I arrived at the river at about 11:00am. The water was lower than last week and a little clearer. The sun was shining and the wind was warm, from the south west, perfect fishing conditions.

A few Olives were hatching and there was a lot of debris on the surface of the water from the bankside Willows and Alders. I walked downstream until I found a fish rising. I cast upstream with a dry Pheasant Tail and after a few misplaced casts, I put the fly just above the fish. It rose and took the fly but I missed ! I rested the fish for 15 minutes and tried again. The first cast landed perfectly, the fish rose confidently and this time I didn’t miss. He was about 8oz and went straight back.

By now I was hot and thirsty, the pub was calling me. I went to the Badgers at Coultershaw Bridge and had a homemade burger and a pint. It was superb and I felt like a sleep. When I got back to the river, I found a sunny spot with a good view of the river and made myself comfortable.

Almost immediately a fish rose, then another just next to me. The Mayfly had started to hatch and were fluttering about everywhere. This was too good to ignore so I tied on a recently made Mayfly imitation and covered a fish. After a few casts the fish took the fly with a big splash and was hooked. The fish was about 8oz and I returned it to grow bigger.

There were hundreds of Mayfly hatching so I put the rod down and took some photos.

Then I fell asleep !

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