Tuesday 19th June

Following the rain and the fact that the Derwent had been up to 7 feet in flood eventually it has dropped to more or less normal level and clear so I ev eventually decided to have an hour or two down by the cricket pitch. Unfortunately someone was already there and had been all afternoon so I decided to make my way up towards Bar brook and the deer boom. As I didn't know what was on the river I had my go to grey olive klink on a size 16. I started under the tress on the way up but the river was deceptive as although it looked down to a good level there was still a good amount pushing through. After I lost the whole of my tippet I decided enough was enough so fished from the opposite side to the car park. I took a small brown to the klink but noticed there were quite a few spinners about so switched to my rusty parachute after a few fish refused the grey olive. Immediately I took another brown which  was as wild as they come. Although it was a warmish evening there wasn't much rising just here and there. I suppose after the recent high water and the fact the fish are probably satiated on mayfly points to the fact that they were all stuffed! I made my way up only casting to a rise and contacted a few but they came adrift. At the deer boom, where there is always a fish showing, true to its word there was more action here and I winkled out another 3 browns. By 2030 the temperature had dropped and so had the fish so I beat a hasty retreat. 5 fish in a little over an hour was not bad considering I was humming and harring as to whether to go or not.

Wye Trip Off

Derek rang at 0900 to say he was unwell and therefore would have to call off our trip to the Wye. I had already booked the day off work so did some gardening in the morning. After lunch I decided to walk down to the sycamore pool and start there and slowly work my way back up to Baslow old bridge. Once I had negotiated the wall, nettles and brambles I made it to the pool but there was not much happening. Fly life was decidedly absent, maybe due to the temperature being down a bit and a breeze about. I sat and watched for 10 minutes or so and the occasional fish showed. I had on my mayfly nymph so had a cast but nothing. A few mayflies started to appear so I put on my freshly tied mayfly, I covered a few fish and they seemed to take the fly as the leader was disappearing but on the strike there was nothing. After this had happened a few times I decided to change to another mayfly but still the same thing happened and sometimes the fish just splashed at the fly. I could see it was going to be one of those days when nothing attaches itself to your fly. By now a really good hatch of sedge, grannom I think, were buzzing about and also lots of olive uprights, I think! The sun had come out and it was feeling like summer. It was at this point I realised I had left my flybox with all my sedge patterns at home! I did have a couple of patterns in another box but they were just the green tailed variety I had tied after a display during the winter at the Grayling Society meetings. These were on short shanked bardless carp hooks. On went one and after a couple of casts a take but this also failed to attach, I was trying a delayed strike and immediate strike  but nothing. I was despairing now. Finally a lovely head and tail rise took it and I was in, my 1st brown of the day.

1st Brown of the day.

Now the mayfly were coming off and the fish were taking them with gusto so on went another fresh mayfly and this time I did land a couple more browns between losing more and phantom takes. The sun went behind a big black cloud and the heavens opened, so much so that the river almost died and I took shelter under a tree for 30 minutes.

The Sycamore Pool and p!ss!ng down!

After the shower I made my way up the pool but fish were slow to restart their feeding and only the odd fish showed until the sun came out again. I made it up to the new bridge with 5 fish to my credit. By now it was gone 5 so I quickly fished the runs, riffles and pools between the bridges but again nothing was showing so nothing to cats to. I reached the pool below the old bridge and low and behold a few fish were showing. My favourite run on the far side had a fish rising.  This is a tricky run as there are lots of converging currents between you and the run so it has to be a cast with plenty of slack otherwise drag is more or less instantaneous. Eventually I got my cast right and just knew the fish would come for it and strike and he was on.......then off! I did land 3 more browns from this pool, all fish which had shown and cast to, I love it when that happens, the anticipation knowing you are covering a feeding fish is electric, far better than casting blind.

My last fish of the day. A wildy.

Anyway I finished the day with 8 fish which at 1 point during the afternoon I didn't think I would land anything. It's a funny old business this fishing lark!

