A nice day out in Northumberland

[Serpentine]

After not being able to fish for 2 1/2 years because of a back injury I finally managed a day on the river with the aid of some strong pain killers. My river of choice was the Coquet in my native Northumberland and my rod choice was a Sweetgrass mantra , pent 7ft9 4/5# . The river is low and clear and the day pretty windy with very little insect activity but I decided to fish dries anyway to see if I could tempt anything looking up . I caught a few par and a couple of 1/2lb fish which I was happy with . I started to catch some Salmon par from one particular stretch so moved on further upstream to avoid them. After that I got a couple of good trout ( for this river) then spotted a otter feeding further upstream so I took a seat on the bank and watched the beautiful otter for a good half hour before it finally disappeared into his holt . I walked a bit further upstream spotted a lovely red deer who took off as soon as it spotted me . I fished for another hour before taking another break to watch the birds swooping down to take the odd mayfly coming off the river , finches, tits , swallows, sparrows and sand martin’s all taking advantage of the occasional mayfly and large dark olives that were now coming off the river . My back was getting pretty sore at this point so decided to call it a day but not before catching the final wee trout of the day . On my slow walk back the river became alive with small fish rising all over the place and lots of wee bats feeding on the same insects as the trout. It was wonderful to finally spend some time on the river after a couple of years of surgery and rehab . I’m due to have what is probably the final surgery on the 11th of next month so hopefully I’ll be fit enough when the trout season starts back in Australia where I now live .

[driftless angler]

Beautiful water and fish, glad you could get out. Good luck on the final surgery!

[headwaters]

Serpentine--

Congratulations on getting out, and on your success! Thanks for sharing your outing, along with the nice photos, with us. And, good luck with the 11th surgery, I hope it is fabulously successful, and that recovery and rehab are short and your have many more successful days after recovery on the water back home in Australia!

[dder]

Thanks for sharing your time on river with us all. Its amassing what a bit of time by a river does for a person. From your description you had a good day, wildlife,birds and fish. Best of luck with your last surgery and hope you have a wonderful season when you get to Australia. Late spring in BC so while rivers are open water still to high to fish locally yet. Daryl

[Recidivist13]

Sounds like a great return to the water. Where in Oz are you moving to?

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

Congrats for getting back on the water. The Boo Boys would be proud of your rod choice.

[Flykuni3]

Welcome back.

[Serpentine]

Sounds like a great return to the water. Where in Oz are you moving to?

I live in Saint Kilda Melbourne, I moved over there 20 + years ago .I’m over in England visiting family at the moment , because of Covid it’s the first time I’ve seen my mum in 3 years .

[munsey w]

absolutely beautiful spot! glad you are back out there.

[Hellmtflies]

Thumbs Up!