I could not see myself fishing for brown trout in shallow rivers but I did and I want to do it again.
Recently I travelled up to Bolton with my girl to stay with our really good friends and had the opportunity to try something new wading around in often ankle deep water casting small crankbaits, just like these Savage Gear prey 80 searching for brown trout.
I have to be honest when Heath and I headed out at 6:30 in the morning I was a little sceptical about this but Heath promised me that he had had some really good fun on this stretch of river that he had found using google maps only 5 minutes drive from his front door.
We parked the car got our waders on and set off down a muddy little pathway to the edge of this river. WOW comes to mind. It was like something out of a movie a really idyllic setting. The river was enclosed by over hanging trees and ferns. I seem to remember the smell of fresh cut grass from the near by fields but this could have just been my imagination because of how great the scenery looked.
Any doubts I had were quickly wiped away as on my first underhand cast I had the all to familiar adrenalin rush as a fish knocked my lure. It was not long before Heath landed his first of the day a little down stream from me. Let me assure you these fish are simply stunning in colour.
I really wanted to catch one of these beauties, but I had to be a little more patient. As we moved down a few swims, Heath was being his usual well mannered and sporting friend giving me first cast in all the best spots and offering advice on the different retrieve techniques. BAM! FISH ON! This was exciting folks I had landed my very first river trout. I promise you on the right tackle they fight extremely hard. I was using a Quantum combo reel and Hypercast 3-12 gram casting weight which is ideal if you are on a budget and have a great action for light spinning.
Well it seemed that as soon as I landed that one fish there was no stopping us. In one spot we landed about 9 trout all exactly the same feisty little dudes. This action carried on for a further hour or so until it was time to pack up and head home for breakfast.
Sitting here recounting that short 2-3hr experience, I have to say it ranks right up there with my best fishing experiences. We caught and released over 20 fish. Good fishing in beautiful surroundings with good company is just as fishing should be. On my next Fishermans Tale its back to competing and I look forward to telling you all about it.
