Xmas Grayling - The Hard Way!

I am officially, heartily sick of wet weather and English winters like this current one. How on earth is one to justify deploying a hip flask containing something warming in the absence of frost and near-zero temperatures on a day's grayling fishing? On a more serious note, it has been a pretty miserable last few months (and Christmas) for those in parts of the UK affected by the severe and life-threatening flooding.

My Christmas on a personal level was peaceful and enjoyable. Sadly, a planned trip north of the border had to be postponed as we realised we had insufficient time to justify a 24 hour round-trip for the sake of a three-day stay. This left Mrs. Fisheswithfly&walkswithborderterrier and me with Ellie and Hamish as Christmas companions, remaining at home. This also meant that I could schedule in a grayling day on the Itchen during my time off before New Year.

So, on Thursday I headed to my favourite stretch of the Itchen, more because I'd booked and paid for the fishing than that the day invited one to angle "on the fly". A grey, overcast morning was bad enough but when the rain started pouring as I arrived at the beat, I realised that the wind was also gusting very strongly and regularly. This was not going to be easy fishing, as I was pig-headedly intent on fishing a "duo" rather than a heavily-weighted nymphing "rig". Having said that, most of the beat suits the duo, but the weather may have rendered nymphing the better option.

The water lacked its usual gin-like quality, clarity-wise, while the gusting wind and low light levels combined to make sight fishing impossible. There was also a nasty, chilly "edge" to the wind which rendered it far from pleasant to be outside, and I cast my mind back to the roaring wood burner and range of single malts that I'd left behind.

A-prospecting I went; I could make out the gravelly patches in between the weed beds, and - wind permitting - I targeted these areas. Usually successful flies like the RNPTN and others attracted not a touch; in fact, my Parachute Adams attracted some offers from rising fish, which were actually withdrawn before I could respond. These were, I suspected, grayling rather than out-of-season trout.

I decided to abandon my usual nymphs, and instead go for something a bit "blingier". Again, my camera and photography skills fail me but I think you'll get the idea of a light coloured, tungsten beaded quill bodied nymph.

Complete with a "red neck"!

Anyway, this went on about 4ft of Stroft tied to the eye of the Para Adams, rather than the hook bend. I was now at the point of being cold, dispirited and a little desperate to catch at least one grayling in December (although this was only my second trip).

Lo and behold, within my first few casts at the end of a drift as I was lifting out to recast I felt some resistance. Without a doubt, the ol' inadvertent "induced take" had saved the day and I found myself attached to a respectable-sized grayling. I cannot tell you how pleased I was to see something piscine had eaten my nymph, and to have some return to show for my morning's effort!

Not a monster, but Xmas grayling nonetheless.

I can't quite recall exactly how I was holding the fish to produce the above shot, but the fish obliged with another snap of the release back into the wild.

Wild? It was livid!

This picture gives some idea of how discoloured the water was - normally a shot like this would really show the gin-like clarity - or vodka-like, if that is your preferred tipple! Anyway, once again I'm left to admire the colouring of the grayling and I am determined to get a better camera with which to do them justice.

Breathing a sigh of relief, at this point I tackled down as I was due for a visit from my son and daughter later in the afternoon. As I walked back to the car, the wind was dropping, the sun was breaking through, and I spotted a number of grayling on the fin. Resolutely, I kept walking and resisted the urge......

Tales from the Riverblank and a Malt Moment

I'm a big fan of employing the services of professional fly fishing instructors. About a year ago now, courtesy of a referral from Darren Lewis, I had the pleasure of making Jim Williams' acquaintance. Jim helped me a lot with regards to improving my casting, introduced me to fishing the "duo" method and nymphing with indicators..

Earlier in the week, Tuesday to be precise, I returned to Wherwell with Jim to enjoy another day of guiding and instruction in the art that is fishing for winter grayling on a Hampshire chalkstream. Wherwell is one of southern England's premier grayling fisheries and draws anglers from near and far, although on Tuesday we had the place pretty much to ourselves bar a couple of other well-insulated souls braving the cold.

Jim's blog on the day's proceedings accurately journals the challenge we were presented with. We stayed highly mobile, looking for any sizeable fish to target, but struggled to find any worth a cast for much of the time. We had an opportunity, though, to brush up on a variety of different approaches and for some further, slightly more advanced, casting tuition. It is interesting to cast one's mind back a year and conclude that Jim doesn't stand still. His attention to detail is exemplary, and he continues to evolve and improve the techniques that he teaches.

