This weekend I had the good fortune to go fishing with Paul Morgan who is very well known as a publisher and seller of books relating to fishing and field sports. If you have not already seen it, Paul´s vast collection can be seen on http://www.anglebooks.com/
Paul and I were planning to discuss a book which I have written and that he was interested in publishing but, like myself, he is an enthusiastic fly fisherman and we were both keen to do some fishing first. You have to get your priorities right!
Things were looking a little shaky when we arrived at our chosen spot. A flock of several hundred sheep was being driven across the river just a few metres upstream of the point we were hoping to sneak up on the fish. It was quite a spectacle to see the dogs gather the sheep herd them across the river. Some big white dogs walked right among the flock and, at first glance, looked not unlike sheep themselves!
Thankfully the gipsy barbel were undeterred by all this commotion and we were able to sneak up and catch a few of them. The fish here will hold in very shallow water and it is necessary to approach them with considerable stealth and to avoid breaking the skyline. Paul cast to them from a kneeling position. There is quite soft grass here which offers much greater comfort to bare knees than the rocks and thorny scrub which line much of the river. The only down side is that there is a pretty fair chance you will find yourself inadvertently kneeling on goat shit!
On the Saturday and the Sunday we clocked up a few hours in four or five sections of river and extracted a few fish which, as usual, were admired briefly and returned to the river. Most fish were taken on smallish nymphs although Paul had a good fish on the dry.
Egret sitting on a horse
The same horse without the egret!
Paul M with what was, I think, his first gipsy barbel. He went on to catch quite a few more and bigger ones!
Paul M fishing where the fast water enters a pool.
Two good looking specimens!
fishydreams 