Manifold

After a morning in Manchester I stopped at the Manifold for a few hours on my way home and seeing as though my tackle was in the boot it would have been rude not to.
I suspected the recent rainfall would have topped the river up nicely and apart from a splash of colour I was bang on the money. The overgrown grass and wild flowers showed the venue to be virtually unfished lately, so a quick stroll downstream to fish back up.

I tried a few favorite patterns but found my Larries Pride and other sedge patterns the order of the day, in fact in my experience its usually LDO's or sedges for success on the Manifold. I noticed a few rising fish and picked off a few beautiful little browns. The undergrowth proved heavy going in chesties and theres always plenty of hurdles along the Manifold.

I spent 3 hours in solitude and for the first time I seriously considered whether to tie corks around my Viet Cong hat when I got home - bloody flies everywhere. I was fishing a pool when I stupidly tried to grab one step too many and found myself plunging into the abyss,performing a cross between doggy paddle and treading water. Once I got my breath back I clambered up the bank to ring my clobber out while killing myself laughing, what a pirrock.

I tried my best to fish on but after one more brownie I crawled my way back to the car, wet through and covered in flies. I then drove home in my wet grundy's receiving a few stares from Joe Public, especially moving through Derby City Centre - get in there.