & I decided to try this one first, not a big fish by any means but it was technical and I like a challenge. A few casts and it landed right under the branch and the fish sipped at the fly but I didn't manage to connect with it, letting it settle down for a few moments I tried again, this time ending up in the leaves, but thankfully a quick flick and the fly was free. A couple more casts and the fish rose again, this time there was no errors, and a few seconds later the first fish of the day was being photographed.

As I was slipping it back into the water, another fish rose in the exact same place as this one, so after a quick dry of the flies, I started casting back under the overhanging branches, with a 70 / 30 success rate but the fish was having none of it. Deciding on one last cast the fly landed hard on the water but instantly the fish rose and the line tightened.

The 2nd fish was soon in the net.

With no further fish rising around me I ventured off downstream heading for the woods to access the next section of water. I always like this section of the riverbank as the place seems to be alive with birds and other creatures as I stood and watched a squirrel jumping from tree to tree to get away from me.

 At the next section of river there was no signs of any fishing moving at all, but a hatch was on yet nothing was moving for them.

As I stood and observed for 10 minutes or so loads of insects were hatching but nothing was moving on them at all, so I turned my mind to the other reason I was out today and started experimenting with settings and shutter speeds.

A few wild flowers growing out the rockface behind me

and another just off the footpath.

With still no fish rising on this particular stretch I decided to head downstream to where there was some faster water and see if anything was showing there. On route I stumbled across this fungi under the shade of an oak tree.

Heading down to the fast water I decided to continue with the camera work and started experimenting referring to the notes I had scribbled down in an old army pocket book I had in my vest. Not the best silky shots there is but not bad for my first time at giving them a go, still a lot to learn.

The fun trying out the shots brought a whole new chapter to my day and between the fishing and photography I had up to now thoroughly enjoyed my day, so time for a break and something to eat.

The point & press camera, taking a picture of the new camera. 

The point & press won't fully be redundant with it being waterproof and small it easily slots into one of the slits in my vest, so is convenient for shots when Im wading or fish pictures where the camera being over the water isn't an issue.

Turning my attention back to the fish again I back tracked and headed a short distance upstream where I had observed a fish rising whilst I was having something to eat.

A few cats and it was on.

Observing another fish rising a short distance away, I made my way to a better casting position and flicked the fly just upstream but after a half dozen or so casts the fish never rose again so I suspect it could have just been one of those fish you always see leaping for no apparent reason. 

Heading back up the path heading for the car, I decided to take advantage of the moss covering the dry stone walls for some close up shots with a today's fly, this being the best end result.

The jingler I had been using up to now.

And not leaving myself out of the picture, yours truly.

And Im glad to report that the camera lense didn't break at the sight of me, so all is good.

With the afternoon dragging on I decided to head to one pool and see if anything was moving so sat on the bank observing the complete pool when this Oystercatcher decided to join me.

And looking behind me into the field, a few small rabbits running around with one pausing to have its photograph taken.

There was one fish which came up twice in succession for hatching flies so I decide to have one last cast before heading back to the car and sure enough the 2nd cast it took the fly.

No large fish caught today but you know what I couldn't care less as I had one of the best days on the river for a long time, between learning the new camera and just taking things easy for a change I couldn't have bettered the day if I had tried.

And this last picture should give away where I was today, none other than my own Dale....Wensleydale.