Had a few hours out on the River Dee yesterday following a nice rise in river levels a few days earlier. The water was sitting at 1ft 1in when I arrived and it maintained a steady height for most of the time I was there. The water was carrying a dark peat stain and this seemed to keep the fish down but there were in the mood to take a fly. Due to the heavy peat colour and extra water I opted to fish my 15ft Guideline AWM with a Guideline PT Scandi H/I/S1 shooting head with a 10ft 5ips versi leader on the business end. Fly of choice for most of the day was a copper sunray.
Having had a few hits to my fly during the first part of the morning I finally managed to land a small grilse about 11.30am. The coloured cock fish would have been lucky to make 3lb. It was maybe the smallest fish in the pool but it was very welcome. A fish is a fish after all.
Despite the constant doom and gloom which seems to be surrounding the salmon fishing at the moment, on a personal level I am picking away not too badly at all and with the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season usually being the most productive, I'm hopeful it will be a strong finish for me. If these water levels hang around for a while and get the fish moving then I think there is a good day or two to be had.
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| A small River Dee grilse which took a liking to my fly yesterday. |
Despite the constant doom and gloom which seems to be surrounding the salmon fishing at the moment, on a personal level I am picking away not too badly at all and with the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season usually being the most productive, I'm hopeful it will be a strong finish for me. If these water levels hang around for a while and get the fish moving then I think there is a good day or two to be had.
