I cannot tell a lie, I am a bit late with this wee blog, but as I always come clean whether I blank or bag up I felt kind of guilty letting this one lie…..I did go fishing last Sunday and yes I did come up with precisely nothing, but I have been a bit busy sorting out another website and it has basically taken up all my non-work screen time.

While the other site, is now mostly dealt with, it just needs a few bits and pieces added, I can spend a few minutes here.

So, what have I been up to piscatorially? Very little to be honest. In most regards the lean spell has been weather related; considering we had a relatively dry spell over early summer and those that like to make a fuss were fretting over the state of our public water supplies, and with talks of rationing, if there are any reservoirs that aren’t full now I would be surprised. Boy have we had rain this autumn!

The first day I have seen dry ground was this Thursday when for once I was grateful for a little breeze that wasn’t carrying more torrential thunder showers and it actually dried things up for a few hours before it rained again Friday…Ah well, it was dry enough to let me get about a couple of hundredweight of fallen leaves moved off the driveway before they clog the drains. They were getting to be shin deep!

Anyway back to the fishing- I am waffling….

After a few household chores on a week past, Sunday morning, I felt I had enough time to nip around to Swanswater for a wee cast. Actually, though it was about half past 12 when I headed out I nearly never had enough time to fish as what with us being back on GMT the fishery closes at 4:30pm. So I wasn’t even able to get a full 4-hour shift in, it was more like 3 and a bit. Not to worry though, it was a pretty pleasant day and the sun shone for much of the time, and it was never cold.

There was the odd fish showing on top but they weren’t frequent and for quite a while after I arrived I don’t think I saw a fish caught. Certainly a good hour. For my own part, I started to head to the island as it looked fairly quiet, I think at that point there was only one angler over there, but as I crossed the bridge spotted a couple of fish in the water below the bridge. I went back to the platform just before the bridge and with my two fly cast, and the wee goldie on….it’s nearly always my starter for ten when stockie fishing these days, gave it a wee fish landing it right below the reeds on the island side.

On the fourth cast, there was a subtle but definite sensation of resistance and I lifted into a fish. The take was so gentle I feared the fish may not be properly hooked but I played it for a wee minute and went to get the net to lift it out when just like that, without warning it simply came free. Very disappointing but I did console myself with it still being early days, and having had the “sport” out the fish, all but getting it in the net.

A fish moved to my distant, one o’clock and I put a long cast out that as soon as I started retrieving was met with interest not just once or twice but three times, yet again, no hookup. You will forgive me if I thought I might be on for a fun few hours, but as can be the way, I never had another touch for several hours and very probably kept fishing the setup I was on for too long.

I did eventually swap to a washing line set up with a small dry on point and a couple of small buzzer son droppers, then turned it around to fish a couple of small buzzers with a dry on the top dropper. Then straight lined buzzers all to no avail.

By now I had moved onto the island. There was a chap there who was doing rather well on the peg right after the bridge, I certainly saw him net three and he perhaps had more. He was saying he had the same experience as me on the Friday with either dropped fish or pulls but no takes but his luck seemed to have turned this day. One positive thing was he was actually properly fly fishing, unlike about 90% of the other anglers all throwing out bungs and basically leaving them, some anglers not even bothering to hold their rods. It does hack me off I cannot tell a lie.

Anyway, after quite a while I swapped back to the wee goldie on point, after all, I was over water where I had not previously fished the same fly and almost right away had two good pulls that again didn’t convert to fish. It just wasn’t to be my day. There was another lad to my left fishing a bung- left out for maybe 10 minutes straight, then hooked into a pretty big fish, and I think it was over 8lb when weighed later. Followed soon after by another, but he might as well have gone and fished the bait pond. with a worm.

So next outing won’t be far away if the weather improves, I can hear the Grayling calling from afar…..