Milldale

After being rained off for sometime this morning I decided to fish the Dove no matter if I had to use a dingy to do so. I arrived to find the river running high but the clarity was reasonable and I spotted fish moving instantly so my optimism was sky high and after all I was desperate to fish.

With the season nearing an end, I hoped to have success with dryfly and this proved to be the case, although I spoke to a couple of chaps below Viators Bridge that were nymphing for some reason, even with fish rising around them as we spoke. Anyway I decided to walk down to Lovers Leap and fish my way back instead of overlapping with these chaps all day, and with this beautiful morning, I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll.

As usual my Larrys Pride (Balloon Caddis Variation) proved successful on the Dove and along with an Elk Sedge was all I needed all day to keep catching fish. Her Majesty seemed to be full of fish today and the handful of stockies dropped in this year seem to have all but disappeared, with only one showing in today's catch. The standard of Trout today was extremely high and all held fantastic condition, markings and colouration and the fins on this trout below were amazing.

As the end of my day neared I met Alex Swan off the Fly Forums making his way to the river. He proved a real gent, taking the time for a chat, even though he only had a few hours light to go at. I would have happily conversed all night but he clearly needed his fix and I fully understood, so he went on his merry way. The end result was a couple of grayling and plenty of trout and although I started the day like a bull at the gate, by lunchtime it turned into an - all the time in the world kind of day, true bliss.