1st Day of Fall

Well its officially the 1st day of fall in the northern hemisphere, and what better way to spend it than on the river. 

Down by around 2ft on last week's levels but still carrying a bit of colour so opted for the nymph set up when I arrived at the river just after 8am this morning, same nymphs as last week to see if we could tempt any of those big fish back out their lies again.

It started off relatively slow and the first couple of pools produced not even a knock from anything subsurface. 

It wasnt until just before 9am that I finally got my first sight of any fish, a small brown trout in the fast pacey water taking my trusted 1st dropper.

It was nice to see a fish as I was starting to doubt my choice of nymphs but I knew they took fish after last weeks brilliant day so didn't want to start looking for a change.

It didn't take long after this for the 2nd fish to again take a liking to the 1st dropper, again another small brown trout. 

I started to see some fish movement with very small grayling starting to come up and sip flies off the surface, It was pleasing to see and gave me a bit of a confidence boast so where there is small grayling their is always the odd bigger fish around. I was starting to get a few small grayling coming to the net, the bread & butter sized grayling for this stretch of river.

I lifted into a heavier fish but I dont think it had taken the nymph properly as with a single roll on the surface it freed itself and slipped back into the depths where it had just come from, but it was pleasing to finally see some movement in the river and I continued fishing through the runs. Not long afterwards, the line went taught and a decent fish on, a heavier grayling than the rest and a few movements later I slipped the net under it.

Almost at the top of the club limit I sat for a few moments and watched the river for any further movement and then I heard a noise behind me & I turned to find a fellow angler I often see join me on the bank. 

We sat chatting for an 20 minutes or so & he had fished down from another club stretch above us and hadn't touched one fish so I was pleased at what I had as my fellow angler is no slouch. Swapping a few nymphs I let him go down in front of me and gave him a 10 minutes head start before I followed.

I watched as he fished a run and I knew there was some deeper water just beyond where he was fishing so after he vacated the run I slipped in just a bit further over than he had been fishing and the line tightened on the first pass, The surface erupted as the fish broke the surface and my colleague turned around to see me connected with a big brown trout, I wont say what the next sentence out his mouth was but if his breath could turn the air blue it would be a very deep shade of blue....

He sat on the bank behind me "Im sure he was cursing me to loose it...lol"  as I played the fish and after a few long moments I finally managed to get control of the fish and he came over & slipped the net under it for me. 

Taking one look at the fish he turned the air blue again, I have to say I felt gutted that he hadn't touched a fish but on the other hand absolutely jumping inside that I had took it from the run he had just vacated...the friendly banter ensued for the next few moments as I took a couple of photographs before slipping it back into the river.

What more could I say but take the proverbial banter out of him...

We both fished on to the bottom of the stretch without any further fish coming to either of us but I didn't really care I had what I came for. We shook hands and he headed back in the direction of where he parked his car & I left feeling rather happy, back home for 1pm and a nice roll on sausage & a coffee as I reflected on the morning.

The Early Angler...

Reaps the rewards. With the last couple of days being absolute sizzling but the rivers still carrying extra water from all the rain during the week, I decided to see if the early morning outing would benefit  before the temperatures rose again so this morning juts after 5am I headed up onto one of the Dales rivers.

As I knew the river was still up on normal levels and still carrying a bit of colour so I opted to start out on the nymphs.

3rd or 4th pass & I tightened into the first fish of the day a small trout.









Slipping back into the run it wasnt much longer till the line went taught again and this time a small Grayling graced the camera.

With nothing further I started fishing the pocket water upstream and was rewarded with the first good fish of the day, The nymphs had just passed over a rock with the water rushing over it & dropped into the slack water behind when I felt a fish take the nymph, this time some weight to the fish & I knew instantly by the characteristics of it it was a trout.






I hadn't even covered the first 50m upstream and 3 fish in the net already, was it going to be one of those days, even at this early time the sun was up and quite strong, It was going to be a very warm day.

Moving upstream a few smaller grayling took a liking to the nymphs and the sport was good.

I slipped into a deep hole below a set of rapids and the first pass over them the line went tight & took off like an express train and ping the line went slack, a nice trout by the feel of things but hey ho no use wondering over it. I gave it 5 minutes to settle down again and put the nymphs through the same run this time picking up a decent Grayling.






A short time afterwards another trout slipped into the net.

minus the bottom piece of its tail.

It was turning out to be a better morning than I had anticipated albeit the heat at such an early time but the fish weren't deterred as yet by it so I continued to fish on upstream.

I got to a pool I always like to sit & watch and this morning was no different after 10 minutes of watching from afar on the bank I had identified 3 good fish all rising to something on the water which at this time I could t see what it was, it was a no brainer the nymphs were off  & replaced with a dry fly line and a couple of small flies to test out the water as I wasnt sure what was hatching.

I lined up the closest fish that I had identified and first pass up it came, I had chosen wisely.

Looking across for a few seconds to see if my next target was still moving & yep it was, so a quick re position and a couple of cast later & it too came to the net.

That was the couple of trout out the way I had identified am sure the remaining fish were Grayling by the splashy takes and a couple of smaller Grayling had also started to rise but as yet I still couldn't see anything that they were taking.

Needless to say the next 40 minutes or so was hectic with missed fish, caught fish & lost fish and it was absolutely brilliant seeing these fish come from deep in the water to take the small size 20 fly I had chosen.

