Monday August 24th 1992 … In July of this year I had left my career behind. As a chemical engineer I’d spent most of my life after graduation working in the polymer and organic chemicals industry in the UK and South Africa. In fact South Africa became my home in 1972 when I emigrated from the UK.
In 1992 a new life started as I embarked upon the challenge of creating my own business. Before taking up this challenge I did a prolonged fishing trip to the UK and USA and completed a few diary entries at the time. These days of fishing on the River Wharfe and in the USA were probably the most profound experiences in terms of really learning how to fish. The USA experience emphasised to me that wherever possible a fishing guide should be used in all new locations.
Looking back, my success on the Wharfe would have been much improved had I been able to reverse the order of the trips … ie visit the USA first and then to have come back to the Wharfe. Why?
I fished with some excellent guides in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho on a great variety of rivers over a period of some 3 weeks. The guides taught me so much about “real” fly fishing. My ability to fish confidently with a dry fly or nymph in rivers like the Wharfe (in fact any river) was immeasurable improved as a direct result of fishing with these guides.
Monday August 24th 1992
We arrived at the hotel on Sunday afternoon after driving from Mother’s and stopping for lunch at the “Cross Keys” on the banks of the Leeds to Liverpool Canal just outside Skipton. We are booked into the Devonshire Arms for 4 nights and today was the first day of fishing.
I started fishing around 10.45 above the “Home Run” which is just above Bolton Bridge. I used my chest waders and wading shoes for the first time. At 11.20 I caught my first “Brown” of about 8″ which took a Royal Wulff in fast 3 feet deep water. About 20 minutes later I caught a nice 11b fish beautifully marked and which gave a good account of itself. Royal Wulff was again the fly. Short casts rose a couple more fish which I failed to hook.
I fished the deeper glides in a number of places but failed to rise a single fish. Around 3pm I hooked a 3rd fish in a riffle further upstream. The fish eventually got off - Royal Trude , the fly. Thought most of the day it was difficult to see my fly even fishing short lines. This was the result of riffly water and overcast conditions.
Wading in the river was difficult because of the medium and large sized stones in many places. General rises were very few and far between. The good points of today were that I learned the value of short upstream casts, and the need to strike at the hint of a rise.
The area around the abbey was very busy- end of season holiday makers I suppose. The river was very clean with a peaty colour predominating. This stretch of river were characterised by runs and pools between riffles.
1 x 450 Royal Wulff
1 x 150 Royal Wulff
1 x 150 Royal Trude
Related articles:
- No related posts