Trip to the Dee, North Wales

To go or not to go, was the question. Heavy Rain, 6°C, 30 mph and high flow would probably have put us off in South Africa. However, the UK has a way of ingraining a tolerance towards a bit of ‘damp’. Off we set for a day on the River Dee in North Wales in search of grayling.

The fishing was tough with the water cold and dirty and we had nothing to show by the time a hail and lightning storm signalled lunch; a relatively comfortable event under a small umbrella which is now a permanent part of my UK fishing arsenal. At the very least it provides comic relief and never fails to produce a smirk and laughter.

Click images to enlarge

Post lunch, we matched the hatch with some highly imitative pink Czech nymphs that deceived a few small grayling and brownie.

On the final cast of the day in a large reverse eddy, I plopped the nymphs about 2m up and not 50 cm into drift it got stuck. Just a solid…’fast’. I was not surprised given all the debris about. A light jerk and to my surprise, the log shuddered and launched off taking line, the fly and tippet with it: Bitter sweet and still dreaming about it.

Overall, I really love the river Dee and shall be back soon. Look forward to better conditions to target these log fish.

(Gerald is a University of Stellenbosch graduate and keen fisher of Cape flt streams now working in the UK.)