Having been in contact (well pestering the life out of him with my questions!) with a gentlemen who goes by the name of "Northeast Fly Fisherman" known to me now as "Steve!" We decided to meet up on the River as we both hold Season Permits, Check out his website at http://www.northeastflyfisherman.co.uk/ .
Having been informed by Steve, Whilst he was at Allansford that he caught a dozen or so brownies. I decided i'd try my "luck".
Around 8:30am I arrived at Allansford and headed down to the water, I was taking my time and keeping a very close watch on the water to see if I could see any fish rising, I didn't in the first couple of pools but then I got to this one just down from the rapids, I seen one jump right out of the water!.
I struggled to see what he was after so I tied on a Size 14 Grey Duster, I applied a dab of the famous floatant Gink! and began to gently cast, Towards where the fish had risen, I had no luck for the first 30mins, Then I heard another splash, I managed to do one of those casts in which you think "That was a beauty!" landed exactly where I wanted it! I retrieved very slowly and all of a sudden I seen a fish go for my fly, I striked but it was either too late or too early! Either way I couldn't hook the bugger. I had a few more casts and lost abit of faith I headed up to my car feeling disappointed!.
I decided to head to my beloved Eddys Bridge, I keep on coming back to this spot as it was the place where I caught my first River Derwent "Broonie", Just a small one as you'v seen in previous posts but by hell there fun! I kept my rod set up in my car with the Grey Duster on.
I parked up in a farmers field (With Permission!) And had a steady walk over Eddy's Bridge and turned right down towards the water, There was nettles the size of giants!, And wasps the size of eagles! (slight exaggeration there..) I waded to the other side of the River, It was almost unrecognizable with the heavy overgrowth.
Despite the weather being really hot and the sun gleam my favorite pool never fails to disappoint! I seen 3 or 4 fish rising in the small area but nothing fancied my Grey Duster up here, I sat for ten - fifteen mins to see if they would rise again, having been spooked by my casting, There was the odd rise but nothing special, I recieved a message from the "Northeast Fly Fisherman" saying he was on his way.
He arrived, We had a introductory chat and decided to head downstream to a few spots Steve knew, I let him lead the way, After ducking under tree's and adventuring through those "giant nettles" we arrived at our first spot.
I tried a few unsuccessful casts then it was Steve's turn, As you could see it was hard fishing due to the weather and tree's!. We had no luck so far, Hardly even seen a rise but we carried on, Walking further downstream. Despite the overgrowth the walk was fantastic and Steve was sharing some of the great knowledge he was on this river and fly fishing in general.
We spotted a rise just under the tree to the left there, I made my way into the water doing a few roll casts, Not paying too much attention due to the lost faith, A fish went for my fly but AGAIN I failed to hook, This was becoming a common issue for me as the day went on.
Steve wondered off downstream and I heard a really loud whistle!, I was confused and didn't know where to look? I waited around 10mins untill Steve came back upstream towards me and he said with a grin that he had caught a brownie! nothing special in size but it gave me abit of hope again.
Time was getting on and we decided to have an hour or two back at Allansford on the way home. I am pleased I did!
We headed back to the pools I missed out earlier on in the morning and Steve managed to land a couple! and I of course, missed a couple also.
We seen a few fish jumping further upstream so we continued our pursuit of trout and proceeded to walk upstream, The sun had gone in for the moment but it was still really hot.
We arrived at our last pool of the day and first cast! Steve hooked yet another! bringing his tally to 5 landed for the day.
I was targeting in between the rocks in the middle of the current, Finally I seen and felt a fish! I landed it soon as I could, Very pleased!
It was a fantastic day and I thank Steve for his advice and showing me some more great spots on this brilliant River. My tally for the day was Missed Takes : 5 and Landed : 1.
Not bad due to the weather!
Take Care and Thank You for reading.
