Can It Get Any Better

My most excellent day began with a meeting at a secret location to stock 2500 grayling into the river Erewash at 2 strategically chosen places. The odds are very much stacked against these little diamonds but stranger things have happened. While I'm grateful of any positive move from the EA I'm not set on stocking and would have prefered they concentrated on working with us to improve habitat. Better stihl (get it) throwing in the odd chainsaw or relevant training for river restoration for the REF members who really deserve a medal for their attempts. I feel this might be efforts better rewarded for the future of the Erewash. Anyway needless to say I'll be watching for these little ladies future but now for a mad dash to the Lathkill for lunch in the fishing hut followed by the finest fishing imaginable - happy days.

Today was the day for my summer visit to the Lathkill and according to my time is right meter, the ground should have hardened a little to save squelching about all day and the levels should be near perfect in that respect I was bang on the money. I opened up the hut to freshen things a little as this beat is rarely fished in comparison to Derbyshires usual suspects. After setting the kelly up I browsed over paradise, deep in thought at how best to take on the difficult wild browns of the Lathkill, not an easy prospect for any angler in my opinion, real wild fishing at its finest.

Trugg and wild flowers galore all gathered around peering into this wonderful crystal clear stream, proving as sensational as ever, but it took a couple of hours to get in tune to match the challenge of the fishing. You really have to step up your approach and use a little thought before success comes here, mind you watching these gorgeous trout scupper away gives immense pleasure itself to the avid trout lover and brings about some wild laughter to boot. It wasn't long before my tally began to grow after catching specimens like the perfect brown above, colours,spots and a body to die for and the picture speaks volumes.

After a tea-break being sure to give the river a wide birth I made my way to the bottom of the beat to fish my way back and before long I found myself sat on a wooden bridge soaking in the Lathkill experience. In my observations and the use of my long net I easily swooped up BWO's duns graciously drifting downstream as they came of the water and then spinners going the opposite direction moving more like Sugar Ray Leneord. Sedge was my key to success through the day as they were also in numbers with various types. What self respecting angler wouldn't want to hang his wellies off that wooden bridge looking onto paradise, however noticing a couple of rises upstream eventually got my big but creeping about again in search of a few more golden nuggets.

Although predominantly browns here I did get an amazing fight from this spotty missile and have you ever seen a finer wild rainbow, living proof that size isn't everything. By now I'd lost count of how many and was on cloud 9 and as slow as possible making my way back to civilisation after not crossing a soul all day - yipee.

Sure enough there was some superb spinner action late on, bringing even more pleasure to my trip with a few like the brown below, things couldn't be better but eventually the barn owl blew his whistle, calling time on a most memorable day and I recieved the usual escort back to the hut from the Lathkill bats.