Today I went back to the Darley Dale stretch of the River Derwent, to find out what the lower section was like. The whole stretch covers nearly two miles and apart from the Trout that I am allowed to fish for during the Close Season, I want to establish the swims that will hold Grayling, Perch, Chub and the other species this contains.
The Railway Bridge
This is the start of the stretch (the lower end and it is very shallow underneath here!) I wish we had the next pegs down, as here is good holding water.
I went upstream and found this peg to try, as it forms a point into a slacker swim, with a nice crease to the right!
On the first cast, with the same light ledger set up as described Tuesday, I was into a fish!
Fighting hard, brought upstream slowly. I expected to see another brown Trout, but the back as it came to the surface was too dark! However! The Dorsal Sail quickly gave her away and at around 12 oz’s I had started the day with a personal best Grayling!
New PB for me, No accurate Scales, So I’ll call it 10 ozs!
As so often, no bites followed for ½ an hour, so I moved, as I was keen to research the water.
Then I met this poor fellow and it ruined my day!
A Crow, possibly even the one that annoyed me on Tuesday, was frantically trying to get away from me as I approached the thick bush he was hiding behind, on the corner of a bend in the river. So desperate was he to get away that he leapt into the River!
I backed off and he flapped back to land, whereupon I could see that he had a broken left wing.
Now I left him there.
Would it have been kinder to break through the bush and try to end his pain? (I’m not sure if I could have even got to him and if I had would he have taken to the water again?)
Should I have contacted the RSPCA (for a Crow?)?
Either way, feeling like Pontius Pilate, I abandoned him, in the faint hope his wing would recover!
Finding a 3rd swim, I was quickly into another fish, which turned out to be a small Rainbow.
This was when I discovered that I had lost my disgorger, after using on the Grayling!
Although I fish with barbless hooks, these fast water fish invariably snatch the worms deep! Quickly, improvising with a twig, I returned the fish and decided to have a coffee!
The curse was now so strong that my flask cup decided to roll down the bank and I had to retrieve it from a really difficult bank with the landing net!
Luckily the Current is on the other bank!
I realised that today was not going to be my day, so at 7.30, with light still available, I packed my gear up and called it a day.
The water in the River had risen to 52 degrees, a rise of 5 degrees Fahrenheit in two days, which shows the milder weather we have been having! (Well Alan will want to know)
That’s it folks, next report in a fortnight, when I return from Ireland!
CYA
Trev