Raising Kane

This was over a week ago now but it was getting on for early afternoon on the River Aire and following a steady successful morning prospecting for trout under the overhanging willows with a small size 16 Sawyers Pheasant Tail Nymph fished in tandem beneath a size 14 Klinkhammer I was in the mood for giving my new 7’6” Streamflex the baptism it deserved.   

In search of the fish capable of bestowing such honours I rounded a sharp bend in the river to be met by the sight of three trout rising to flies on the surface, two of the fish rising were doing so with an abundance of enthusiasm and vigour whilst the third was quite tight in against the bank, rising less often, but doing so with an almost subtle kiss of the surface film. Contemplating the scene before me I decided to try for the trout closest to the bank given that it was the nearest one to my position with the smallest rise of the three, a detail which I sometimes find, can, but not always, be indicative of a better fish.   

Assessing the situation further casting from the bank was clearly out of the question purely from the perspective of having to land the fish given its height and the significant amount of erosion that had taken place underneath it. Opting against this I settled for stationing myself in the tail of the pool at the foot of the bank, slightly hidden from view by the bend. The first cast was damn near perfect but the line pushed up against a submerged boulder which put a lot of slack into the top half causing the fly to veer off sharply mid river. Casting again slightly to the left of the boulder this time the trout rose, took the Klinkhammer and I set the hook.

I’m not going to make out for one minute that what happened next was some sort of epic battle between man and fish but it certainly put my small Streamflex and the double taper 3 weight line that I was using through its paces! Playing a decent sized fish on light tackle always feels like a scrap and a half when you get into one! Like so many trout before it, it seemed that this one was no happier to make the acquaintance of the hook as it took off out of the water like a gazelle twice before running for the cover of the overhanging willows on the far bank. It swam deep in the pool looking for sanctuary under old timber sleepers and rocks trying to grate and snag the 3lb leader on these sub surface obstacles before being finally brought to the surface and in turn my feet.

If you're wondering what I have christened my rod then it's quite simple it is now called "The Raising Kane" quite appropriate wouldn't you agree?

I had to unhook the trout in question on the waters edge as it wasn’t for coming quietly! It was quickly photographed and released back to whence it came no worse for wear but I would put its length at being around 15-16 inches weighing in at about a pound.