Mayfield and the Manifold

Bone managed to get a day off. We decided we would have a couple of hours on the Dove. Checked  in and looked at the result Trugg's exploits the previous evening. WOW!
It was not the best of weather and we had a good soaking. Bone was winding me up again about my fear of wading and angry bulls. He is supposed to be my mate. "He's looking at you!" he kept saying.

Nothing much rising but I was up to my usual trick of late, by missing takes which were hard to come by. Went through my fly box as there was one particular fish that was rising occasionally but did not want to know. I spent far too much time on this fish. I now have a score to settle with him.

I did manage a very nice grayling and better still up to my nuts in water! I'm getting there!

We nipped up to Hulme End, only because I wanted to try out my new 6' rod.

After a quick pint in the Manifold Inn we wandered down to the river only to be confronted with a red coloured mess. The rain had soon got to this piece of water. My dark side said to me, "you need worms."

Not expecting to catch anything in the conditions, I said to Bone, "I'll just have a couple of casts to try out my baby rod." I put on a #14 ltd so it would be visible and to my total disbelief it was nailed by a tidy grayling first cast!

Second cast I hooked a nice trout which soon came off and then had this little baby. Oh well, baby rod, baby fish!

Size 14  ltd

Bone had a baby trout on his grown up rod.

We'd had enough by this point but did enjoy ourselves.
Things look good for the Manifold with the juveniles showing.