I've taken away some "homework", to do with a particular nymphing rig, which I will tuck into over the Christmas break. Some very good tips and hints were exchanged - well, Jim gave them to me - about not needing to set up two rods but still being able to change rapidly from duo to nymphing and back again  with the least amount of fannying around. I'm sure that, left to my own devices, I'll be able to reintroduce an element of unnecessary "fannying", as is my way............

Whilst we "blanked" in terms of grayling, contact with fish was made. One brownie in the morning, clearly a stockie, meant that we could relax a little. Shortly thereafter we did spot a decent grayling - the picture of me kneeling down on Jim's blog isn't in supplication to the River Gods but trying to avoid my shadow spooking a lunker.

The early afternoon was mainly remarkable for the swan fighting, resulting in the death of the weaker of the two combatants. I was struck on the one hand by the brutality of this, and I have no idea whether this was a territorial dispute or some kind of "love triangle", but on the other hand reflected on nature's "survival of the fittest".

Shortly after the swan murder I found myself in possession of a seriously bent rod with a seriously big and angry trout having eaten my fly, but the violent head shaking must have created enough slack for it to slip the hook, and t'was lost.

Later in the afternoon my mood was lightened by an enthusiatic take on the nymphing rig from a beautiful wild brown of about half a pound. As well as putting a really respectable bend in my rod for a fish of that size, it made me smile to see a wild fish on a stretch of river where one only usually encounters stocked trout.

The latter part of the afternoon was spent nymphing in deep pools, which produced a couple of takes that didn't stick, no excuses - my bad. Eventually we lost the light and had to pack it in and depart. I know that Jim felt it was a disappointing day as we really struggled, but we weren't the only ones to find Wherwell a challenge this week.

So, next weekend I'm back on that delightful stretch of the Itchen, with another day lined up in between Christmas and New Year. I also have a rather interesting selection of malt whisky to sustain me through the festive period and beyond......omitting the word "single" as Monkey Shoulder is actually a rather good blended malt.

Aperitif through to after dinner/ book-at-bedtime

Wishing everyone a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year, as this could be the last entry for 2012.

Allt Dearg Burn - Small Stream Trout and Wonderful Malt!

I had a pretty ropey trout season, as referred to previously. The weather was poor last summer, and seemed to be especially so whenever I attempted to wet a line. This was frustrating, but I had one highlight that sustained me through to what's proving a decent grayling season so far, and I thought I'd share this. With Christmas approaching, and not everyone interested in grayling, I hope this will amuse and entertain on a cold winter evening.

It's become a tradition that my wife and I holiday in Scotland. Following a visit on honeymoon to the Isle of Harris in 2007, we'd been back each year since. Now this is a long way from the New Forest and since 2008, in possession of at least one dog, copious amounts of wet weather gear, walking boots and fly fishing tackle, we've driven there via the Isle of Skye and a ferry crossing.

This year was different, with my mother and father-in-law having moved from The Lizard in Cornwall to Edderton, near to Bonar Bridge, Dornoch Firth and the marvellous Balblair distillery. We would be going to stay with Ted and Judy instead of making our annual visit to Harris for our holiday this year, and I was intrigued to hear that not only did a burn run through the newly-acquired former croft, but there were trout in it.

As the end of August approached, it was time for us to acquire a new roofbox, work out how to attach this to our Mini Countryman, fill it (and the rest of the car) full of "stuff", load up the dogs and head north. This would be a 12 to 13 hour drive on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend, but for me the distance travelled is part of the attraction of Scotland. The wilderness feels special for someone like me that works in the City of London and lives in a fairly populous neck of the woods.

"Ted and Judy's burn" is the upper reaches of Allt Dearg - which the Balblair distillery uses as its water source. Reports indicated one or two points at which the burn would be fishable, and I was particularly intrigued by the "bridge pool", being not only the most accessible but also the "troutiest" part of the whole beat.

Invitingly trouty - looking upstream

..it's behind you! The view downstream

As a small stream "novice" I decided to focus on this pool as I had seen splashy rises plus a few other signs of fish in residence, and the remainder of the beat was quite overgrown. In the picture below, my rod is pointing roughly at where I'd seen fish rising and this was the main area I would target with my flies.

The "Bridge Pool" - a rod's eye view - early September

I was looking forward to using my Greys X-Flite 7ft 6in 3wt, which would be eminently suitable for this pool.

