Fathers day

One of the aspects of fishing that I have started to appreciate more and more over the last few years is that of variation , particularly when it comes to the rivers I fish .   For very many years I fished small spate streams and fished them pretty poorly at that.  Over the last few years I have been fortunate in gaining access to a number of different rivers that offer some real variation in challenges and opportunities.

As I have previously posted .The latest stream I have got access too is Foston Beck.  I was there at the weekend, Fathers day to be precise . I fished the top end of the water .  A mile or so of water that seems to alter in mood by the yard.  But a single element of it remains constant that of the water clarity. Now to any readers who fish this type of water then I beg forgiveness for stating what to them is the bleeding obvious. But  I am still at the discovery stage and finding it strange to be able to see the fish even in several feet of water ,  at the weekend fly life seemed a little sparse and rising fish were few . The initial flush of stock fish seemed to have been thinned out and the fish in evidence were the wild fish generally smaller and well spread out ,  I am starting to get the hang of spotting them now in between the beds of weeds or tucked in tight under them sometimes the edge of a fin is all that betrays them.  

Targeting these fish is fascinating if you combine a cautious approach with the right angle of approach you can get remarkably close to them .  Close enough to watch your nymph drift past their nose even.  In fact it does make me consider how hit and miss my spate stream fishing is and the importance of effectively covering the water ,  I put a nymph past the fish above on about 12 occasions before it took .  Probably 8 of those passes were, it appeared to me target wise bang on the money but it obviously didnt look right to the fish. The fish was on a clear gravel patch perhaps no wider than a foot and a half and was on the fin taking nymphs that were funneled down to it .  You can see the patch right in the centre of the shot below , shaped a bit like a witches hat.  Perhaps the fishes obviously well fed rotund appearance is a clue to its fussy eating .  The stream is certainly an ample larder.

The other highlight of the day was a glimpse of a water vole and the other notable wildlife events were the constant irritation of brave female mallards brooding chicks being disturbed by me and shooting up the centre of the stream flapping about and giving their broken wing display and promptly sending every fish straight under the weeds. 

The deep weed beds whilst looking pretty certainly make dry fly presentation tricky the currents generated by the weed beds certainly do make for some complex currents hitting the surface and the fly skates about all over. Not sure how many fish I caught but enough to consider the day as a rewarding day.
Apologies for the poor photos my preparation for the day included charging my camera battery which I then left at home in the charger.  On the day I had to use my phone...