Chasing wildies....

Following my Saturday trip down the local beck , my bank holiday weekend plans changed and the Monday afternoon became free so as a fishing opportunity cant be turned down some rapid plans had to be made. As I had fished the local beck on Saturday and I really didnt fancy the traffic to go far . Venue choice was important.  

I had a guest ticket for the Yorkshire Derwent and decided that today would be a good time to use it.  The river is only ten minutes from my house. So it meant no fighting the traffic jams.  I have been a member in the past so know the water pretty well but knew that low water and sunshine would combine to make it a tough day fishing for the little wildies. . 

The day was a day for delicate tactics so my chosen gear was the little Hardy featherweight 7ft 3wt and little  BBS  reel.  On this gear little wild brownies can put a decent bend in the rod.  The whole lot only weighs a few ounces and the very full flex allows for effortless close range fishing.  It isnt to every ones taste but I find it  tremendous fun on small streams.

The day ended with 8 of these little fellas all perfect this being the smallest ,  but a couple of others werent much bigger. Nearly all on the little size 18 and 20 adams .  

Around here at the moment we are in drought conditions, rivers are already at Summer dead low levels as we have had virtually no rain for 6 to 8 weeks. This time last year we had similar conditions and then I foolishly prayed for rain.  We know what happened then it didnt stop for 6 months so despite the drought I am not going to pray for anything...This is a winter wheat field at the side of the river , there was cracks in the ground you could get your hand in....

The Derwent  is a pretty pretty little stream and a belting way to hide from the traffic for a day.  One day I may even re join.......