The soft touch

I really enjoy nymph fishing for grayling although it is very easy to forget how cold it is standing in the river at this time of year. Some sessions were planned over Christmas but the state of the rivers put paid to that so the chance came on Sunday to get a couple of hours in on the Dove. This was something to look forward to as Santa brought me a 10' #3 rod and I'd also wanted to try a new pattern. The soft touch shrimp is a fly from Glen Pointon and it aims to simulate the 'feel' of a real bug with the use of silicon sealant on the body. The fly has been enjoying some real success and I'd tied a few up over Xmas whilst dreaming of the rivers being fishable. It was a really tough morning on the fly with the sun breaking through the cloud cover. The Grayling Society were out on the neighbouring stretch and the chaps trotting were doing a lot better than the fly men, ie they were catching!
So after two hours freezing my nads off I tried a slower stretch of the beat and bingo, a fish! I did not see one other fish caught by a fly angler, perhaps they did not have the STS.
Nice one Glen!

Dove grayling taken on a pink STS

Scropton

  

 This afternoon I went off to Scropton as the weather is still quite mild so I was hoping for a barbel. There were a few other anglers tempted out by the conditions on a January afternoon despite it being horrendous underfoot, the banks are a sea of mud. I managed to take two winter chub the one above being a real lunker.

Happy New Year

This Xmas holiday has got to be the wettest I can remember with barely a day passing before our already swollen rivers get topped up. The fields are also saturated but it was nice today to see some winter sun. We decided to take the dogs up to Etwall with the prospect of a quick outdoor pint at the Spread Eagle.

 It was a quick pint as well but well earned after one of the first fields we had to cross was a complete quagmire. The temperature was soon felt as well after stopping, it is only 1st January. The dogs really enjoyed their run but I'm afraid it was bath time when we returned. Freddy the younger spaniel is already showing his instincts diving into the undergrowth to see what he can flush out. Barney, the blue roan, is far more stately now at only two and half years and is quite happy just to amble up to the pub with the prospect of a treat.