A Rewarding Day.

Looking at the water levels as I sat having a drink last night after our evening meal didn't inspire me with much hope for my fishing today as I didn't want to venture too far but the river reports did not look promising at all, one level I checked was 0.10m when its normally 0.47m, seems the rain that came over the area earlier in the day had not made one bit of change to the river levels at all.

So with this in mind I had an hour or so at my tying desk and made up a couple of small nymphs and a couple of Klinkhammers to allow me to fish Klink & dink tactics today.

The wind was blawin a bit breezy as I took my waders out from their storage in the shed after breakfast this morning and packed them into the car. I had thought of a place where I might get some shelter from the wind so set off the short drive and parked the car, the wind was definitely blawin some which prompted me to put on a fleece over my shirt for the very first time, autumn is on its way!

As I walked down to my starting point it eased off as I was well  below the steep banks on either side but if the wind changed it would be like a wind tunnel, here was hoping. The river was well down on normal conditions so searching out the pocket water was definitely the order of the day.

It didn't take too long before I tightened up on the first fish of the day, a small Brown Trout. It's always a nice feeling to get the first fish in the net, it just boosts the confidence that wee bit.

A few moments later & a small Grayling followed.

These were both found right in the very fast water at the top of the run, where I thought the fish might be sitting getting as much oxygen through their gills as possible in these low conditions, so that was the aiming point on all the pocket water, although I wasnt passing the other spots without a few casts, you just never know.

It didn't take long to get into a rhythm of fishing the fast pocket water and moving up through them with plenty small grayling coming out.

Before I knew it I had taken 20 of these small fish from a section of fast pocket water no longer than 50m from my starting point, not big but great sport in low conditions and great to see the river as healthy with so many small fish.

I soon reached the top of the pocket water and moved on upstream to find my next stretch, having a cast or two as I went.

I found another slightly deeper part of the river which went under some overhanging willows but placing myself right I could just manage to get the rod under them and be able to fish it.

I was rewarded for my positioning with the best fish of the day so far, a nice Grayling in mint condition, which was not for moving away from the willows easily.

A couple more casts below the willows and another couple of smaller fish, this being the best of the bunch showing off its dorsal for the photograph.

Time to move on upstream and unfortunately the wind was blowing straight across the open fields now, making presentation a bit more challenging, but perseverance soon paid off with another couple of smaller fish.

As I made my way up the run the trees started to break up the wind and allow for better presentation which paid dividends with some better sized fish coming to the Klinkhammer.

Deciding to have a break for 20 minutes or so I found a bit of shelter behind a bush and sat back and watched the river go by. 

In the 20 minutes or so I had been sat there a total of 6 kingfishers had flown downstream past me, A lovely small bird I never tire of seeing on the river along with the dippers that appear on the rocks midstream before taking the plunge into the river in search of food.

Time to head back downstream and revisit the runs which I had covered earlier.

Spending 10 minutes in the first of the deeper runs paid off with another few smaller Grayling before this lovely Grayling took the small nymph and sent the Klinkhammer under.

It had turned out to be another great day despite the conditions & the Grayling were the star attractions again.

Fishing my way downstream taking a couple of smaller Grayling as I went and almost back at the car I hooked into another fish with a bit of pull, a nice fish to end the session off.







 A doubtful start with conditions both in water levels & wind but the Grayling were the star of today with over 45 fish taking a liking to the Klink & Dink.