Arriving at the first deep pool I caught three small trout with my first three casts! However they were all 6-8oz and whilst they were beautiful fish I was hoping to find something a little larger.
Having had a frustrating time fishing with Matt I took my time, wading carefully and trying to put myself in the best position to make a first cast in each likely spot. I still managed to find a few trees but definitely got more in the right place. Fishing with Matt had taught me you often only get one good chance in each swim.
The river was very low and I was having to remove weed from my lures every time the lure nicked the bottom, it was driving me mad! A quick rummage through my box produced one of Mark Houghtons custom made Snap Beans (see 'Links'), the last one of what was a small shoal before a variety of snags claimed them. They are buoyant and run nice and shallow and it is easy to control the depth they run by varying the speed of retrieve.
I found a long pool with some slightly deeper water, maybe a couple of feet, and ignored the sluggish tail and walked to the head of the pool where the flow was faster and the water more oxygenated.
Luckily the first cast landed in the tongue of faster water and after a couple of turns of the reel handle all hell broke lose! The fish leapt straight out about two feet in the air and my legs went to jelly at the sight of it. This fish was clearly in a different class to most I've seen in rivers locally. It went on a blistering run down the pool, leaping and cartwheeling as it went and I was praying for the hooks to hold. I played it back to my feet and it then tore off to the head of the pool before suddenly turning and swimming straight towards me. Everything went slack and I thought for one horrible moment that I'd blown it and lost the fish. Winding furiously I was suddenly back in touch. I was a few feet up the bank and I grabbed the net which was behind me and threw it into the water and slid down the bank on my backside. Eventually I guided it over the net and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked enormous in the net. After such an epic battle I decided to rest the fish in the water while I quickly sorted the scales and camera out. I settled on a weight of 4lb 8oz and took a few quick pictures before returning the fish to the net. I have the camera set up with a short time delay and then it takes three pictures a couple of seconds apart. I quickly carried the fish in the net to the head of the pool so I could cradle it in the faster water to aid its recovery. After a few minutes I felt the strength return and with a kick of its tail it was gone. I was shaking from the excitement and sat down to recover myself! I had to tell someone so rang Matt as I knew he would know what it meant to me.
A four and a half pound wild brown trout is a good fish from any water in the country and I felt very lucky to have found one in a small local river. After contacting Mark and asking him for a few more magic beans the next task is to consult the maps and explore some more of this little gem.
One of Marks Magic Beans!
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