Breaks, hitches and dissapointments

This week has had a mix of fortunes.  Easter Sunday was a a long arranged fishing trip when two friends were to join me to fish my home beck.  The day started at the beach at 9.30 and we fished our way upstream. It toook four hours to fish up a mile or so,  There was much barracking and encouragement ,  My two companions at one point acted as fish spotters from a vantage point above a pool as I briefly was in contact with what would have been the largest fish of the day.  We all know that feeling as a the line gos slack. This was made worse by the audience. The day overall however was extremely enjoyable enough fish were caught and the company was excellent.  There is something special about sharing your home stream with guests,  I know the pleasure of fishing a new water .  I guess the only thing better is guiding others whilst they do the same.

I have been on holiday all week and wednesday saw me take a few hours trip to the Rye,  this early the river is still slow rising fish are scarce and decent fish are hard to find.  I tried speculative dries to any likely lie.  After raising and missing a few small fish by using a tiny size 20  I worked upstream and spied another small rising fish it was under an overhanging branch and was sipping in something or other , Third cast the fish rose I tightened and al hell broke loose a very decent brownie charged a few feet leapt once and was gone, With my size 20 in its mouth. So the first two really good fish of the season were released at distance as we say to make ourselves feel better.  I did take one small fish on the CDC, very small.  But it didnt soften the loss.  That made the third dissapointment of the week, as previousley  I had taken my Hardy Featherweight from its case to show a fellow angler and the top two inches remained within the rod bag.  Seemingly tangled on some loose stitching on the inside of the rod bag.  Surely nothing else could go wrong. 

On Friday some young couple from down South got hitched , It certainly kept the cars of the roads and American sitcom repeats of the TV.  They seem a nice couple,  I did wonder if the first time she took him home to meet Mum and Dad if Dad asked him what his prospects were,  I hope he did.  Anyway I drove the 15 miles to a stream I fish hoping to break the Jinx.  First 15mins 2 small Grayling , Then I spent 10 mins stood knee deep in crystal clear water just enjoying the sight of a pod of Grayling of decent size swimming around.  It amazes me how little a wading angler bothers them.  This water was 18inches deep and a dozen fish were all within 10ft of me One even dropped back in the current between my legs and then swam back up the same way.  I thought at the time how such simple pleasures are what makes this wonderful sport such a pleasurable thing.

I finished the day with the Grayling and a few very pretty small native brownies.  Apparantly that beck has been stocked recently well goodness knows where the fish have gone as I didnt see any.  Which I think is good, as long as they havent all been eaten by the ever incrasing otter population. In past years the stockies seem to get hammered by anglers in the first week or two.  Lets hope they wise up a bit whilst they are hiding. 

May starts tomorrow, for me my favourite fishing month of the year.  Already spring is in full flow the trees and animals are all feeling the same way.  I am hoping that thats the end of the breakages for the year and that the next big fish doesnt show me up again.