Winter Dry Fly

I hadn’t been out fishing for weeks, it was never quite right – too windy, too cold, too lazy!! Today I was going even if it was snowing!!

I started fishing with two small nymphs and quickly lost them stuck on an underwater rock, this provided me with the pleasure of re-tackling with numb hands – great fun! I fished this small pool and again I lost my flies… So this time I just tied on one larger heavier fly and off I went again. First drift down and I had a fish on, netted it and looked and couldn’t believe what I was looking at – my single fly had tangled with one of my previously lost flies and the grayling was attached to the other fly – result, flies retrieved and a grayling as well.

I had a few more on the single nymph and hands & feet had gone into the numb stage when there at the head of the pool was a splashy rise! There was a very mini hatch happening, large dark olives hatching in the lunchtime gloom! A Jenny Wren was also enjoying the hatching flies.

Switching to a dry fly meant removing my nymph leader replacing it with my dry fly leader, was it worth it I thought. But when three fish rose at the same time I was soon ferreting in my bag!

I tied on a CDC plume and to my surprise I was quickly catching grayling on a dry fly in February!!

Here is what was hatching and it also shows I really do need to buy a new line!!