As the young man attested too, it was a very strange day on the river.
when we arrived at 1015 the water was coloured although still with some visibility and about 8-10" higher than yesterday
As the day progressed the water kept rising and getting dirtier, i reckon it rose about 4" while we were fishing, it seemed to be starting to drop as we went home at 5pm
So we had rising, colouring water but a light breeze and overcast so the challenge began
After yesterdays trek covering about 6-7 miles to find some rising fish, today i think we covered nearer 10miles.
Up and down the beat and nothing to be seen.
Come lunchtime there was the odd fly coming off and walking back up the beat provided a couple of rising fish.
nothing exciting but the area was a nice flat, about knee deep and the fish were about 12" so we kept going back up the stretches we expected to find some fish. a long walk to find just one rising fish tight in to the near bank.
But there were more flies appearing, this was about 1.30
So back off downstream to the bit i saw the fish earlier, my oppo disappeared up the tributary as you can read above.
come 2.30 the flies were coming thick and fast
the fish were in small pods tight against the bank and it became a matter of creeping about and trying a few flies.
This was the sight that brought lots of encouragement on a very difficult day.
A change to a more delicate dry, started to bring some fish
Lots of fish! mostly all around 12" but great fun and plenty of them all shades but some were really pretty
Then they started to get a bit bigger.
every other fish was 16" and i weighed them at 2lb and were happy to rise even in the dirtier water
This was the biggest as it disappeared back to its watery home
So courtesy of these little fellas providing the biggest hatch of the season
I had the best day of the season so far, even if it didn't show or provide any trophies. A day that looked to be lost turned out to be Fab but only in a very small section, but it seemed every fish in the river was there.
Sandy