I couldn’t resist

I couldn’t resist a quick trip to the river on Sunday, and was surprised to find that a good few members had had the same idea.

Admittedly conditions looked good, water not too clear, no wind, and temperature somewhere around 3C. It was one of those days when it was actually possible to change the fly and even the leader without hands freezing.

Soon after I had started fishing I noticed some small grayling rising, which (for me at least) is a rare sight on the Frome in winter. I took off my nymph and switched to a dry fly, although past experience told me not to be too optimistic with this method. After I had covered the rise several times and had more or less given up hope, I completely missed the fish that took my small beige klinkhamer. So it was back to the nymph and whilst changing the fly a very large salmon leapt from the river right at my feet, which got my heart beating.

A small pheasant tail seemed to be the fly of the day, and in two different pools I lost two large grayling which both took the nymph very aggressively but each freed itself after a short but vigorous struggle in the current. The only fish I did get to hand were two much smaller grayling, which also hit the fly hard (but did not warrant a photo).

So the only picture for the day is the fallen beech tree by Bockhampton bridge, fortunately the gate and lock escaped unscathed. Some decent firewood, but more than I could carry.

All the best, Doug