The Tiny River Aline - Scepsis and Schematomancy

So where is this rain we are meant to be having ?

The weather reporters couldn't have got it more wrong because despite the warnings of heavy showers and thunder and lightening, the local rivers are still very much painfully low and clear. Take this little syndicate section of the river Alne in places you can walk from one side of the river to the other and would barely get your feet wet.

These little rivers have character in abundance though so despite the trickle of water there are plenty of fish holding areas such as overhanging trees or where the depth changes considerably. The chub can be hard to find when its like this but usually the odd trout or two are up for chasing any surface or sub-surface lure. 

To be honest it looked a little dead when I got riverside however, for a short roving session unlike the GB Olympic squad  I know this intimate river very well, so I wasn't put off despite the likely tough conditions. 

After 5 or 6 swims though without even an enquiry on the little bug surface lure the lower section of the river offers some much deeper swims and a weir.

The grass on one of the sheep-less fields was really thick still and with my back still not 100% to be honest I sort of regretted parking at the start of the stretch because I'd have to retrace my steps when I'd finished the session.

The water clarity can change section after section but this little Salmo Hornet can bring fish out of nowhere but again swim after swim no follows whatsoever. I'd fished this waterway plenty of times using the same tactics but there was not doing whatsoever. 

With a small dead mink in one the fields the first I'd seen on this stretch the otter didn't come to say hello so even the predators where elusive as well.

Still I had the weir to fish but even the weir was looking sorry for itself with very little flow so what I didn't expect that the first chuck in to the pool on the first turn of the reel a decent trout grabbed the lure and launched itself clear of the water.

I've caught some nice ones here but this was a 4lber all day long which would have been almost twice the size of the ones I've caught here until it dropped off this is !!!! The first proper bend of the rod I felt the hooks ping straight out and that was that. A blank, my first ever here I think, oh well at least the walking freed my back up a little,