Since it's been a fair while (last season?) since I've had the Klink 'n' Dink on the leader I promised myself that I'd give it a go as soon as I got a free spell.
After a horrendous week at work I flew the coop early afternoon and pontificated as to where to go. Not having fished the Urie this season and knowing that it is perfect for this method, I set off.
Lovely & sunny in the early afternoon with a reasonable height and tinge to the water and only a slight breeze, which makes line control and casting in such a difficult venue bearable.
The Klink
A large specimen tied for the purpose of supporting heavy items, I planned to fish a size 12 tungsten beaded PTN under it
The Dink
A size 14 PTN - scaled down after a spate of fouling the bottom
First stop, under the bridge (which bridge?) not tellin'.
Almost from the first cast the wee browns were either hitting the dry or nymph
average size was about the 3 to a lb which is up on the average that I remember. Lovely wee fish and one twice leapt 3' out of the water when hooked - a fair feat for such a small fish, very impressive.
Working up under the bridge is most definitely not recommended as the silt deposited there is quite treacherous (although there is a fair head of fish there, so on I went)
and as I reached the opposite end of the bridge the water deepens and slopes off - won't do that again, very silly.
The last fish I hooked before exiting the water could have possibly disturbed a resting Salmon 'cos one came bolting out of the water a couple of yards from the fish and close enough to me to bring a smile even though I was concerned about being cemented to the river bed. Almost like a sleek Blue Trout in appearance.
I travelled upstream quite quickly as I knew some of the more likely lies from far distant outings missed out heavily vegetated sections as the decision to wear a T-Shirt was a very poor one - the nettles stings are still affecting me now.
A leash of nice wee fish
The breeze picked up making line control difficult and this coupled with trapesing through chest high nettles, thistles and reeds made me remember why I don’t fish there very often.
I know there are good trout (and obviously Salmon) in the Urie but it is a pig to fish and I did fall into the river once(luckily it was shallow’ish) AND very nearly rolled into a deep pool when trying to net a fish with my scoop net, no joke I was very lucky and if a passing butterfly had landed on my shoulder I’d have been in. ALWAYS take an extender or long handled net if you fish here ‘cos trying to get near the water is down right dangerous in a lot of places.
The two largest fish that I encountered (maybe ¾ lb) were to the dry but unfortunately I could only prick them.
The upshot is that it was most enjoyable but I’ve done it & think I’ll now leave the fish to grow a bit more for next season.
Iain