Still there is more to fishing, especially dry fly fishing, than catching fish so maybe this blog can still be worth writing and (please) worth reading?
At this time of year, if you have not already, you really should be doing something about what the Victorians called "Gaining leave to fish". By this they meant gaining access to fishing via permission, booking day tickets, joining a club, renting or even buying a water.
The first time your blogger essayed into high quality dry fly fishing was by staying at the Peacock Hotel at Rowsley in Derbyshire in June 1969. In those days, being a resident at the hotel qualified you to buy a day ticket to fish the Derbyshire Wye on the Haddon Estate. It was resident's only back then and the season didn't start until May 15th!
Today you can buy a day ticket to fish this lovely water AND/OR you can join the Peacock Fly Fishing Club and fish just about whenever you like. It's a great saving and makes really learning this 8 miles of river a feasible proposition with all the advantages that brings to your chances of success. These days the club offers not just the fishing on the Derbyshire Wye, but includes the lower reaches of the crystal clear river Lathkill, all of the river Bradford and four glorious miles of the Derbyshire Derwent.
The other thing you should be doing at this time of year is some wandering by your chosen river in fascinating reconnaissance. Here is the sort of thing that reveals itself to you on such visits without a rod:
The above clips show the process of the river being allowed to grade itself again for the first time in over a century. The weir is no longer holding back the flow. The weir is no longer holding back the fish! New habitat is being created...
Here is the next pool down river shortly after some high water. The power of what can seem a gentle and tame river is revealed here. Hundreds of tons of gravel have been picked up, deposited, profiled and graded. If salmon ever find their way up here this will make a fine nuptial bed...
Your blogger is one happy angler who is looking forward to learning this "new" bit of river and how to fish it. Roll on All Fool's Day!
Regular Rod
Nice to hear from you again!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark.
DeleteRR
It is nice to hear from you again. Is the weir that has been removed the one down stream of Black Barn by about 200 yards?
ReplyDeleteIt's not been removed, just notched a little. It's the Black Barn Weir. You should see the lovely braiding upstream of the lip. The keepers here are verging on the edge of genius. The mind boggles at the increase of life that is going to ensue here in the next few years. I wish every weir in the land was down, crushed into gravel and put to the benefit of the rivers and their inhabitants.
DeleteRR
Good to hear from you again. Please don't give up on the blog as you say sometimes we do tend to repeat but each post we do hopefully give our followers an idea of what fishing in our county is like, probably the best there is! I also feel my blog is a bit repetitive but I do use it as a diary these days instead of a hardcopy hence mentioning numbers as we have to provide a return for Chatsworth. Regards, Colin
ReplyDeleteBaslowfisher
at 17:26
That is very kind of you to say. Encouragement is the elixir of life!
DeleteRR
I am glad you have returned. I enjoy the blog and learn a lot too. I was worried there might not be any more posts. I kept checking back in hope. All best Jim
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back at it Rod. I was missing my UK buddy. That is some beautiful water, especially at the end. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasure to hear from you again.
ReplyDeletePatrick
As a relative newcomer to dry fly fishing, your blog has been very enjoyable and an invaluable source of useful information. Please do keep going! Regards, Joe.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe!
DeleteRR