For most of our stay the water levels were healthy and a reasonable flow of current through the pool suggested different approaches. The best part about this was having a trout stream 200 yards from the front door, and being able to grab my rod to head out for half an hour of fishing before dinner.

My first attempt was on just this basis - time to kill before dinner. So I set up, attaching a 7.5ft tapered leader, and for some reason selecting a blue winged olive. It just spoke to me from the fly box, so on it went. I suspected that presentation would be more important than an exact imitation, and I was proved right. I was able to get a nice, drag free "drift" under the overhanging branches and into the corner of the pool, and after a couple of rises and false alarms, the olive was taken and I gently landed and released a wonderful little trout of a few inches.

I can honestly say I've never been as delighted by a fish coming to hand, and being able to walk back up to the house for a glass of wine, with fishy tales, and one of Judy's awesome dinners to follow.

As I grew in confidence, I fished other parts of the pool. Roll casts up to just short of the bridge proved successful, as did on other occasions attaching a red necked PTN  to the bend of the dry fly and fishing a "duo". This method proved effective one evening with three fish taking the nymph in the space of 15 minutes - I packed in after that as I figured the pool needed a rest.

All part of the small stream experience?

On the one hand, I'm sad that I didn't get at least one picture of these wee trout. I was more intent on getting them swiftly to hand, unhooking and releasing them quickly. So, the only photo I have of something I "caught" is the one above, which my wife took. I am pleased to report that flies and tippet were all safely retrieved.

Towards the end of our holiday, there was little rain so the water dropped and the flow lessened. I'd had my fun with the "bridge pool", but was able to spot a larger tout (probably all of 8 inches!) skulking under the bridge. Who knows, maybe next time I'll catch a monster....

By the way, if you've never tried Balblair but you like your single malt soft, flowery, honeyed and heathery, then it is highly recommended. A nice Christmas treat!

Hamish at One Year Old (belatedly)

Well, back to Border Terrier-related matters for the moment. Hamish last made an appearance in April - Easter, if I remember rightly - at 6 months old. As the title says, in a slightly dilatory or (some might say) downright tardy fashion, here is a short entry about The Boy. A year and a bit old now, but what a handsome young buck he's turned into.

Post- wash n brush up, Ellie still being dried

Currently, Hamish is undergoing extra training to try and ensure he doesn't run off when out on walks. We've lost him two or three times, now, and have been reliant upon some kind people to take charge of The Lost Boy and see that he was safely returned.

Hamish and Ellie continue to get along really well, and we are all a little spoilt living where we do, in the New Forest area. Being not too far from the coast, we have variety in our walks but usually default to the forest.

On the prowl!

The training is going well with Hamish. He is an attentive soul now, and his recalls are so good so often that copious amounts of treating are the result.......

Big dog!

This last picture, whilst not being of the greatest quality, serves to illustrate that Hamish has finally grown into his paws. He is quite big, and leggy with it. Ellie looks quite petite alongside him. Oh, and Ellie continues to be Ellie, the most balanced, loving and low-maintenance of dogs.

We retain hopes that Hamish will be so, too, one day.

To finish, sadly we received news that Marley - of twitter, blogosphere and general all-round  good eggedness - passed away this week. Our thoughts are with Marley's family at this time, and it is hard to put into words the amount of pleasure that we've derived from one Border Terrier's tweeting and blogging over the last two years or so. Rest in peace,  @marleyterrier, and God bless your hoomans.

More on Itchen Trout......

Very interesting discussion regarding the trout pictured in yesterday's blog entry prompts me to include some (admittedly lousy) pictures of a fish caught on an earlier visit to the same stretch of river.

Whereas the consensus on "yesterday's fish" is - wild, native Itchen brownie, I believe the pictures below illustrate a much bigger stocked fish. The comparison may be interesting for those kind enough to take part in the discussion earlier today.

Not wild?

I think you get the idea - here's another lousy photo. Same fish, different angle. For me, the difference between this fish and yesterday's is apparent. The colouration, in particular, and the spotting on this fish is much bolder. I recall this fish took a PTN fished under a Klinkhammer, and immediately upon it surfacing during the "fight" thinking it was a stockie.

Close up.

Oh, and I have asked Santa for a new camera. And lessons on how to use it......

