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.