Looking for the Lunking Ladies on the Wye

I was desperate to get out fishing again this week as I'm away in Scotland and then London with work for a good couple of weeks quite soon. Earlier in the week, Jan, one of the river keepers, very kindly showed me around one or two spots on this lovely Derbyshire river. I remember swearing every few yards or so as I came across fishy looking swims over and over again. Other anglers reading this will know exactly what I mean about Tourettes syndrome setting in as you round a bend and find a deep glide, or a fast riffle dropping into a deep trench, or rippled moving water that has fish written all over it. If you'd have heard me a couple of days ago, when first visiting this stretch of river, you'd have thought I'd turned into Glen Pointon, or worse still Roger Mellie (the man on the telly).

I put up a pic on the previous post of my first decent sized grayling of October on this particular river. Having seen the pic, one or two readers have given me a pound and a half for it...any advance on that? I'll certainly be wanting more than that for the lovely fish I caught early this afternoon which is shown in the two pics on this post.

I started out fairly early today. I got the car packed up even before the kids were up and ready for school. It was a cool and completely overcast morning and I thought it looked almost perfect for grayling fishing. There was a spot of rain in the air and at first, I had a job to get organised and my OCD started to kick in when I realised that, because of the low air temperature and the threat of rain, I may have to wear a coat. Those that have fished with me know how my head goes if everything isn't just how it ought to be....

And so I made my way down the river, trying desperately to remember all of the spots that I'd fished a few days ago and where Jan had pointed out features, swims and runs to me. Once again I was completely taken aback by the beauty of the place, the river and the whole valley really. It reminds me so much of Pitlochry in the Highlands, you're never far away from a dipping dipper, a fleeting kingfisher or the eerie scream of a buzzard above the trees. There's many a spot that wouldn't be out of place in a Turner. The banks are a pleasure to fish, yes it can be a challenge to the angler to get the right cast in without wading, but all the more rewarding when the take comes and a fish ends up in the net. I've found that, even with my 10ft 4wt Streamflex, it's nearly always possible to make that cast whenever, and wherever you want to.

I was taking fish all the way down the stretch and once at the end, I sat down and tucked into my lunch and took in the surroundings once more. I had a leisurely stroll back and had a particular spot in mind. I'd fished it in the morning and dropped a couple of fish but was sure that it was holding a good few more. I'd got an hour before I was to leave in time for the school run so I had enough time to get a few casts in before heading off back to the car. I was dropping fish again and was getting a little frustrating and started to think about my last cast. This time I'd cast just that little bit further, and nearer to an overhanging branch. No sooner had the drift began than the tip of the line shot away and a good fish was on. I new it was a decent fish immediately and I was desperate not to drop this one as I knew it would be a perfect end to the day.

After a decent scrap, this lovely fish came to the net. It had taken the point fly which I was surprised by given that almost all of the others had taken the dropper.

Another superb day's fishing on the Wye. I'm hoping the grayling just keep getting bigger and bigger....

David

Wye The Peacock after The Grayling on the Dove

So, the anticipation was over, the day had come, Sunday 25th October was to be a big do. I was all set to fish with Lord Pointon on his beloved stretch of the river Wye in and around England's slightly bigger version of Pitlochry, and without the salmon, the wee toon of Bakewell. I'd also booked Leonie and I into the Peacock for The Wine Shop Christmas party and was looking forwards to collapsing in front of the big log fire with a pint of fine ale and a big dram of Laphroaig after a breezy autumnal day on the banks of the bonny Wye.

"Way conner goo youth", I was dismayed to hear, as apparently the Wild Trout Trust had got it for the day so they had priority. So, that was that.

I headed up to Milldale for the morning. The weather was, fine, bright and a little breezy. I crossed the bridge at Milldale and noticed immediately that there was a fair bit of water and colour in the Dove today after the sporadic rain showers we've had during the last few days. It was clear that Autumn had began to really kick in since my last outing given the amount of leaves on the water. I noticed that the colours were changing everywhere, lush greens giving way to gold, reds and browns.

I decided to pay more attention to the first couple of hundreds of yards of the Leek and District Angling Association stretch, staying longer than I usually would in each pool, given the amount of extra depth there was to explore.

I dropped a couple of fish early on and decided to move down to a pool that I usually find to be quite tricky to get at and cast in given the amount of snags and low branches that are here and about.

I was sure that today, I'd have a bit more chance of catching here though as there was more depth to the pool and I'd bought my shorter, 6ft 6" Streamflex, given me a little more room for casting than usually afforded by my 8ft Snowbee "Pike rod". (As so cruelly christened by Glen). I also find it much easier to flick a fly about with a short rod like my Streamflex. I did, however, still manage to loose a good few flies.

I caught a nice couple of Grayling on the duo and then hooked into the one in the pic, right in mid stream and he gave me a right old scrap. A lovely fish. I decided to quit while the going was good and made my way to check in at the Peacock, where, needless to say, we had fabulous food, lots of drinks, and a very posh bedroom.

Didn't see any fishermen though??

David