“Sort of” end of season review

Well it would seem that the second half of the season has started in very similar vein to the first half, really mild temperatures for the time of year, little or no rain and plenty of fish to show for my troubles

 

 

Septembers most notable point was a harsh lesson learnt, spotting a fish rising just opposite the caravan park (14^th September for full report) I had a hook up and a good fish was on the line, pulling my rod hard and bending it to the water, then ping! nylon snapped mid stream…I did have a break off three weeks or so earlier but hadn’t checked my nylon, two very good fish lost for the sake of checking…. never again, new nylon start if ever season from now on.

 

Last trip of the trout season was (another) really good session though I fished the Winlaton stretch and moved a big fish just above high dam , I remember seeing the bow wave as he went after my fly then next cast he got it  a nice fish of around 14” came to the net after a decent tussle in shallowish water.

 

October is normally a pretty slow month for me everything seem to be winding down for winter, this year was a little different though, first weekend in October I had one of my best days on the River again fishing the Winlaton stretch.. from the stone bridge down over, plenty of takes and fish throughout the short session culminating in what I think was the biggest grayling I have taken, he was around 16-17” and estimated at about 1¾lb very nice and certainly a PB for me.

 

Not to be outdone though the very next week I high sticked it all the way down past butterfly bridge and lashed a mighty 22 fish out in a couple of hours.. good fun , all smallish fish but constant action using a different method to what I usually use.

 

 

One day that stood out was a trip early November, mild and usual low river levels, a trip I decided to have a bit of an explore up past the Caravan park at Rowland’s Gill.  Starting a bit downstream of my usual spot I hooked a very nice out of season of about 12” who fought like an absolute demon, taking line from my reel and making a couple of spectacular jumps along the way , before finding his way to my net.

 

Then out on the bend of the river near where the pipe comes in to the river I saw a fish rising, 3 casts later and I was into another good fish again a brownie, a stock fish this time (I think) a different almost more considered fight from him mainly deep and ponderous another one big enough for the net though coming in around 15-16” a stonking fish , carefully handled in the water as he recovered before he headed back to his lair. I will be back for this one come the trout season.

 

I did have a walk right around the bend past the imposing cliffs and there are some very nice runs around this part of the water, worth of a day out all on their own at some point during the winter I think.

 

December and January were quiet months on the fishing front with only a few trips to my name during this time, pretty hard going they were too, one of which resulted in a blank day , thankfully a rarity this season, only my second of the season if my memory severs me right, the other trip during this period was also difficult going although I was saved by the tree pool late in the day and was “rewarded” with a small but very welcome grayling about an hour before home time, fishing this time of  year really makes you appreciate the warm mid Summer days when it is  wall to wall fish.

 

So that’s about it for another year, yes I will still get out most weekends between now and the start of the trout season but that’s the season just about it. A really excellent season back on the Derwent, some cracking fish almost from start to finish, PB Grayling…twice this year and only two blanks to my name all season. Still not managed to bump in to many other folk on the river…I will certainly be joining this club again next year…cannot wait