Fly Fishing Report
Fly Fishing the River Bush
With only a few days left of the season on the River Bush I was determined to make the most of the couple of hours I had available to myself this morning. A heavy mist was just lifting as I made my way to the river, giving way to an overcast but unseasonably warm day. Plenty of rain over the last couple of days had the river in spate, so the series of shallow channels cutting through the thick pond weeds that I would expect to see on one of my usual stretches had been replaced by a large riffle covering the width of the river. Keen to get stuck in, there was admittedly very little thought that went into fly selection this morning, choosing to stick with what has become a dependable favourite throughout the season, a pheasant tail shuttlecock.
It seemed to do the trick as, much to my surprise, my very first cast was rewarded with a lovely little brown trout (definitely more luck than judgement).Brought quickly to hand, he was on his way again in a matter of moments. A few flicks on a thick rubber band looped on to my waist pack and the CDC was nice and fluffy again and ready to fish on. I then spent the next 90 minutes working my fly from right to left across the riffles, before taking a few steps forward and repeating the process back the other way.
By the time I reached the bottom of the next pool, it was time to head home and back to the realities of every day life. At least I was able to do so satisfied though, having finished up with a total of 3 missed, 3 lost and 4 fish landed. I didn’t catch them all, nor did I catch any particularly big ones, but I did have plenty of fun, which is all it’s really about. I’m hoping to be able to squeeze in one or two more outings before the season closes but if not, it wasn’t a bad way to finish!
About the author:
Hi, I’m Dan and I’m based in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. I’ve been fly fishing on and off since my mid-teens, but have only taken it more seriously over the last couple of years. With a busy work and family life I get out to the river as much as I can, but this can vary from a couple of outings per week, to realising I’ve not been out for a month! One thing I’ve recently found that helps to get me through these drier patches though is to write about my experiences on the river, The Fly Index has kindly offered to host my ramblings. So despite the end of the trout season looming and this potentially being one of my last posts of the season, I’m hoping this will be the first in a series of guest blog posts I’m able to write for The Fly Index. I hope you enjoy!