Yorkshire Fly Fishing

I know I don’t do as much fishing as I used to but to be fair the weather has been absolute bobbins so far this year and to my credit I got my ass into gear as soon as it picked up again. Yesterday was glorious (compared to the rest of May anyway) so I headed up to Beaver Dyke for a couple of hours. I actually would have liked to have gone further afield and fished somewhere new to tickle the blog up a little but as is the case these days I couldn’t really afford a big mission due to day ticket prices and more importantly fuel costs. I wonder what would happen to the economy if fuel costs were halved? How would the loss to the treasury balance against stimulation of the economy by once again enabling people to drive further afield and more frequently? Anyway…!

I had a little go on Beaver Dyke itself , fishing in front of the hut but it was very quiet so I plodded up to Jon O’Gaunt’s in the hope it would be alive with rises. I kind of knew it wouldn’t be but it was just nice to be strolling through such pleasant surroundings in the late spring sunshine. I went up to the top end and fished with a few different dries and emergers but had zero interest.

Still invigorated by the joys of Spring I decided to walk all the way round JoG and fish the other side which had a more favourable wind anyway. It’s not the easiest of trudges as the very top is a bog even in Summer but there was no rush. Fishing from the Northern shore did allow me a nice view over to the hill where Edward the Third’s hunting lodge used to be. He eventually gave this lodge to his son John of Gaunt (aka Duke of Lancaster). Wikipedia tells me that John  of Gaunt was worth £110 BILLION in today’s money!!

As is often the case for this bit of water there were a couple of fish moving out in the middle way beyond casting range and an occasional rise in the margins. I tried a Diawl Bach, size 14 goldhead Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear, black Klinkhammer and a perfect little hopper but not a single offer was had. I’m so shit at fishing these days!! Again though, it was so good to get out in some sunshine and hear so many different types of bird singing away after such a long Winter and ghastly early Spring I didn’t care about the lack of action. Plus, in a few weeks time I’ll be in Gairloch fishing for wild brown trout in the shadow of the Torridons with an additional day out in Assynt and that’s where my mind is already at . Which reminds me, I really must do a little post about the controversy I’ve become mired in on one of the fishing forums, I’m sure it will get some more debate going!