Good things come…..

So today dawned bright and sunny and getting up to the club water for the first time this year to cast a line for the Brown Trout looked to be on. I packed the gear in the motor, taking along my Dads old 5 weight Dickson’s rod, I always give it a cast at the start of the brown season up there, and headed up. It was surprisingly windy, the wind was cold and blustery but coming from the west for once. Will, a friend from the club had just arrived in front of me and was there to have his first go at the Browns for this season too. He had a new rod, a 5# Truefly SLA which he gave me a cast with, I have to say it was very nice, it felt like it had plenty of power for a lighter weight rod, very impressed. Much faster than my Dicksons rod which frankly was too soft for the conditions and the wind was getting the better of me when I fished up the North Bank. The west wind was not ideal as it was blowing line into me and what with the slower soft actioned rod, I was collecting the line in heaps around me sometimes.

I had started with a team of two snatchers and a beaded point PTN on a floating line, the PTN to get the cast down. At the North Bank fishing an intermediate line is problematic as the water is fairly shallow close in and you end up dragging the bottom catching your flies on snags or weeds. Will mentioned he had seen a couple of fish move as he arrived, I hadn’t but hoped that maybe there would be the odd fish in the shallows picking up a few midges that were rising off the water every time a wee bit sun peeked out.

After a couple of bad tangles I decided I would be better served with my 6/7 weight HM3 and a heavier line to punch out through the wind when it gusted mid cast. I went back to the car and got it, rigging it up back by my tackle rucksack. I decided to change set up with this rod rather than swap my leader over. I put a large Klinkhammer on top dropper with a couple of buzzers underneath, the Klink would act as sighter for the heavier flies and there was always the outside ( very outside) hope of a fish taking the large dry.

Fishing off the North bank – blustery and cold.

It never worked, no fish seemed interested though I was getting well out even into the wind. I eventually took the Klink off and put on a Black Pennel on top dropper, a small Black Diawl Bach on middle dropper and a heavy though unbeaded PTN ( the one I referred to as the Unfamous PTN last season).

Still nothing positive, though by now I decided to work my way back towards the dam wall and I was sure I had a couple of very slight touches, one in fact I think, might have been a “follow”, as there was a small splash as I was lifting off to recast, but was distracted by people walking behind me and looked away just as I heard the “plop!”.

Strange New Age camp thats popped up- drummers, jugglers and “jousters”. Very odd, and not ideal if you wanted a bit peace and quiet!

I was fishing by the boat mooring when a fish rose about 20 yards out from the dam wall. I decided to move  there and see if I could elicit any takers, carefully taking note of where it rose, by a mark on the wall. I headed over and started to fish. Again A couple of times I had a curious dragging feeling which made me think something was interested but not committing to a take. I decided to fish a bit deeper and try keep my flies from rising by swapping to an intermediate line, plenty depth at the dam so OK for it here. I was swapping things over and making ready to recast when Will, came back round- he had been fishing the south side by a “New age traveller” encampment that seems to have sprung up over the weekend. Loads of synchronised drumming, juggling and simulated sword fighting going on….. what was that all about?!

My biggest Brown trout ever, close to 3lbs and in perfect condition, an over wintered fish on a Black Pennel. Safely returned.

He stopped near by me just as I finished my first retrieve on the intermediate and was telling me he had been broken off by a big fish on the south bank, on a fly tied by himself ( he was chuffed to bits about this as he has just started tying). Though he was broken he had the reassurance that his flies worked. He then caught a smaller fish of around a pound or so, so no blank for him, a well-earned fish in the conditions. A few more casts and suddenly my line locked up hard and I had a very committed, solid take. I caught a few flashes of gold under the clear water and thought it was a decent fish, in fact it was a belter! As I got it near the surface it looked to be a really good fish, and it burrowed for the bottom a couple of times, I just let it go keeping tension on but not pulling back too hard with a relatively light tippet and a fairly stiff rod. Will grabbed my net and kindly netted it for me. A personal best Brown and a real beauty of a fish with large black spots, a gold belly and a big tail. It was quite well fed looking and I reckon it was maybe a few ounces short of 3lb, which is a big fish up there. We took a few pics and released it with the net and it swam away unharmed for its ordeal with my Black Pennel ( which fell out in the net ). The fish made a right mess of my leader after taking the top dropper fly so a re-rig was needed. We both fished on for maybe another 20 mins but it was good enough for a day like today- time for tea and medals. I look forward to encountering that fish again in the summer on the dries when he will be a bit heavier and my tackle will be lighter!