Saturday (03/01/09) found me down on the Wharfe again. Although it was very very cold (barely above freezing) I simply had to wet a line – I had a new Vision wading jacket to try! I had a vague recollection that midday was perhaps best part of the day at this time of year for fishing so I was on the water for about 11 and fished until 2ish. The Wharfe itself was quite low and running very clear indeed, makes a change. Guessing the grayling wouldn’t be far off the bottom I once again put up a Czech nymphing outfit – 3 flies, heaviest in the middle, 1.5ft spacing. My usual spot produced nothing, in this low water it didn’t seem to be fishing right at all so I moved down stream to try another pool which is deeper. Upon arrival I spotted what to me looked like bang on Grayling water bearing in mind the conditions, flow, temperature etc. I’ve highlighted them in yellow on the pictures below. I would be really interested to hear what other people think to my selections! Am I way off, would you fish the faster water with much more confidence, or would you concentrate on the slower swims?? Do tell!!
I was often hitting bottom wherever I fished so I was definitely getting down. In fact I began to wonder if I was fishing too deep, maybe the grayling were higher up in the water. I took the middle dropper fly off, it’s 2 tungsten beads (!) were like depth charges. I then fished the remaining 2 weighted flies using both up and downstream methods but to no avail. Just before I stopped fishing a passer by informed me he’d seen an otter on this very same stretch earlier that day thereby providing me with an excellent and original alibi for catching nothing. Cheers mate!