22nd September 2015
With a couple of hours spare in the early afternoon i took a risk in heading down to fish the river even though the school kids would be finishing shortly. It had been raining the night before and the day before that so i expected murky raised water and upon arrival it was evidently that. I started lower down which is away from the main stretch as the rest is hard to reach due to hogweed and water depth and upon reaching the run, a long slow sweeping gradual bend, i saw no movement where i usually see the odd rise. I chose to put a klinkhammer with 2 barely weighted nymphs below. One fish rose as i fished the swim but nothing was showing, so i set off the long walk upstream.
I reached the entrance point and decided to fish as i waded across, usually only ankle deep but had an extra half foot today, and i hooked into a small trout, several splashes later it was off. At least i knew the flies were right. I moved on up and as i reached the riffley bend i hooked into another trout and landed this one.
As i moved a few yard up to the middle of the riffle, the current runs straight under a tree causing a back current. This leads to a swirling pool in the centre while 2 riffle runs push past it. Ultimately alot of the food builds up here as it swirls around. I call this big fish pool as i have lost some big fish here, mainly due to the over hanging tree and the roots and probably the motorbike i pulled out of there had a part too. My klinkhammer was practically motionless when i sensed a bite. Striking up i felt the fish. Keeping it in the swirling pool i was quickly able to net the trout.
At this point my klinkhammer started sinking as the nymphs were very slightly heavy compared to the buoyancy of the fly. I didn't mind as i then kept my eye on my strike indicator but that was not needed for the next fish. Moments after the klinkhammer sunk a trout torpedoed downstream grabbing the klinkhammer under the surface and as i struck i missed it. As it was swimming downstream i had struck the wrong way pulling the fly from it's mouth.
The next 3 were caught in quick succession in a long riffle rocky run through some overhanging trees, or tree valley as i name it. All nice little trout, the latter was photobombed by a spider walking across my camera as i landed it.
In the long sweeping bend ahead there is usually a hive of rises, but despite the large amount of flies buzzing around there was one one fish which rose twice. Further upstream i reached another riffle which runs into a nice pool. The pool i bagged 2 14inch trout from last time. Confident as the nymph was working well i fished this pool slowly. It wasn't long till i was in, another slow take, almost unnoticeable, my wrist twitching to the motion and setting the hook. After a short fight it pinged off the hook. Dissapointing as it was over 10 inches. 54 seconds later according to the camera and i was in again. De ja vu happened! 'what! not again' i begged! Again it had been a bigger trout. Thankfully it was 3rd time lucky, this pool was giving me fish on request. It was a nice trout, around 11 inches or so and my biggest yet.
The pool had gone quiet after that fish so i headed further up. This area was very shallow but that has never stopped them before and i was into another small trout. It was a fun fight as midway through it swam into a weed bed and sat there, hoping that i would go away. I walked closer and held the rod out and gave it an enticing pull to edge it from it's hidey hole. I didn't want to risk netting the weed and losing it, regardless of size. It swam out and it was soon in the net.
I worked my way back down river to the pool when a fish popped up and grabbed the klinkhammer from in between the weed beds. This one didn't hide there though and like the rest was in the net. Reaching the pool below i had a faint tug but nothing more so decided to head up to the pool above which has never produced anything before.
I only decided to fish this pool because of the weed beds, sometimes there great sometimes there a pain, with the last 2 in and around the weed beds i was hoping the same tradition was continuing above and i was right. However i wasn't expecting it to be the size it was. Now the water looks motionless here but when your pulling a fish back the opposite way it is swimming and the current is fighting to you realise how strong it is. i turned it round and round until i got it on the surface and on it's side. I reached out to net it and it shot away just at the rim. It headed towards the riffles which i wanted to avoid so i pulled it away, the current working against me. It was tiring now and was splashing on the surface but doing enough to pull away so waded towards it. This time it was in the net and was a lovely 15 inches. It still had plenty of energy to torpedo away on release though!
It was a fish good enough to call it a day so i headed home. However my nose was twitching as i reached the pool where i lost the big trout last week on the dry. This time i had a nymph on and nothing was rising so i thought hell i will only be 5 minutes. It didn't take 5 minutes. Popping the nymphs in the 'food lanes' i waited and watch, nothing, i raised the rod to cast again and i felt a fish on the other end of the line. It had made no indication on the line or klinkhammer, so it had either literally just grabbed it or just been sat there moving with current. Upon feeling the fish i set the hook the best i could, hoping i hadn't missed it. It was a solid fish but i was unsure of it's size until it flew 2 feet out of the water. Squeaky bum time. Obviously it wasn't happy with the judges scores so it jumped again! pure muscle these fish! It was fighting to get back in the pool under the tree and i know what lies there. That damned rock! So i used it's own pulling to let it drift to the right and into the shallow water. It swam towards me so i pulled its head up and tried a quick net but again, like the previous fish, it saw the net and shot away! Maybe i rush them but they should fight to stay away longer! Thankfully it was still on. It was tug of war pretty much for the rest of the fight. As it got closer i played the fish with the rod behind my head so i could pull it closer and reach further with the net, it was soon sideways on the surface and slidding into the net. It was another cracker at 15 inches!
