I don’t think I have ever read the great Richard Brautigan book, but I did have a marvellous introduction to fly-fishing a couple of weeks ago when my father-in-law, James Chesterman, arranged a trip for us up to the River Wye in Derbyshire, after early season brown trout.
We stayed with Marilyn and Bill Nicholls at their wonderful B&B just on the outskirts of Bakewell. I have to confess that my heart sank at the prospect of “B&B”, but their place, a working farm leased from the Haddon Hall Estate, was spotlessly clean, sumptuously furnished (I had a four-poster bed) and very welcoming. Definitely a place to return to.
Just over the road from the farm runs the Wye, a sparkling, beautiful river that winds in textbook meanders through a lovely valley. There are dippers, peewits, Canada geese, kingfishers and all sorts of other birds to be seen, as well as flowers everywhere. I was entranced.
James was less happy when we picked up our fishing permits from the Peacock Hotel at Rowsley, since it transpired that the fishing is on a catch-and-release basis. I didn’t mind, too much, to be honest, since it is enough for me to be out in lovely countryside in the fresh air.
We fished for a couple of days. James caught a brown trout, I hooked a grayling and a large-ish brown trout, both of which got away. There were few other people on the river and the weather, though cold, was sparkling and occasionally blustery but mostly sunny. I got sunburned and happy.
There’s a little gallery of photos on flickr.
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