Family friend Stewart was instrumental in igniting the flyfishing flame when he graciously took Chiara and myself to Marton Heath Trout Pools over a decade ago. We had a fantastic evening catching Rainbow Trout on Daddy Long legs.

Along with fishing buddies Paul and Charles, Stewart came in search of a few of the Dee’s famous resident Grayling.

On the day, the river was a little higher than the perfect 0.55 but it was clear and there was little wind. There was also no fly life to speak of and as a result, absolutely no surface activity.

I got Paul and Charles set up with nymphs while Stewart, a die hard dry fly man went further downstream to try his luck with a Blue Winged Olive.

Stewart was first off the mark with several Trout and Salmon Parr who found his small dry fly irresistible but it was Charles who scored big with the first Grayling which came to a perfectly presented nymph.

Paul was nursing a badly injured thumb but rather impressively was able to alternate between his left and right hands if his injury became too painful. Considering his handicap, he did exceptionally well and was eventually rewarded but not sadly, with the trophy Grayling we were looking for.

Stewarts persistence with the dry fly almost paid off when he finally tempted a good rising fish some 30 feet away only to strike too hard and break the tippet.

We finished the day on a really difficult piece of water targeting some good rising fish. As there was only room for one angler at a time, the other two were able to observe and offer ‘constructive’ comments from the bank.

All in all a great day and whilst we didn’t get the numbers of big fish I’d hoped for, I’m positive that these three gents will benefit from the challenges they encountered today.