Owing to endless rain and the consequentially swollen rivers I had not been fishing for over a month. But this lack of activity had at last really got to me and I thought I’d try a small river I know.
It was my hope that since it was not a grand watercourse, even if it was double its normal flow it would not be completely unfishable. So last week I slipped out of the house in the dark, caught a train and was at the waterside as the sun came up. The river was running very high and much faster than normal, but I thought it was worth trying.
The experience was odd and a spot I knew so well was very different, yet still familiar. If I can make a crude analogy it was like bumping into a good friend who’d spent a long afternoon in the pub. I fished all morning, but only landed three fish – a brace of grayling and a brown trout, though one that was a good size for the river. All seemed much larger, until netted, owing to the strength of the current. A couple of fish I hooked and lost seemed bigger still, but that too was probably due to the force of the flow. Many times I struck at what may have been bites or just the capricious effects of the swirling water.
Despite a strong sensation that something interesting was soon to happen, at midday I packed up, because Little Boots had some friends coming round for the afternoon. A jay scoffed at me from the treetops as I left the water, but it had been a good session I reflected as I strolled back to the railway station. I’d caught fish, good fish, spent a good few hours in air both fresh and filled with bird sound and flight. But what will make the memory linger is the overwhelming scent of Mahonia flowers from a single bush. Its smell pervaded the whole of the park I walked through on my way to and from the river.
Heady stuff.
(Apologies for the quality of the photo, but the light was quite murky twenty minutes before sun-up.)
January 27, 2013 at 7:43 pm
HI there, and thanks for the link to my blog! Mahonias are amazing aren’t they. We have one outside our front door that attacks, the postman, tradesmen and me when I’m doing the gardening. It is so spiky I have considered getting rid of it but all is forgiven when I see it laden with lovely yellow flowers in the deepest, darkest months of winter.
January 27, 2013 at 9:58 pm
My pleasure – I like your blog a lot.
Let me know if you come across campsites where there is fishing – river, pond or sea.
I’d also be interested to hear(read about) if/what you cook on your campfires.
January 28, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Yes, I have been meaning to do some campfire recipes, must get my finger out and get on with it! Will keep an eye out for fishing campsites!