When I was up at Pendreich yesterday I tried to walk a wee bit on my dodgy knee and it felt, well, not brilliant but tolerable-ish I think a mixture of the cortisone in my knee and the general steroid I got last week were helping a little. When I got up today it was lovely and warm and there was barely a breath of wind. Maybe not perfect stillwater conditions but prefect for a spot of burn fishing, I have really been keen to get out and have another go with the Tenkara rod since I got it, but my own immobility has held me back. But I decided, keep light, don’t go daft and go too far, frequent stops and I might be able to manage. I headed up the wee burn and with everything I needed in my rucksack/seat I took it gingerly down the valley following the burn. ( For what its worth, I am sat here now with a heat pack on my knee and feeling quite sore, so paying for it now!)
I borrowed my son’s hiking poles and this helped a lot. I eventually reached the first fishable pool and set up my Tenkara outfit with a 2lb tippet of Stroft ABR and an olive Sekasa Kebari style pattern. No fish were showing and my appearance upset a family of ducks who were swimming in the pool but they soon moved on and I had the place to myself.
It was warm but not overly bright and I felt there was a good chance of fish on the top but I wanted to start with the “conventional” Tenkara style fly.
My first few casts were a wee bit short of the ideal line and I might have benefitted from a longer rod, but I moved round the pool a little and was then able to reach the foam line. As soon as I did there was a gold flash at my fly and a wee fat wild Brown Trout was hooked. I was able to easily get it away from the likely holding spot of other fish and went to bring it in near my rucksack which meant changing position and as I did I reckon I inadvertently dropped the tip a wee bit and the fish was off.
