Dovedale

16 Dec 2007

Today I took the beautiful walk from Milldale to IIam Rock alongside a lovely stretch of the River Dove. Being the first time I'd fished this stretch meant it was a case of strolling along, then wetting my line where I fancied there might be fish, or two. The scenery is nothing short of stunning making this venue a spectacular place to fish, during todays walk I would be joined by memories of family walks on a Sunday afternoon, and a thought crossed my mind, being the swines we were as kids, we probably niggled many flyfishermen some 30 odd years ago!

The ice never thawed on this freezing day, so there was never going to be a repeat of history involving rowdy kids, for only the hardiest of walkers would venture out in this cold weather, leaving me with peace and quiet.

I chose my 10ft Streamflex for nymphing which proved useful on the day, although it can be a hinderence at times with overhanging trees everywhere. I caught 2 grayling in the first swim I chose, and I knew early on this was going to be a good day. I used a combination of smallish (size16) gold head hares ears combinations with tungsten beads, the weight helps to quickly present the fly in the right area (the river bed) when the river is slightly fast.

Towards the end of the day I met Arthur Wellersley (Fly Forums) who is a regular here. Kev offered his knowledge and a little advice of this stretch, which made me realise I'd not gone far enough to find the real lunkers - but there's always tomorrow and Rome wasn't built in a day. The end result was a very happy flyfisherman who had caught 11 beautiful grayling in some of the most beautiful settings imaginable. Even in winter, Dovedale could never be described as bleak.