A sweltering session last night on my beloved River Arrow , hot even at six in the evening when i parked up at the bridge pull in . Plenty of water on board , waders on , tackled up my ususal six foot wild stream rod , and walked back down the road to the start of the beat …… pffffffftttttt , even that was hard going !!!! Not so much the heat , but getting pestered by incoming horse flies , soooooooooo glad i sprayed on some jungle formula before leaving home . They seem attracted initially by movement , then home in for the bare skin and the dreaded bite . Its actually quite fasinating how they bite , its more of a cutting action into the skin … but as we all know can be very painful , especially a couple of hours later !!!!!
Anyway , three good fish on , and lovely rises to my dry Adams , and slipped the hook , dooooh , i thought to myself its going to be one of those evenings , but i eventually had lady luck on my side , and brought the first tubby , beautifully ,marked Arrow brownie to the net , all the fish tonight weren’t huge , and in the seven to eleven inch range id say . Rises were sporadic and in the usual places i know so well here . Local knowledge is everything on a river , and if you do know it like the back of your hand , it really does help ………. a lot !!!!
Lovely to see mayfly still , doing their last dance , enjoying the summers evening , their simple beautiful lives close to an end . But enjoying it , if they happen to not dwell for too long on the waters surface . Ephemera Danica is truly a magnificent insect on the wing …. she epitomises everything thats sedate about our sport …. a hero , just for one day ….
A lovely session , a tad warm i must say , but managed six beauties to the net , its hard to beat here in the height of Summer , along with the usual wildlife , a roe buck and a kingfisher made an appearance , and close too ……. superb . A gentle ,timeless evening in the beautiful Arrow valley ….. lifes good sometimes hey !
