I went up to Pendreich last night for my first proper evening outing of the year, I have been up once but it was dark before 8 so that doesn’t count. It’s light up to nearly 10 now so it’s more practical.
There were a few anglers about but I never saw a fish caught in the time I was there and in fact only caught sight of one fish move and it looked more like it was being chased than anything else.
Its funny how something like a cold wind puts the fish down so hard, for a cold blooded creature.
If there had been any heat in the air it would have been idyllic, as it was, it was chilly and the fish were hiding.
I fished the North bank on my 4 weight rod and tried mainly wets and but for one half hearted tug at the Olive Snatcher just below the surface that was the sum total of my action.
I moved round to the dam wall later as the sun fell and it got less breezy, and got out the 6/7 weight rod with the 40+ floating line and a heavy Cormorant on point and pulled the flies. It actually felt warm with the wind away, and I hoped for a late rise but it never happened. I don’t like using the light rod from the wall as its a long lift up though I had a long net with me. Plus it was better for a bit casting practice.
However if you can imagine, standing on the wall its a fair drop to the water so with the HM3 rod it s about 18″ above the surface of the water when pulling the line. The line being a manufactured shooting head is very heavy and when you strip a section the line still in the water is apt to pull back under its own weight.
After one lenghty cast I stripped and went to grab another length of line as the weight of the head pulled back- except it kept pulling- the tug nearly ripped the rod from my hand. Unfortunately as I was between strips, I wasnt able to properly connect- I don’t know if it was just a tug or a missed take but it felt substantial, quick though it was. This concluded the action for the evening.
One final word- the track is quite bumpy and in lower slung car’s you need to take a modicum of care. Someone was unfortunate enough to hit a stone or catch a pot hole and ripped the sump off their car last night so watch out- there is a lot of oil on the track especially at the bottom gate.
