No risers on a cold February day
February on the Hodder can be bitterly cold. Ice and snow on the mountain tops brings in a chilly breeze across the meadows. Any chance of sport on the fly with grayling is now reduced and any fish in a bonus. With this in mind I set off recently with a good angling friend Vic Harrop. The temperature was, as predicted, very low. Due to this and the lack of any feasible fly hatches no risers were observed. Nevertheless, it is quite exhilarating to get down to the stream for a few hours at this time of year.
A good head of water with patches of snow still frozen on the ground.
Vic Harrop punching out a fly in the hope of a fish on a nice pool
I was fortunate enough to catch the only fish of that afternoon. A good grayling of one and a half pounds, which went for the table. Specimens taken at this time of year frequently have pink flesh, much like that a trout and taste a lot better than those taken in late summer. The vast majority of fish are swiftly returned, yet the odd one is excellent to eat.
Later analysis revealed what we had suspected. The grayling were feeding on caddis, deep down
Deer tracks by the water's edge proving the wildness of the Hodder area. These shy creatures are not easy to spot and you have to be lucky to get a swift glimpse of them before they retire to the safety of surrounding woodlands.
We noted three dead salmon in the pools. A sad yet natural sight which at least displays that next season's eggs had been produced. Life and death are constant partners on the icy reaches of the cold, winter's spate stream.