Working down a fast run my line snaked out, unfurling before depositing the flies, a butcher on point teamed with a claret bumble as batman into the seam under the far bank. Throwing a mend the pair swept round entering slacker water at the run tail I pulled a yard of line to speed up and rise the flies, BANG, my rod wrenched and a silver migrant launched skywards.
It never ceases to amaze how powerful and lively sea trout are, for a species that is so cautious once hooked they transform Jeckyll and Hyde like into a whirlwind of leaps, runs and dogged determination. This fellow played to form jumping, darting and thrashing all the way to the net. Lying in the meshes, butcher firmly in the scissors, glowing silver in the evening light, one could only admire the fighting qualities of a fish barely touching three quarters of a pound.
The expression boxing above your weight comes to mind, it’s one of the reasons why I love sea trout fishing and the species is the sole reason why I took up fly fishing. Brought up on sea trout tales penned by Falkus, Gammon and Bucknall I had to experience the rush they describe when evening solitude is broken by an angry silver migrant intercepted momentarily on its journey to the scene of its birth. Magic…………..