Winter Grayling on the River Itchen

Working in the Lloyd's of London insurance market has many benefits, not least of which is the inclusion of the apostrophe making this something which one can be proud of, and rightly so. Insurance can be something of a dull topic, but Lloyd's has a long tradition and well-deserved reputation. The spirit of Cuthbert Heath is alive and well, a fact which will be of some comfort to the inhabitants of New York, New Jersey and other states in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

As a fly fisher and member of the Lloyd's Flyfishing Society, another benefit is access to some fisheries which are a little off the beaten track. This includes two stretches on the River Itchen, which - along with the Test - is a famous chalkstream in Hampshire.

A lovely bit of countryside!

2012 has seen very poor weather for much of the year, and my first season as a member of the Society was disappointing and frustrating. Turning up at the water in monsoon conditions and retreating home without setting up or wetting a line has been a common occurrence, as has water the colour of drinking chocolate - only a marginal improvement when measured on the fly fisher's scale.

Today, I headed to the Itchen confident of some sport, ignoring the nagging desire to build a very large boat and gather two of every animal species based on the amount of rain that has fallen in the last week or two. A chilly and overcast day saw me beside a river which, whilst running higher than on two recent previous visits, was still clear enough to spot the fish.

Couldn't resist a quick snap of this fine little fellow!

With the closed season for trout upon us, my quarry today was grayling. Unfortunately, the trout seemed blissfully unaware that they were out of season, and proved eager to take my offerings. When this happened I did two things:

1) Gently unhooked and swiftly returned said trout and

2) Moved on, to try and locate the grayling.

Actually, I had a pretty good idea where the grayling might be, based on past experience of two consecutive Saturday's in November of catching the little ladies. Today, it seemed like wherever I went there were trout.

On a chilly and unwelcoming late November day, I was amazed at the number of rising fish. Most of these were trout, but the grayling were at it too. This was behaviour more akin to May or June. Again, as they are out of season, I did my best to ignore them! We are expecting a cold snap overnight, lasting for a few days, and I wonder if the trout's feeding frenzy was in preparation for these conditions.

Anyway, perseverance paid off and throughout the day I managed to bring several grayling to the net. Several more slipped the hook, including some very small fish which I must admit I encouraged by giving some slack. I really didn't want to handle and unhook such delicate creatures if I could help it. They didn't seem to mind, anyway.

That's more like it!

This beauty - not a huge fish - took my dry fly - a Parachute Adams. It really is very exciting to see a fish rising, cast to it, and have it eat your fly.

Spot the difference!

I can't honestly say how many fish I caught today. Too many were trout, but enough were grayling, and some of both were memorable.

Beautiful dorsal fin

Maybe it was my own fault for sacrificing ZERO flies to the Tree Gods. All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a day's annual leave - much better than Christmas shopping.

Hamish @ 6 Months!

As recently promised, for lovers of BTs here is a short update on Hamish, whom we received as a puppy in November 2011.

Hamish was a wee chap when we got him, and here he is now!

Not such a wee chap now!

Inevitably, love them - feed them - exercise them - and this is what they grow into. By the way, he hasn't finished growing yet. Looking at the size of his paws he has a little way to go.

Today, Ellie was out visiting so Hamish and I had a sunny New Forest to explore without big sis. This was the first time he would have been out on a solo mission, and we were intrigued to see what he would make of it.

Hmmmmm, Ellie who?

Well, being the well-brought up chap that he is, Hamish was fine. He kept very close to me and was responsive to commands. He was well-treated as a reward, mind, but a pleasure to walk with. There were some social encounters with dogs, people and horses, all of which passed off without incident.

Me and my shadow!

Borders are a fantastic breed. They have very good "engines", and can adapt to either lots of or very little exercise without batting an eyelid. Another point in their favour is that the breed hasn't been - how shall I put this - spoiled by selective breeding. See pictures of the breed from 100 years ago and you'll know what I mean. A working dog that still works well, no health issues or defects, and generally a lovely temperament.

Eager to stay in dad's good books :-)

Anyway, keeping this short as it's a lovely day and I owe Ellie a bike ride, one more picture of "H" as I like to call him, or "wee Jock" as a certain Cornish/ Scottish gentleman christened him:

Wee? Wee? I'll show you....

Hamish, 6 months old, and doing very nicely. He is slowly calming down in temperament as he matures, and is delightful company. We are truly blessed with two such wonderful doggy companions.

Last Day of the Grayling Season?

Grayling are wonderful fish. Wild, skittish, beautiful to behold and my passport  to fishing rivers in Hampshire I wouldn't want to afford during the trout season. One of these is the River Test, and this entry relates my visit on Friday to Wherwell, which is one of the premier venues for grayling in England.

