Sandbagged!

Sandbagged!
Photograph by Steve Barnett

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Rewards

Today was all about rewards.  Being selfish I decided to reward myself with an afternoon off to go-a-fishing.  Henry deserved a reward for being Henry so he came too.  The flies rewarded me by appearing in their multitudes for an hour or two.  The fish rewarded me for...


Applying those three principles that you know I keep going on and on about...

Reconnaissance suggested where the fish are so I went there...


and sat down to be stealthy and to observe.  Up there, by that angled dead stalk, in the middle, right at the water's edge... 


there was a rise by way of a reward for sitting low...


Then there was another!  I was being rewarded even more.


So a cast was made and the third reward came in the form of the first fish of the day.  The snap will come in handy in remembering this fish when it has grown a little bit bigger. 

Those "one, two, three, space, four, five, big space, six" spots behind the left gill are distinctive enough to recognise if they are ever seen again.


So it went on for a good two hours or so.  Henry wasn't bored because we kept moving on.  He still wants to retrieve the fish and is still amazed when I let them go, but he, like me, was happy to be out by the river and that was the biggest reward and good enough for the both of us.




Regular Rod


13 comments:

  1. Nice picture of Henry, he looks like a sweet dog

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    1. He has his moments! Spaniels have been bred to exaggerate the wolf's natural instinct to hunt. Persuading him not to "hunt" for a while is tricky. I cringe at the severity of my tones of voice when I insist that he obeys me under such trying conditions for him as being out in the wide world, surrounded with birds, mammals and even fish to hunt and his pack leader says that he must not...

      Regular Rod

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  2. It's always special when you can identify a trout a second...or even third time. And the Henry pic is lovely. What a companion to always be "happy to be out by the river" with.

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    1. You certainly "get it" Erin. Catch and Release really has shown that wild fish are too precious to be caught only once. Warren blog has a delightful example.

      http://141207.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/too-good-to-be-caught-once.html

      Henry is a handful sometimes so he is not "always" out by the river with me. A full day would be torture for him. Surrounded by temptation all day long and not being allowed to pick up anything at all.

      Regular Rod

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  3. I like the idea of id'ing the fish from spotting patterns and recording their growth etc.

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    1. A modest fish like this, which was confident enough to hold such a good feeding station, suggests to me that it is, either going to do well and be with us long enough to grow on, or else being exposed like this it might fall foul of a predator. It is after all part of a food chain...

      In either case the convenience of a small digital camera comes in handy to quickly record its markings.

      We shall see...

      Regular Rod

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  4. Good advise. And wonderful results.

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    1. Thank you Brk Trt. I'm glad you liked it.

      Regular Rod

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  5. Idyllic afternoon, very well spent! What was the fly?

    Best

    Hugh

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    1. It was the Grey Duster Hugh on a size 14 hook. The naturals were a mix of Olive Uprights and Large Dark Olives. It is still winter as far as the Large Dark Olives are concerned this year. They are usually finished by now. The cold weather seems to have extended their season, which, hereabouts, is normally from the last week or so of September through to the first week of May. It IS an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

      http://dryflyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/09/parentheses.html

      Regular Rod

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  6. Wonderful and beautiful river. I envy you...and Henry.

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    1. Thank you Howard! Henry and I are to be envied indeed...

      Well most of the time we are anyway.

      Regular Rod

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  7. Great post. Love the idea of trout identity. I also had a great day out on the river Test on Wednesday. Love the picture of your dog.

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