I continued on for another hour with lots of smaller grayling putting in an appearance & taking the dry. Folk were up and about now and the first couple of dog walkers were along the opposite bank letting their dogs do what they wanted even though they seen me standing there fishing, so with this and the hot sun starting to get really strong I decided to call it a morning, 0940am & I was leaving the river but I was leaving a very happy angler.

Dont you just hate Thursdays...

I've been following the pattern of nature for the last few weeks and that is the heavens open on a Thursday night through till a Friday morning, the rivers are lovely up until this point but come Saturday & Sunday you can guarantee they are thundering through!

For almost the last month thats been the regular weekly event in my region, thankfully its only the Brown Trout season and not really my thing but its stops me getting out for the Grayling especially on the dry fly as nothing better than catching Grayling on the dry fly on a nice summers evening.

So with this in mind my walking boots have seen a lot more action this year than normal and that means the camera being in action.






I revisited a quiet Dale close to my home that I feel is away from the mad crowds of visitors & holiday makers and you can spend the full day wandering without seeing another soul.





Some of the many cascades on the small side becks which feed the main beck.

The walk up the beck resulted in a few good shots the choice to wear a pair of wellies definitely the right choice.

I opted to do a bit of beck walking back to a place where I've only discovered one more online photograph of the waterfalls apart from the shots I've taken & this was a single shot taken back in 1988.

It may not be fishing for Grayling but it certainly soothes the soul.

Here's hoping for fishing this weekend!

After the Storm

I honestly didn't think I would get out this week with the deluge of water that has fell on the Dales & the destruction it has caused with whole communities affected, bridges washed out & roads subsiding. I had no plans for this weekend and had resolved myself to the fact it would be another day out on the hills walking, but a walk out last night changed my thinking on that when I headed east slightly over to the Cleveland hills for a few hours and bumped into someone I hadn't seen in years.

A couple of shots over Roseberry Topping and the purple heather out in full bloom.

After a chat with a friend last night who I bumped into by sheer chance, we got talking of the conditions of the rivers and how we used to fish them in all states, so with this in mind I decided to head out today and see where it got me.

The rivers were all still higher than usual with the rains and decided to try& find more clear water.

It was a day for nymphs which slightly lightened the waistcoat as I stripped everything out apart from one box of nymphs & a few bits & pieces.

It wasnt long until I started hitting small fish and they came thick and fast with almost 10 fish within the first hour falling for my middle dropper.

A nice selection of both small trout & grayling.

And within 2 hours into the fishing I had caught over 30 fish, nothing of any size but great sport nevertheless, most falling to the middle dropper and in varying depths of water.







I was sitting on the bank soaking up the sun as it poked its head out from behind a cloud and I thought I saw an otter at first but as I focused closer I saw it was a mink on the far bank making its way in & out of the entangled tree roots which were dipping into the water, almost 10 minutes I watched it as it weaved in & out of the roots I suspect foraging for food.

It was a nice distraction from the fishing and took the stress off my shoulders for a few moments but it was time to get back to it and I decided to head upstream to a point then call it a day.

I was searching out a pool as the line went taught and I knew immediately that this was no small fish as it kicked back initially as I lifted the rod. Sure enough a decent fish on!

After a few speedy deep runs and some acrobatics I finally slipped the net under this lovely wild trout. The deep red spots immediately jumping out at me as it lay in the net.

A couple of quick photographs and off it went back to the deep to give sport another day.







That really topped my day off and I doubt I could better it but nevertheless decided to fish on to the point I had decided.

Another few smaller Trout & Grayling succeeded the big trout and on the final cast another better than average Grayling graced my net before I called it quits.

Almost 40 fish to the net in the space of 3.5 hours on the river and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, with the big trout being the highlight of the morning.
Best part of it all I had the full river to myself as I never seen a sole.

Head for the Hills

Well the fishing was short lived but not through anything apart from mother nature with torrential rain lifting every main river in the Dales, flood warning sirens going off in a few places and block roads due to flood water, so it was a day to head to the hills away from it all, so grabbing the walking bag and camera off I set high up on the grouse moors above swaledale.

The views up Swaledale.

One of the many waterfalls I came across on my walk

A couple of shots of the many grouse that were out on the moors, nice to see such a healthy environment with me also spotting my first yellowhammer, a bird that I has eluded me up till today & although I didn't manage to get a photograph of it , it was a nice sight even though I was sucking air deep into my lungs after a steep climb, it certainly perked me up.

The encounter I had whilst taking these next couple of photographs made me chuckle. In the middle of nowhere, with no marked paths on the map, I even followed the beck upstream just for ease of walking & stumbled across this small waterfall. Half way through taking the photographs I heard a noise behind me & turned to see 3 lady walkers  stumbling across the heather waving at me...They were lets say geographically embarrassed and were looking for a track which was over 1.5 miles east of the current location so after a small map reading bearing lesson off they set in the correct direction, my good deed for the day done. 

Heading in the opposite direction to what the female walkers set off in I was soon heading back down into the trees and with an abundance of wild raspberries picked as I went it was a good day to be out for a walk. I notice that the hazel nuts are starting to ripen on the trees and it makes me wonder where 2019 has gone, its passed so quickly this year with us almost into August already.

One last set of waterfalls before heading back in the direction of the car, a distance of 9 miles covered from the start, most uphill but some beautiful views across the dales so Im not complaining and to see this last photograph before heading to the car certainly put a smile on my face.

A farmer with a sense of humour.