Matt Wolstenholme reports…
Darrel and I set off for the far bank, on his hot tip that fish were sitting under the water intake towers and into the dam wall. The wind was blowing and the drift fast. That, coupled with casting into a bright sun, made it hard going. Two drifts, and then one further out through the middle, produced nothing. By 11 a.m. we’d drifted through most of the lower half of the water for no return. Diawls on washing lines, hoppers, hare’s ears and blobs – all sorts getting used. Lines changed, from 3 ft and 5 ft tips, through to Di5 and I even tried my Di7, which proved harder to control than normal with the wind 20+ by now. A fish finally came to the Di7 on the hang, on a single orange squirmy, right by the boat, so it was in the net before it and I knew what had happened. Just a wee stocky rainbow, but off the mark.
Nothing else was happening and, with the wind making boat control challenging, we took a chance to head right up the top and start from the entrance of the brook. The drift took us all the way down the middle and although flies and lines changed back and forth we ended up down near the boat house for no action whatsoever. For the last couple of hours we settled on a drift down the near bank, just outside the Sauna. The wind had slowed just enough to keep a steady drift, and a 10 ft midge-tip with 2 cormorants and a small sized cat’s whisker helped me pick 2 stockies and a nicer 3 lb Rainbow. Darrel also scored on these drifts, picking up 2 on a black rabbit lure pulled from the depths of his fly box, having not seen the water for a good few seasons.
Ed. On a tough day, Matt and Darrel’s 6 was top boat, with only 14 fish for 12 rods.
