Well what a day I've had

4 July 2012 | Deano

I went on my local river Don today and had a fantastic day. It was one of those days where everything came together and everything i did was right.

I arrived around 11am not knowing if the river would be ok or not as we've had quite a bit of rain over the last few days. Not so much constant but quite heavy when they arrived. After poking my head over the bridge i could see the river was in tip top shape and looking very inviting.

I couldn't see anything rising so I set up my trusty "french Leader" system on my steamflex plus 9ft 6" rod. I went with a 2lb tippet and 2 flies. My flies of choice were a 2.5mm silver beaded Sakasa Kaberi on the point a 2.0mm quill bodied skinny nymph with a CDC hackle on the dropper.

I was fishing water I hadn't fished for a while and I knew it wasn't one of the most prolific bits of river but I fancied a challenge rather than walk to the parts of the river that were "nailed on". So I started to fish........ 3rd cast I was into a nice little brownie on the point. The fish in this river as so pristine and beautiful and this one was no exception. Stunning markings and fought like a fish twice its size....... Good Start!

After the rain we'd had I was still fishing in skinny, rocky water. Water I had fished differing methods with over the last couple of years with reasonable success. What I hadn't done is fished said water with the "French Leader" system. I think today for the first time it really proved to me what a fantastic method it is. Yes i had already thought it was a cracking, versatile method but I hadn't realised just how much it allowed me to delicately present my flies...... at range...... to spooky fish that with any other method would have known i was coming. Maybe i've just started to fish the method really well but it just seemed I could do no wrong today and I know that was down to the method. It seems stupid to say but I kind of felt "at one" with the method and the river today....... even taking a brief moment to like it to the moment in the "Karate Kid" when Miyagi is getting Daniel to "wax on wax off"............. silly I know but it just felt like that. I was getting fish from the most unlikely of places and every place I thought there would be a fish........ there was!

The only reason I stopped fishing was because I got a "double hook up" with a grayling on the point and a trout on the dropper......it doesn't get much better than that so that saw me packing away for the day. Life doesn't get much better than being on a beautiful river in perfect conditions with a set up that works and flies that catch fish. I didn't see another person throughout my session. All I had for company were the birds, the bees and some of the most beautiful fish you could ever wish to come across. Numbers of fish don't really matter on a day like today so lets say they were plentiful. Tight Lines

Deano