Updated the river fly diary page for April

Just updated the River fly diary page - at last. Sorry too busy fishing and allotmenting!

The Mergansers are on the river too! This grayling escaped the clutches of one of them.
A little luckier than the 10" rainbow which, whilst being netted by David on the Derbyshire Wye, was attacked by a fish somewhat larger than it. Thus becoming (in the words of Peter Arfield) an ex-rainbow. Now was it a pike that took this fish? David thought it was a very large brown. There are pike in the Derwent, so what is to stop them heading up into the Wye? Any thoughts?

A sunny day by the river in April

Ok so I had just enjoyed a week in Mallorca walking in the high stony areas with lots of sunshine and swimming in a cold sea, but to return to sunshine and flyfishing on the beautiful Lathkill was quite perfect.

I know they say the sunshine puts the fish off, but the effect of the sun on me whilst wandering along the river puts a very positive spin on the day ahead. Thus I arrived on the Derbyshire Lathkill - knowing it would be a good day. Not a lot of fly life, but the fish came up to the fly.

The colouring of a wild trout is quite amazing to observe. Generally they go back in to the river with such speed it isn't until I look at the pictures that I see the markings. If you enlarge the picture you will see the adipose fin (that little one near the tail) is red. Also the base line of the tail is marked by a red line. And those spots - beautiful.
And yes, I enjoyed my day fly fishing the Lathkill.
And when I get time I will post the flies that caught the fish on the River Diary page. But not tonight - and maybe not tomorrow - as I intend fishing the Wye!

April 1st 2015. A rainy start to the trout fly fishing season on the Derbyshire Wye

We seem to have been having April showers through March, so April 1st was no exception. Between, sometimes heavy, showers and gusting wind I managed to catch a few fish on the River Lathkill.
I had made a fortunate choice, as the River Wye was closed after such heavy rain. Though most of the Lathkill was difficult to fish.

The water was up to the top of the arches of the bridge. Some yukky scum had made its way into this beautiful river too. But it was a little calmer than the rest of the river. In fact to the left of this pool, by the weir the current was a little vicious, making the fly drag quite quickly.
I tackled up with my 7 foot 4 weight rod and 7 foot (Luke Bannister) Stu Crofts style, furled leader and a quite short, 2 foot, 6X Rio tippet. It cast precisely and well in spite of the wind - though of course, I did pause when the gusts were extreme!
The fish I caught were most beautifully coloured. This picture is the second fish I caught and quite small. But the larger fish were also highly spotted with red. I also noted on all the fish the rear top small fin was a deep magneta red. Also a red line along the base of the tail fin.

A beautiful fish, caught on a barbless fly and quickly returned to the river. See the River diary page for the flies that caught the fish.