Much anticipated return to Tim's syndicate stretch of the River Dove, this time with the the trotting rod and a pint of maggots. Earlier in the year Tim had had several grayling over 40cm on the fly, including a personal best of 2lb 9oz. Arrived at the venue in thick fog with the thermometer showing minus 7 degrees! However, by the time Tim turned up the sun had started to break through and we were soon working up a bit of a sweat, slogging across the field through the snow to the river. Started just downstream of one of the weirs on the section. After trotting down a nice glide for half an hour without any indications, I moved upstream slightly and found a pocket of fish hanging just off the main flow near the weir itself.
Tim in the hotspot
In the next couple of hours I took ten grayling and a bonus brownie from the spot, all of which went like the clappers, twisting and turning in the clear water. Most of the fish were males and in great condition. Seven of them were over the pound mark, with the biggest at 1lb 15oz. Not quite the two pounder, but a fantastic fish. Tim had a similar number, again with a trout thrown in.
So close!
We did move downstream to try a couple more spots. However, arriving at the next swim to find your centrepin frozen solid is probably telling you something, so we decided to quit while we were ahead! Hopefully, next time Tim will have worked out how to light his Kelly Kettle.......