The main river here is supplemented by a network of carriers, but it was to the main river I went alone with my hopes and ambition to snatch a last day on this beat before the trout season and sky-high prices were back upon us.

I had been to this water before with Jim Williams. After my last trip out on still water at Holbury I was eagerly anticipating being back on running water, and the different challenge this presents, not just the moving water but completely different quarry, tackle and technique.

On to tackle. My chosen method was fishing what is known as "the duo" or "klink n dink". The main point to note is that this means fishing two flies at once. One is a dry, or floating fly, which sits on or in the water's surface. Attached to this fly one adds a nymph, which is a fly designed to sink through the water and imitate aquatic morsels that fish like to eat. If a fish takes the nymph, the dry fly disappears to indicate the "bite"; so the dry fly is dual-purpose as fish might think that it is something nice to eat, too!

Technically the Klinkhammer is an emerger pattern which means it isn't quite the same as a dry fly. You'll see in the picture below what it looks like, complete with hi-viz "post". This is also akin to the "New Zealand" method!

Klinkhammer and Nymph (actually, a shrimp pattern)

On this occasion I had about a metre of line between the dry and nymph flies. The nymph is actually a Southall Shrimp pattern, one of several generously given to me by Peter Anderson, one of the most experienced and effective grayling fishers I know. Like most fly fishers, Peter is a true gentleman and a great example to novices such as myself.

An inviting looking pool!

Tackle-wise, I decided to use a 10ft 4wt Scierra Flylite rod with an Orvis Battenkill reel, neither of which had ever caught a fish before. This was also my first attempt at using a needle-knotted leader to fly-line connection rather than my usual loop-to-loop. I was also experimenting by building my own leader - something I've only recently started doing. The leader is a length of nylon or similar material which attaches to the fly-line at one end and fly or flies at the other. I believe this 3-5 metres to be the most important part of the whole fishing set-up.

Looking good?

Anyway, I had a mare! The idea of building your own leader is to taper it so that when you cast the energy transfers efficiently along the flyline and through the leader which causes the fly or flies to "turnover" and land on/ in the water in a neat & tidy way. In a nutshell, I made a mess of my leader build which resulted - courtesy of only a couple of casts - in a horrible tangle of monofilament  which I had to cut off, accompanied by the required amount of bad language....

So...I had a cup of tea and reached for some of Mike Barrio's tapered leaders which I'd recently purchased. I attached one of the 3 metre 5lb variety onto the end of my fly-line, then added another metre or so of Stroft tippet material. Back on with the klink n dink, and we were ready to go! A couple of trial casts away from my intended first pool confirmed that this set-up was turning over beautifully. Translation for non-flyfishers - the energy I was imparting in the act of casting was being transferred very effectively into and along that all-important last 3 - 5 metres of my fishing tackle.

Anyway, back to the fishing....

The first couple of fish were - ummm - caught, but "released at distance". One was a wee grayling whilst the other was a brown trout, a decent sized fish which just threw the hook. I was going to put it back anyway, as they're out of season! What I was really after were grayling but after fishing up the pool to the bridge, which is the upstream boundary of this beat, I'd only had trout.

The most noteworthy of these morning trout leapt clear of the water to take my Klinkhammer BEFORE it landed in the surface film. This was quite spectacular, I can only assume the "dink" attracted its attention sufficiently. All good fun, but not what I was really after. Later, I noticed a good pod of grayling upstream of the beat boundary bridge - out of bounds, in golf terms.

After lunch I moved downstream to fish the inviting glides. As I walked along the bank I spotted a few grayling and made mental notes of locations to try on my way back upstream. Anglers move upstream so as to come up behind the fish, which hold facing into the current on the lookout for food.

Inviting!

Anyway, long story short. I was in for a disappointing afternoon. This yielded a couple of small grayling which didn't do the river or myself justice. I got bogged down and stayed in one spot too long. My focus wasn't great and I couldn't get "in the zone". I snapped myself out of this slough of despond and got moving upstream, started fishing half-decent and picked up the small grayling; then, I suffered the most almighty of tangles (bad casting and degraded leader as a result of numerous rebuilds). At this point, I realised that She Who Must be Obeyed coming home from a week in Scotland was becoming more pressing than fishing. I decided to forego rebuilding my tackle and further piscatorial effort in favour of being a good husband.