The extra fight tired this fish so i played with it under the water, allowing it to have a good kick before i let go off it's tail for the final time. September has been a good month for me, it's a shame the season ends so soon.
I reached the entrance point and decided to fish as i waded across, usually only ankle deep but had an extra half foot today, and i hooked into a small trout, several splashes later it was off. At least i knew the flies were right. I moved on up and as i reached the riffley bend i hooked into another trout and landed this one.
As i moved a few yard up to the middle of the riffle, the current runs straight under a tree causing a back current. This leads to a swirling pool in the centre while 2 riffle runs push past it. Ultimately alot of the food builds up here as it swirls around. I call this big fish pool as i have lost some big fish here, mainly due to the over hanging tree and the roots and probably the motorbike i pulled out of there had a part too. My klinkhammer was practically motionless when i sensed a bite. Striking up i felt the fish. Keeping it in the swirling pool i was quickly able to net the trout.
At this point my klinkhammer started sinking as the nymphs were very slightly heavy compared to the buoyancy of the fly. I didn't mind as i then kept my eye on my strike indicator but that was not needed for the next fish. Moments after the klinkhammer sunk a trout torpedoed downstream grabbing the klinkhammer under the surface and as i struck i missed it. As it was swimming downstream i had struck the wrong way pulling the fly from it's mouth.
The next 3 were caught in quick succession in a long riffle rocky run through some overhanging trees, or tree valley as i name it. All nice little trout, the latter was photobombed by a spider walking across my camera as i landed it.
In the long sweeping bend ahead there is usually a hive of rises, but despite the large amount of flies buzzing around there was one one fish which rose twice. Further upstream i reached another riffle which runs into a nice pool. The pool i bagged 2 14inch trout from last time. Confident as the nymph was working well i fished this pool slowly. It wasn't long till i was in, another slow take, almost unnoticeable, my wrist twitching to the motion and setting the hook. After a short fight it pinged off the hook. Dissapointing as it was over 10 inches. 54 seconds later according to the camera and i was in again. De ja vu happened! 'what! not again' i begged! Again it had been a bigger trout. Thankfully it was 3rd time lucky, this pool was giving me fish on request. It was a nice trout, around 11 inches or so and my biggest yet.
The pool had gone quiet after that fish so i headed further up. This area was very shallow but that has never stopped them before and i was into another small trout. It was a fun fight as midway through it swam into a weed bed and sat there, hoping that i would go away. I walked closer and held the rod out and gave it an enticing pull to edge it from it's hidey hole. I didn't want to risk netting the weed and losing it, regardless of size. It swam out and it was soon in the net.
I worked my way back down river to the pool when a fish popped up and grabbed the klinkhammer from in between the weed beds. This one didn't hide there though and like the rest was in the net. Reaching the pool below i had a faint tug but nothing more so decided to head up to the pool above which has never produced anything before.
I only decided to fish this pool because of the weed beds, sometimes there great sometimes there a pain, with the last 2 in and around the weed beds i was hoping the same tradition was continuing above and i was right. However i wasn't expecting it to be the size it was. Now the water looks motionless here but when your pulling a fish back the opposite way it is swimming and the current is fighting to you realise how strong it is. i turned it round and round until i got it on the surface and on it's side. I reached out to net it and it shot away just at the rim. It headed towards the riffles which i wanted to avoid so i pulled it away, the current working against me. It was tiring now and was splashing on the surface but doing enough to pull away so waded towards it. This time it was in the net and was a lovely 15 inches. It still had plenty of energy to torpedo away on release though!
It was a fish good enough to call it a day so i headed home. However my nose was twitching as i reached the pool where i lost the big trout last week on the dry. This time i had a nymph on and nothing was rising so i thought hell i will only be 5 minutes. It didn't take 5 minutes. Popping the nymphs in the 'food lanes' i waited and watch, nothing, i raised the rod to cast again and i felt a fish on the other end of the line. It had made no indication on the line or klinkhammer, so it had either literally just grabbed it or just been sat there moving with current. Upon feeling the fish i set the hook the best i could, hoping i hadn't missed it. It was a solid fish but i was unsure of it's size until it flew 2 feet out of the water. Squeaky bum time. Obviously it wasn't happy with the judges scores so it jumped again! pure muscle these fish! It was fighting to get back in the pool under the tree and i know what lies there. That damned rock! So i used it's own pulling to let it drift to the right and into the shallow water. It swam towards me so i pulled its head up and tried a quick net but again, like the previous fish, it saw the net and shot away! Maybe i rush them but they should fight to stay away longer! Thankfully it was still on. It was tug of war pretty much for the rest of the fight. As it got closer i played the fish with the rod behind my head so i could pull it closer and reach further with the net, it was soon sideways on the surface and slidding into the net. It was another cracker at 15 inches!
The extra fight tired this fish so i played with it under the water, allowing it to have a good kick before i let go off it's tail for the final time. September has been a good month for me, it's a shame the season ends so soon.
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