Bank holiday success

Trips to the river have been few and far between this season for various reasons and up until today I had only managed a couple of short sessions.

The river has been up and down a fair bit recently due to the unsettled weather. Andy had the first fish off our lower beat just over a week ago. A lovely fresh fish caught in the fast water in a lovely looking spot created by the winter floods.

I arrived at our top beat with high hopes as the river was dropping nicely after a rise of 16cms. The clarity was good and it all looked perfect. After only a few casts I was into a fish, it felt a little slow one dour and my suspicions were correct when i drew a pike of about 8 lb over the net. i had a couple more casts in the main body of the pool before making a cast in the neck of the pool which was met with a solid take. This felt altogether different to the pike and moments later the bright flash of silver confirmed that I was into my first salmon of the season and also my first from the top end of our upper beat. After a spirited battle and the usual shouting at the dog a lovely fresh hen fish of about  10lb was returned.

I continued to fish my way up to the top of the beat but didn't see any more fish but I was more than happy to be off the mark. I can now settle down and enjoy my season although with a new born baby son I don't think i'll be getting out too much. Roll on fathers day, I'm sure I can justify a long day on the bank and maybe find a fish or two!