Highlights were my morning trout leaping clear of the water to snaffle my Klink, and a day on the water. It was good to have my wife coming home as well, to put it mildly, after a long week coming into a cold, empty house after my commute to London each day. I also enjoyed taking some fish on the Southall Shrimp pattern. Lowlights were not being able to practise any level of skill in watercraft, i.e. you must find the fish and fish where they are! I think I was speculating/ prospecting, a.k.a barking up the wrong tree.

It was also good to give this rod/ reel combo an outing, and to take some fish with it. I really do believe, though, the hardware generally is of secondary importance to the software. That 3 to 5 metres between the end of the fly line and the flies is the most crucial part of the whole setup. Here is a great "how to", from the one and only Jim Williams, which is very straightforward and easy to understand. I'd also recommend East Sleep Fish Ezine in its entirety.

I suppose the real highlight was ending up in my wife's good books for being back early enough to help her after her looooong drive from Scotland.

For lovers of Border Terriers, watch out for my next blog entry. This will be an update on the one and only Hamish McCheffings, now approaching six months old!

An addendum to yesterday's entry.....

I was looking today more closely at the pictures of both fish. Notice how one is much more heavily spotted than the other?

The heavily spotted fish was the second of the two, caught from Long Lake. I don't ever recall seeing a Rainbow like this before, and Rainbow it certainly is with that tell-tale stripe.

Interesting; wonder what the reason is for such contrast between two fish from the same location? Obviously these are stocked trout, so I guess they could have come from different farms.

At Last - Fly-fishing Content! :-)

A short entry to relate a brief but nonetheless hugely enjoyable visit this afternoon to Holbury Lane Lakes.

Recently, I've had the pleasure & benefit of being tutored and guided by Jim Williams on the River Test. The latest session was some three weeks past, and I'm venturing back on the river for my first "solo flight" in a couple of weeks. I wanted to get out today primarily to wet a line and make sure I didn't backslide into a couple of faults with my casting that Jim corrected last time out. Granted, this was still and not running water - but Holbury is a cracking venue and the weather today was glorious. Holbury includes a decent stretch of the River Dun, a Test tributary, is very well-kept and a delight on most days.

Island Lake - a picture in late winter sunshine

In possession of a two-fish ticket, I had a quick look at The Pond, and Island Lake. Noticing some fish high in the water and some unseasonal rises, I tackled up my Sage Fli 9ft 5wt with a tapered mono leader. I added some fluorocarbon tippet and tied on a Klinkhammer. This was about 13.00 - the warmest part of the day - and I wanted to have a go with the dry fly in order to ensure my casting was up to scratch.

Two things happened. My casting was working well, but I realised quickly I was barking up the wrong tree. Off came the Klink, and on went an olive  Demoiselle. This I chose mainly for colour and being weighted but not overly so, as I didn't think the fish were tight to the bottom.

On the third or fourth cast, I had a spectacular take  "on the drop" where I could clearly see the fish in the top quarter of the water column. A decent fight ensued, wherein my three turn water knot was tested, not to mention my clinch knot. On 3lb tippet this chunky, fit Rainbow gave a good account of itself.

Fish & Fly!

I decided to move on, have a look at the Dun (which I wasn't fishing), and settle on a spot to try for another.
Long Lake does what it says "on the tin":

Gin clear water

This is a favourite spot of mine as there is a good flow in from the river at this point, although the Dun's course takes it the other side of the trees. Keeping the same fly, and with encouragement from a friendly member of staff, I set about my task. The sun was low and moving round to be directly behind me, and even with stocked fish you need to watch your shadow.

Long story cut short, casting towards the left-hand bank shown above, within a few casts the end of the fly-line began to slide away and I lifted gently into my second fish. This Rainbow fought hard, taking line on three or four surging runs which had my Greys GTX screaming. Before too long, however, it was in the net and I ended with a fine brace of very fit Holbury Rainbows.

5lbs of fin-perfection

Just time to take a couple of shots of the Dun, before heading home.

Upstream

The river is looking very well cared-for, and the only thing it lacks in my view is a decent head of Grayling. There are some wild fish as well as stocked Browns & Rainbows.

Clear water downstream

So I made it home at a reasonable time. After cleaning the fish, it was time to walk Ellie and Hamish. So, in the same day I fished with fly AND walked with BTs! The weather was glorious and this made for an exceedingly pleasant afternoon. I am looking forward to my next outing, back on running water, confident that my cast will behave itself!