Sandbagged!

Sandbagged!
Photograph by Steve Barnett

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Walk on by...?

That might be OK for Dionne Warwick but you can miss out on some astonishing opportunites if you forget yourself and wander by water that at first glance would not be worth your effort.  In a healthy river there are very few places where there will be no fish.  Some tiny pockets will only hold small fish but it is a source of constant surprise just how often there will be exceptions to that "rule".  Yesterday I was a privileged guest on a section of my mother river a few miles upstream from my usual haunts.  It was a very stimulating and pleasant change.  The tuning in process naturally takes longer on an unfamiliar water.  The senses are heightened as it is now even more important to practice the three basic principles before I can become a resident and not merely a marauding visitor.

It worked.  It always does.  Mine host ensured I had free reign and generously let me fish as and where I pleased at the pace to suit myself.  The result was a delightful time.  Here is one shot of one of the many, many interesting spots that all held fish and rewarded a few extra moments of contemplation and observation with closer contemplation of the wild brown trout and wild rainbow trout that the Derbyshire Wye is justly celebrated for.  It would have been very easy to just walk on by so many of these places.  Frankly I believe most folk do on this section, as it is something of a military training assault course.  It was worth the perspiration!

Back on home water, here is a fish that I have seen many anglers wander past never even imagining that such a large specimen could be found happily holding a constant station, day-in-day-out, in such a shallow pocket of water.  Look closely.  Can you can see why this is such a prized position for the fish?





Regular Rod



6 comments:

  1. Unusual for a fish to sit in such shallow water. The weed has little value as cover as I would expect the fish to bolt downstream into deeper water. That focus of flow is good for an inject breather and food will also be channeled to it.

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  2. It certainly is unusual but it has been sitting itself there most afternoons now for a good month. If I scare it it certainly scarpers quickly downstream to deeper and shaded water. The reason it is there has to be the food being channelled to it. The mouth is constantly chomping and the fish makes tiny sideways movements every few seconds as it intercepts undersurface food. It occasionaly tilts up and takes very small sedge flies. It's a project fish for someone for sure. Me? I'm just happy to watch it and to marvel at its adaptive behaviour and at how many anglers just Walk On By without noticing it...

    ;)

    Regular Rod

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good points,
    Look at his food source, and perhaps some cover.

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  4. Rod,
    I fish one particular dry fly for most of my small stream fishing.
    It's a Bomber pattern, it's posted on my blog.
    A thought, I'd like you to tie one up and give it a go on a favorite stream of yours.

    What do you think.

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  5. Hi Brk Trt

    Is this the pattern?

    'Ausable Bomber"
    Hook, Mustad 9671
    Thread, Hot Orange
    Tail, Woodchuck
    Body, Orange Austrailian Possum
    Wing, White Calftail
    Hackle, Brown and Grizzly

    I have no woodchuck, or orange Australian possum but I could find some similar hair perhaps from some of the bits and pieces I do have.

    The rest I do have.

    It looks to be a good mouthful.

    Regular Rod

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  6. Great Post. I used to walk by spots of water all the time. Now I leave no water untouched. Great pic of the fish just chilling there for both great food channeling and probably good source of oxygen with the fast water flow. Tight LInes.

    ReplyDelete