An encounter with an Otter

Sunday afternoon and i was back on the Lugg walking down the beat looking for rising fish. With a sunny April sky and a low, clear river i knew it could be a difficult day.
I tied on an olive Klinkhammer, as there were a few olives hatching, and slowly made my way upstream casting to surface feeding fish. As is often the case when dry fly fishing it can often be very frustrating with fish refusing your fly but taking insects you can't even see. I tried different patterns throughout the afternoon/evening and managed to catch just six fish, four Trout to 10" and two Grayling. A very enjoyable five hours, some fish were hooked and lost and others put down by poor casting.














It was a good day for butterflies with Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock basking in sunny spots and Orange-Tips in abundance with females laying eggs on the Cuckoo Flower(Lady's Smock), which grows along the river. This wooded section of the river is rich in bird life with pairs of Dipper,Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail seeking out nesting sites.
I was also very fortunate to watch and shoot a short video clip of an Otter feeding in the river which can be viewed by clicking on the video thumbnail.Later at dusk i spooked a deer that had been watching from the tree line across the river, a great few hours spent close to nature.

A Spring day on the Lugg

I had a lovely days fishing on the beautiful river Lugg on Friday in the company of my brother Colin, it was his first time on this particular beat and with the forecast for a warm, overcast day with little wind our hopes were high for a few willing Trout, although the river was very low and clear.
We were greeted by the calls from Buzzards and Ravens soaring overhead as we climbed into our waders and as we walked down to the bottom of the beat Nuthatch, Woodpecker and Pheasant called from the woodland.
We both decided to fish a small nymph under a Klinkhammer as we had seen the occasional fish rising in one or two pools, these rises could be either Brown Trout or Grayling as the Lugg holds a good head of both species. For me the fishing in the morning was slow at first, with just a couple of fish taking the nymph and the odd missed take on the Klinkhammer. I did have great views of Kingfisher and Dipper flashing by and the not so good sight of a feeding female Goosander! The afternoon began with a heavy shower which seemed to bring on a good hatch of olives and the fish responded by rising quite freely throughout the rest of the day.



We both caught all afternoon with most fish coming to the gold head Pheasant-Tail or olive Hares-Ear nymph and a few rising to take an olive Klinkhammer. Unfortunately many of the fish were out of season Grayling to 15" , but quite a few beautifully marked feisty early season Trout to 13" also came to the net. This particular stretch of water is stunning and can be fished through membership of the Pheasant Tail Flyfishers.