The morning was very hot and humid. The gentle breeze, from the north west, barely stirred the tree tops. What an odd direction for a warm wind !

I wanted to fish a stretch of river with plenty of shade. I hadn’t visited the Abbey Beat for a while and felt that it deserved my attention. I hoped that after a hot sunny weekend, wild swimmers and dog walkers would stay away from the river.

Late in the afternoon as I walked down the track the woodland kept me cool but the horse flies ambushed me from the underside of the leaves. I had foreseen this. A long sleeved shirt and plenty of repellant kept them at bay.

The river looked perfect, clear and flowing well. The level was higher than I had imagined and partly filled my wellies as I paddled across a riffle to the true right hand bank.

I walked upstream and found a pool below a wide beach of multi-coloured granite stones. I crept forward and sat on a flat rock, flicking the nymph into the margins before working my side of the bubble line. As I watched the tip of the line, it slowed and dipped, a barely noticeable take. The trout came off near the bank which made me smile. Could I regard the little fish as ‘caught’ ? Probably not.

I moved downstream to fish a long pool with deep water along the far bank and overhanging trees, a perfect place for a trout. I had a take but the rattle on the rod tip failed to transform into a bend. As I walked downstream to exit the pool, the water came up to my thighs. I paused by a fallen tree to empty my boots and to dangle the nymph into a deep, rock strewn pool.

I squelched further downstream to a glide under trees and fished hard against the rock wall along the far bank. The nymph curled under the overhanging trees and was taken firmly. I connected and released the trout which swam away and settled on a sandy patch, completely invisible.

The water was chilly, the pools were a good depth and there was plenty of water for fish to run upstream. I will explore the Abbey Beat more often.