Barden Bridge, River Wharfe, Yorkshire: diary entry for Tuesday 25th August 1992
Day started with sunny periods and quite windy and was characterised by wind blowing all day from an upstream direction making accurate casting very difficult at times. The stretch downstream from Barden Bridge to the viaduct looked classic fly fishing water with deep channel close to opposite bank and the channel was easily approached by wading.
I fished this section on the way back to Barden Bridge late in the afternoon and didn’t have a single rise.
Three chaps from Lincolnshire started fishing just before me on this stretch with downstream wet fly. When I met up with them for a short chat just before 4pm they had landed 2 fish between them.
I started fishing the tail of minor rapid coming through the viaduct and eventually caught 6 fish there (with another one in the afternoon on the way back).
Of a total of 7 fish caught in this turbulent water 4 were on Adams, two were on Royal Wulff and one on Royal Trude. Rises were only obtained when drift was excellent and very close to rough water. The biggest fish (although not big at all) so caught was actually taken out of the rough water.
Takes were very confident and had to be struck immediately the rise to the dry fly was seen. The fish were all Brown and very beautiful in variety… a range of red spots from none to plenty. Size varied from 50 gms to 350 gm which included an eighth fish (Royal Wulff) taken further downstream in the afternoon.
All fish from viaduct in the morning session were taken between 11 & 12 noon. I wasted quite a bit of time walking through Strid Wood and back again. Temperature was dropping quite quickly by 4.30 pm. Stopped fishing at 5.20 pm and returned to Devonshire where my family was waiting … we were on a long holiday and about to go to the US to fish some of the Montana rivers.
5 x Adams… 50 - 350gm
2 x Royal Wulff… 100gms
1 x Royal Trude… 100gms
26/08/1992 - rained all day, didn’t fish.
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