Diamond Jubilee Week-end

Friday - 1st June
My weekend started with a couple of hours in the evening down at the willow pool. The temperature wasn't great but there were loads of large spinners around all about a size 12 with grey bodies and 2 tails, ldo or olive uprights? I had on my greyolive parachute in a 14 and took a small brown. Rises were only here and there so if you covered one it wasn't definite that the fish would come up again. After a while I changed to a rusty spinner in a 14 and took another couple of browns before calling it a day.
Saturday 2nd June
My son Adam wanted a day so we decided to get onto the river quite early for me 11.00, again we went down to the willow pool. It was at this point I realised I had left my camera at home, brilliant! Adam started at the tail of the pool and soon landed a couple of rainbows, a great start as I always want him to catch fish as he rarely gets to go fishing, golf is his favourite pastime. I decided to have a chuck too whilst waiting forever for the kettle to boil and I also took a couple of browns. Only the odd mayfly was coming off at the moment but the sun was shining and we were fishing so everything was good. After a couple more fish we decided to go down to the gully pool. This pool is good when the sun is out as its sheltered by lots of trees, fish were showing here and there and by now the mayfly were coming of more frequently and the fish were taking them. We both changed to dry mayfly, the good old 1-up 1-down (Philip White's pattern). This is the pattern I use almost exclusively now when the mayfly are about, I have dabbled with other patterns but none seem to equal this for me. We both took fish as we proceeded down the pool, me first as Adam didn't have a wading staff and the bed of the river had changed since last year, still bottom clenching! I skirted around the deer boom and then got down to Bar Brook were the mayfly were only coming off here and there. It was odd that the mayfly came off in fits and starts, a good flow then nothing for 20 minutes then again for 20 minutes and so on. I reached here during one of the off spells and so went back to my mayfly nymph. First cast and a cracking rainbow of between 4 and 5 pounds resulted, not quite as big as the 6lb'er I got earlier in the week. This was followed a couple of casts later by a couple of blues in the same weight range. These took a good 10 minutes each to get in, they fought like demons and jumped like sea-trout. I spoke to Matthew about these and they had been stocked in March and were from the previous season as they had been kept in tanks over winter. By now Adam had joined me and we both continued to take fish mainly to the dry. The only problem with fishing these big mayflies is that they play havoc with your cast. I had on 3lb tippet and had to change it numerous time due to the twisting effect of the fly. It was a great afternoon fishing the mayfly however I don't think the fish were totally switched on to them as many of the newly hatched duns made it to the safety of the bushes. We finished by 1800 as the hatch finished around 1730 and we had taken over 30 fish between us. A great day.
Sunday 3rd June
Rain rain rain, a horrible day, no fishing just sat and read the paper and tied up some more mayfly nymphs. At least the rain didn't bring the river up.
Monday 4th June
I arranged to meet Derek at Bar Brook around 1400 but I was a bit late. I wandered down there but he wasn't around so I started to fish. The mayfly were hatching in droves now as the sun was out but not particularly warm. Bar Brook was spewing out brown coloured water which left a distinctive line where the 2 waters met as the Derwent only had it's usual tea coloured tinge. The hatch was more or less constant today and I took several browns all to the dry mayfly, same old pattern as before. Fish were rising in both the clear water and the colured water from Bar Brook, It's interesting to note that the coloured water wasn't putting the fish off. As Richard Walker once said "if you think the water is dirty put some in a glass and you will see how clear it is" or words to that effect. I fished till about 1630 when the hatch petered out but the same spinners as Friday were still about plus some smaller ones which I suspect were BWOs, but maybe wrong. I switched to the greyolive para again and took my last fish of the day another brown. That was 6 browns for the couple of hours which in my book ain't bad. As I made my way back I spotted Derek in the gully pool so watched him winkle out 4 fish in as many casts to his new mayfly pattern, but this is still in the development stage. He wouldn't divulge how many fish a fly has to take to make it into his box.

 Where Bar Brook enters the Derwent.

Looking up towards the deer boom from the previous shot.

Derek with one of his fish to his new mayfly pattern

Tomorrow we are going to the gardens at Chatsworth to see the rhodedendrons so no fishing but I have Wednesday off work so Derek is taking me on the Wye, I must tie up some more mayfly duns as the fish soon mash the ones I tie. Thursday and Friday afternoons it's back to the Derwent as booked them off work too!.