A wonderful birthday gift

Earlier this month I passed yet another year, a few more grey hairs and a few less grey cells.It was one of those birthdays you just don't really celebrate. But it did have an upside, a gift from my mother-in-law, a days fishing on the Derbyshire Wye.

I used to live close to this lovely river as a child, I have vivid memories of monster trout easily barging their way through the flotilla of ducks in Bakewell, to take the tourists bread. I'd wanted to fish the Wye ever since, but never thought I would. I had childhood dreams of tying the perfect "bread fly" and doing battle with the Wye equivalent of Moby Dick. My taste in flies have changed a bit since then, bread flies would be a little unsporting, even if they abided by the dry fly only rules. Anyway, it was the height of the Mayfly, so who needs bread flies when you can float an equally large Ephemera danica.

I'd been looking forward to this day for almost twenty years. The momentous day dawned and ........ the heavens opened. Let's say, even though there is no wading allowed, I'm so glad I wore my chest waders. There was almost as much water falling from the sky as was rushing between the wonderful banks of the Haddon estate waters.

With all that rain coming down, the going was slow, there were one or two mayflies brave or foolish enough to try and escape the surface of the river - about half of them made it. The others got smashed by the rain drops ......... easy food. There were also a few olives popping off and sheltering under the trees.  At first glance there wasn't anything happening, but closer inspection showed one or two rises, close to the banks or tucked under overhanging Alders.  So I sat and watched,  what were they taking?  Not the Mays, a bit disappointingly.  I couldn't  see what it was, but something was causing a slow but steady rise.  Well, it was Mayfly season, I was sat on the banks of one of England's finest dry fly rivers and I was not going home till I had at least cast a Mayfly to a rising trout, so I tied on a Grey Wulff.

Grey Wulff - by Regular Rod

First cast, I bounced it off the Alder, not close enough.  Second,  much better and I moved the fish. What was it?  The water was a bit too coloured to be sure.  But at least it had shown some interest.  I let is rest for a few minutes.  Time to try again,  not the best of casts, but at least I didn't lob it in the tree.  And the fly disappeared, it was one of the famed Wye Rainbows.  Not Moby Dick by any means, but also not one of those over grown, fat slobs that get thrown in too many still waters.  This was a thing a beauty,  full of spots and fighting like something twice as large as it actually was.

Wild Wye Rainbow

The day progressed much the same,  slow but steady.  In the occasional few minutes when it wasn't coming down stair rods, the Mayflies did make an appearance,  I even tried one of the Oliver Edwards Mohican Mays.  It caught me two nice brownies and a lot of splashy pulls from some fingerlings with big appetites.

It ended up being a really fun day.  Five decent fish (2 rainbows, 2 browns and a grayling). A very nice packed lunch provided by the Peacock at Rowsley, where you also purchase your day tickets, and a cold beer whist I waited for the kids and my wife to come and pick me up.

I think I'll be coming back again ~ Chris.