Only mad dogs and silly bastards go out in this weather, but to be fair it didn’t look that bad this morning as I looked at the forecast and the river levels.
I was on the Wharfe out near Burley in Wharfedale to do a bit of Czech Nymphing and always knew it was only gonna be just a couple of hours (unless I hit a purple patch) but I barely managed even that! The wind was blowing a hoolie – I setup my 4 weight outfit with 3 weighted flies which became a Gaucho’s bolas and got into such a shit state I had to cut the line and start all over again – before I’d even wet the bastard line!
When I did start fishing it was clear what is normally a good bit of water was running way too fast so I moved upstream to a bit that is usually too slow and shallow that now good with a bit of water running through it. I slowly worked my way upstream but there was no sign of activity. I did as you are supposed to, I tapped everytime the line stopped or moved unusually in case it was a grayling. It wasn’t. Or at least it didn’t materialise into a grayling. One positive aspect of the day was a trial run of my new wading staff. I’ve never had one before but it really does make life a whole lot easier out in the river.
As is always the case the video doesn’t really show how unpleasant the weather was but there was horizontal sleet, hail and snow and I decided to sack it off, go back to the car, neck some hot coffee and go home. As a nice touch my coffee had gone clap cold in my flask.