A Tumble in the Jungle

Decided on one last trip to a local river yesterday. I hadn't fished it since late May, mainly because I find getting from pool to pool a real task when the undergrowth gets going also take in consideration the damage inflicted on waders with brambles and partly also because it's slow flat pools are perhaps more suited to early to mid season dry fly tactics.

My fears were justified , getting from pool to pool was a real task in the deep areas where you had to leave the river, I basically had to grasp a bunch of nettles and haul my self out the water and up the banking , my hands are still stinging. On another occasion I was trying to get past a junk yard stretch of the river which is full of Japanese knot weed forcing my way through I took a tumble down the banking , luckily my reaction was to let go off the rod at the top of the brae and also I stopped short of the river.

The fishing though was fantastic!Barely a rising trout to be seen all day , but in any piece of water with any defined current ,  even wee short shallow runs in the tails of pools , fish were to be had mainly to a wire nymph but a few took the dry.

A shallow dub  behind a  bush  which held  fish

 A few good fish were willing to take too , the best I landed was 1 3/4lb which put up a great fight , also   had good number in and just over the pound mark , and a few lost that may  have been bigger fish?

Even the minnows were hungry

1lb 12oz

the rivers were up this morning and with exceptionally heavy rain forecast for tonight , I've a sneaking suspicion that's going to be the last outing of the 2013 trout season, still there's plenty of other types of fish to go for during the winter season. Looking forward to it already.