What a Weekend – Sunday Sleep Debt

My head was pounding as I had only around a few hours sleep and was threatening to turn into a migraine – that happens when I go into sleep debt. However if I wanted the car I had to drop the wife off at her work. I wore my nightwear in the car for that extra 10mins zzzz

Sunday

Sunday was an altogether different kettle of fish. I decided on the trout again and mid morning drove to a spot on the Clyde. This was going to be a lazt sloooooow day.

Walking down the river to where I was going to start there is some deep slow water – this water hardly has a current and is very difficult to wade as you send ripples coursing across the whole area which spooks all the fish. You know there are fish there as you can see them – enormous ones. They have got that big from being spooky and being careful about what comes near them. So I stood watching them rise for a while and tried to work out the best way to tackle them – it was then that I noticed the otter playing around in the water. It was totally oblivious of me – or if it did see me was still quite safe enough to know that this big lumbering brute was in no way going to catch it – I watched it for several minutes heading and tailing and generally eating all my fish before it decided to disappear.

I walked further downstream. I started at a long slow run with several trout rising – again these fish are spooky. I think it may be a combination of the slow water with depth – this gives the trout plenty of time to inspect your fly – obviously mine was not up to the job. I noticed this fly on my rod…

I am not 100% sure what it is – you cannot really tell from my photo but it was very red in colour – maybe one of you guys will shed some light on it…

Later I came to the spot where I caught one of my big trout yesterday – it was at a crease at the top of the pool where the water runs in from the next pool up. Just to the right there is a little slack water where that trout sat yesterday – I decided to put on a dry and dropper again and had a few casts. Pretty quickly I was into a good trout – leaping and cart wheeling around the pool – although something was strange. The trout looked as if it had been foul hooked. I netted the trout and inspected it – the trout had taken my nymph as it was firmly in the scissors however the mono for the nymph had snapped – somehow the dry fly had stuck in the side of the fish -I think it was because the trout was doing so much rolling. I took a photo of the trout and measured it as I was pretty certain this was the same trout as yesterday – just a smidgen under 15inches. Later when I compared photos it is definitely the same trout – it has unusual markings towards the back of its body.

Have a look at the photo above and compare it to the one on Saturday….you can tell by the markings near the rear of the trout…

I cast again and once more I was into another good trout – I was enjoying this – I quickly netted this one without mishap…..slightly smaller than the first…

I fished up the river without getting another take or offer. My head was fairly pounding by this point so I reckoned a walk up to the slow water was on the cards. When I got there the trout were still rising and some were quite close in. I got through the bushes to find he water was not as deep as I had first thought. I got in the water; I could not see what the trout were taking although there were some olives generally flittering around. I decided (unwisely) on some shock tactics and floated a comparadun over them – total failure. I then decided on a tiny cdc – this time I had a refusal. At the end of a drift I was retrieving my line slowly under the surface to recast when I felt a tug…..and then another – yep, the trout had taken the fly – a brief tussle ensued and the trout was in my hands – it looked very silvery. No picture as I was waist deep in water. Decided after that it was time to head home as the whole pool was not pretty much spooked. Still I was pretty chuffed with myself – there is not much better in life than a flukey trout!

All in all a fine days fishing.