Sunday march 15th

So yesterday was the opening day of the trout season. As usual i had been counting the day's from about the start of november, patience is not my forte!

The plan had been set between me and my regular fishing buddy to tackle a smallstream on the edge of our town. I had been down a few time's recently on recce trips so i was more eager than ever having had a look at what i was missing. On arrival at the streamside i noticed that we were blessed with the same ideal condition's i experienced there on the closing day of the 08 season!
Whilst the water had a little amount of colour to it there was certainly no cause for disappointment.

I rigged up with a large foam beetle (okay a bite indicator) and a hares ear nymph tied NZ style to the bend of the dry. I fished my way downstream for a mile or so, probably taking me an hour and a half without any interest. I did note however that my 8'6 rod was way too long and the 6ft 3# i left in the car would have been far better suited to such jungle combat.

I eventually made my way back upstream to the pool where i started and i was quickly into my first brownie of the season on the nymph, the take was pretty savage considering the trout was only about 3oz! One thing i did learn from this is that the camera on my phone aint half as good as my actual camera, so no decent photo's! I fished the pool for another ten minutes or so and bumped a couple more fish in quick succession. Content with my efforts here i headed further upstream.

I fought my way through the overhanging bushes, dropping the flies in every pocket of water i could before i came to a long, shallow glide with branches hovering maybe 2ft above the water. Casting here is awkward at best but i cast my rod sideways, parallel with the water and was able to place the flies reasonably accurately at the neck of the run. i was rewarded with a stunning little trout marginally bigger than the last, at first i thought it was a hefty fish as it felt strong but it was hooked in the fin, i must have pulled the fly from its mouth on the strike!

I finally met my mate again soon after, i was especially pleased to find out he had also managed a fish as it was his first time here and only his second time on a stream! These small technical water's are demanding for anybody and i was proud of him that he had succeeded here after only taking up flyfishing at the tail-end of last season.

I decided some adventure was in order so i pushed further upstream, beyond any pools i had fished before. As the banks are so steep wading was the only option, i discovered some truly massive pools for a small stream but could not buy a bite. It was only in the last pool i was able to walk to that i got some interest, the largest fish of the day (all of 70z) was soon in my hand and let go to grow on for me later in the year. I often forget just how beautiful and precious these wild brown trout are, i think we in scotland take this fantastic little creature for granted and are far too quick to exploit them. Pike may look more impressive, perch may appear more bold, handsome even. But in term's of sheer beauty i don't think anything can compare to a true wild brown trout.

As this pool was as far as i was able to navigate, at least without ropes and a helmet i set off downstream to try some last stretches and see how my mate was faring. Needless to say i had already caught my last fish but my spirits were raised further when i found out my pal had nailed a further two trout! Not half bad for his first proper jungle-mini-stream experience i think. So in conclusion at the end of the day we had three trout each from pristine,unmolested waters, not one of these fish are likely to have been caught before, unless perhaps by me!
I honestly can't think of a better start to the season :)