Dovedale to Lovers Leap

After a rough night with one kid coughing every few seconds and one of the others throwing up, you could say I was a little worse for wear this morning. I answered the phone to be told work was off the agenda today so you guessed what popped into my mind instantly, fishing. Strangely enough I found a spring in my step and I was flying down the A52 making my way to Dovedale.
On arrival the car park was almost empty so a relatively quiet weekday was on the cards, a real bonus as sometimes Joe public can become a bit of a nuiscance always hanging around in your backcast. The Dove was in good condition with just a hint of colour in the deeper swims but running well. Knowing the river had been stocked recently, I had a good walk to Lovers Leap before starting to fish, just to avoid catching a million fresh stockies which had been put in near the carpark. There were a few LDO's coming off but no fish rising, so I decided it was going to be a nymph day. I soon made contact, and began catching a few browns in the faster swims using my River Criminals and Check Nymphs.

After filling my boots for a few hours I wondered what the stocked fish were like, and how fast they would move upstream, so I walked back to try and locate them. Quickly as I neared the carpark I began catching the little fat buggers, one after the other and I must admit they were fine stocked fish, although there was a huge difference from the fish I'd caught upstream, in fact so much that I have put pictures of both below for you to make your own opinions.

As often is the case, a last minute fishing trip turns out to be a great one, and today was no exception. Although I voted to go wild on this stretch of the Dove this season, its still a fantastic venue to fish and I'm a lucky man to fish there.