and a time to reflect
The 2023 brown trout season has come to an end and its time to sort through the fishing gear, do the required piscatorial maintenance tasks and to sort through the fly boxes once more.
For me the season just gone, as far as actual fishing effort is concerned, was a rather minimal one. Work has been very busy, not to mention catching Covid, which seemed to affect my energy levels for some time afterwards. When a trip to the river was on the cards, it seemed like the weather would do its best to interfere with any plans made; either cold, high winds with heavy rain leading to a swollen and coloured river or hot, sunny weather leading to a low river and temperatures too hot for river fishing. Things are settling down again however, and with a little annual leave booked, its time to get reacquainted again with the fun things in life.
It wasn’t all bad however and in a way it made the times when actually getting out onto the river all the more special and enjoyable. The vintage fly rod did make it to the river, although it was a bit later than planned with the unseasonable weather at the beginning of the season. I opted to take both my #5 and #6 lines to try on it, but after making my way down to the river, I discovered I’d left my #5 line in the car. Oh well the #6 line for its first outing it would be. The rod handled the line well and as suspected, it was a slow casting stroke that was required. The rod delivers the line slowly on the forward cast and it was almost like it was happening in slow motion! The rod cast the line very accurately and I found I was able to deliver casts close to and under overhanging tree branches. It also handles the smaller fish very well with less dropped fish due to its soft action. Its not a rod for longer casting distances nor when the wind gets up I would think, but for smaller river fishing with smaller trout in mind, it seems perfectly fine and brought back some very happy memories.
Another highlight of the season came around May with the weather blowing upstream so hard that it looked like the water was flowing in the wrong direction, a strange thing to see really. I had planned to walk to the end of the section and fish wet flies back down towards the car but spotted a few trout rising to some hatching midge on a calmer section. I tried a few casts for them but they weren’t for taking the fly so continued with plan ‘A’ instead. Upon reaching the upper limit of the section, there were fish here splashing on the surface taking something just on and below the surface. I watched for a bit and one or two fish that I saw looked very silvery.
A bit early perhaps for sea trout but you never can tell really. It was the sort of day and slow moving section where you just knew that you would have one chance and one chance only of hooking and landing a fish. This was my opportunity. Deciding to go all in and try for a sea trout I opted to fish a Teal Blue and Silver allowing the current to slowly drift the fly downstream and then under the near bank. The first cast produced no interest at all, but then a swirl behind the fly caught me off guard and not wishing to disturb the water, I just let the fly continue on its way downstream, knowing I would need to get the timing just right. Another next cast and no interest; had that been my one and only chance?
I cast again and then another swirl just where I thought the fly should be; instinctively I tightened the line and the fish was on. It felt like it was a bigger fish, strong in the current as it headed off upstream. A moment or too later however and it was safely in the net. Not a silvery sea trout but a lovely brown trout instead and my biggest from the river. As I held it in the current before it swam off, I couldn’t help but marvel at nature. It was to be my only fish of the session. Nothing touched the flies all the way back down to the car, but I didn’t care; I was more than happy with my capture.
SoftHackles 