Fishing world: Sweet San is just soooooo sweet, the conclusion

gettin off the plane and into the fishing mobile

Well i never got a good chace to continue the blog days as the drinking at night got too much in the end!!
I have had many emails asking me o continue the Dream session so here goes......

The last post shows top angler Richie holding the fish of the week and it was well deserved indeed.
We arrived at the power lines pool which comprised of a long slow glide for over 300 meters...as our goal was to catch these huge grayling on the dry this looked perfect...it was obvious these fish were going to be very hard and me and Richie decided to pair up and go and stalk out rising fish together...i cannot tell you how hard the Grayling can be to catch on a dry, back in the UK they can be teased up by a fancy pattern like the sturdys fancy or a grifth knat, these fish are a nightmare, they will only take a perfect match of a hatch, the size, colour and drag free are all absolute critical, the trout are much easier to catch but still can be hard but like i say the Grayling can send you mental!!!!
Ritchie and myself waded into the river and stood still for a good hour, any movements would send the fish down, this was the technique for the week, get in your spot and wait for them to come on the feed, all around you!!!
We were taking it in turns to cast at rising fish, the difference from the Grayling rise and the trout rise was obvious, something i have learnt to a T on this trip...We saw a nice fishing sipping every five mins and we both covered it with no success...after grinding us down for over a hour Richie just flicked a dun to it and it just walloped it!!!!
Wicked!! the fish played him mellow until it found the deep water.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz this fish went mental taking line off...these fish are different strain to ours and are nasty in the fight, after a few mins the fish tailwalked right infront of us to give Richie a heart stopping moment...soon we landed a 46cm 2.8 oz San wacker on a size 20 dun pattern!!!
Top angling by Richie as you just dont catch on this river by luck, hard work paid off and a high five was given to him after we released it.....
Later in the evening was something else for me that night, i was at the bottom of the pool waiting for some rises......i saw a huge hatch of pale wateries emerge off the pool, now i learnt more tonight in all my fishing on fly rivers...the trout and grayling would only take the emerger at this stage as they were coming out of the shuck, any full duns would be left alone... i selected a emerging dun with no luck...why?? i could see the fish sipping them no more than 5ft from me!!! I had no drag, the size was perfect.... i then thought of colour? something i dont really believe in....i selected a pale green shade emerger like the real dun and then bang!!! 3 Gralying coming straight to the net!!! great feeling that but then i could not get a take........they had switched to the full dun at the end of the hatch and selecting a full dun in green batterned them again.....i was standing in the river and realised how switched on u needed to be to get into these fish...yes you might get lucky with the odd fish but to take them u needed to be on your game...a lesson learnt....how many times do you see a angler walk past and say 'they are on the emerger today'! well now i would always think that could have changed in ten minutes!!!
In the evening the spinner fall was mental.......a sherry spinner took the odd trout but i was getting so many refusals it was not right...they were taking the real spinner but not mine...i went home happy but gutted i was doing something wrong... i soon would find out...

On the Thursday we went to a pool i cant remember the name but one that i wont ever forget...
The sun was out, bright clear and a flat calm pool that looked like a lake....i was not going to flog my heart out when the lads all ventured off to get in the river... i decided to stay back with JT and we sunk cans of lager for most of the day in the most scenic place i have ever been...just being with JT at the side of the river we just chilled out and talked of past sessions in our fishing days....Richardo came to the river at dinner time on most days and cooked us full barby meals next to the river...sausages, pork the full job, we were right looked after....
That evening i made my way upto the top end of the beat as Jt had advised me of some deep runs that hold big ladies...
I walked up and got into my position and waited.....waited....a hour gone with no rises and i saw a huge fin come out of the water with a typical grayling boil....my heart started to pound.....i put my line though and waited for it to rise again....nothing..... i thought of moving but this fish was huge... i then waited bollock deep in the river for another hour!! the lads were catching fish and i was staring at a blank for the day but this fish was a proper ltd fish!!! i had noticed from the week that a big fish will hold its pool so i just stayed and waited..a sudden flush of P waterys came off and the fish came up again... then one minuite later again....this was my chance... i selected a full dun in pale green, size 20.....i knew it was my chance....the cast had to be down stream, no other would do, drag would kill it off back to the depths...i mudded my 9 x tippet and just hoped it would hold the fish if i hooked it...any bigger tippet lower than 8X would send me home with nothing on this river...
A few false casts and i dropped the fly perfect in the scum lane of drifting olives.....the fish came up and nailed a real dun 3 inches from mine!!! i was now starting to get that sinking feeling...i then put in the second cast and fucked it up with swinging drag...i then though that was all over....i then put a third cast in thinking i had put it down.....i saw the huge fin come out roll over my fly, the sheers size of this fish was mental, as soon as i saw the huge crimson colour down the side my heart just skipped a beat as only anglers will know this feeling...like slow motion i struck down to my left and the lovely feeling of the line tightening as the hook set home.....i was in!!!! the fish came back upto the surface and my heart was beating out my chest when i saw the real size of this fish...it was bigger than anything i haad ever seen...over 50cm no probs and over 3lb for sure...
The fish snapped it head and the fly came pinging back to me hitting me in my chest!!! FUCKIN HELL!! i screamed across the river!!! i had just pulled out of the fish of a lifetime on the dry....i had waited all day for that and stood over the fish for nearly three hours!!!
I was so angry i had the the thought of snapping my rod in two to ease the pain....
I caught fish in the spinner fall that night but the thought of losing this fish hurt me deep...Richie stood 20 yards up the river from me and saw what this fish did to me, he looked as gutted for me as i was...

Back at the fishing lodge at night we had some right good crack, sinking beer and just full piss take all around...all the lads on the trip were sound, i got to know all of them very well,
Roger my room mate is so cool, takes everything in his stride, and had massive balls...
Steve, a calm mellow lad, who just sits there and laughs all day long...always catches fish
John/Richie two geordie cunts who are hard to separate, always smiling and talking and both very good fisherman, a joy to pair up with and fish..
Clive a sound lad who loves his fishing and a right nob after drinking!!!
JT A bloke who is hardcore, can fish hard, drink hard, nothing bothers him, shares all his knowledge and a right good laugh...
On the last day before we come home i stumbled across c=some Polish fly men and got chatting to them which turned out to be a right good laugh, non of us could speak each others language but we swapped flys and they give me Vodka shots next to the river!!! real LTD with the Poles!!!

The trip was one to remember and i will be back there again next year, i learnt so much and never thought fish could get that hard, its made me a better angler for sure, the fishing was hard going at times but this was not normal for the time of year but hey thats fishing, i still sit here now writing this and that fish i lost is still in my head, i could go back to the very spot tomoz and know where the lunker is... i will cover that pool next year and hopefully have more luck....
Nice one
LTD
Glen